MAORI MEMORIES

Taranaki Daily News, 13 October 1934, Page 13 (Supplement)

MAORI MEMORIES

PASTIMES OF THE MAORI

(By

J.H.S.

-Copyright.)

Games unnumbered were practised by the Maori people, who were of studied leisure. Kites made of raupo (bulrush) or the filmy houhere (lace bark) were named “manu” (bird) or “kahu” (hawk), and songs were chanted by old and young, who spent many restful hours in watching the floating toys. Sometimes they were shaped like a winged man, with shells which rattled in the breeze.

Morere were swings like our school children’s “giant strides.” Many ropes were tied at the top to a tall pole, sometimes at the edge of a cliff or a pool, over which the players running and jumping in a circle, were carried through the air.

The piu piu or skipping rope was used with much greater skill, vigour and variety than by us. The potaka (whip top) were of many forms, and even made to indulge in hurdle races over strings. The potaka takiri (humming top), often made of a small dried gourd, ornamented with opalescent paua shell, and with a wooden axis, was also used as a dirge, accompanied by weird chants after a defeat.

Pouturu (stilt walking), an ancient custom, was said to have originated as an assistance to gathering berries.

Pirori (hoops) were playthings driven forth and back with sticks between two parties, with appropriate chants. Titi toureta was played with four carved sticks tossing between six players. Remarkable skill and dexterity were shown in catching.

Toko raurape was a game such as “jumping jack,” with a small tattooed figure of a man. The jointed arms were controlled by a string and accompanied the haka or song dance, in which the hands of the object were made to “quiver” in that strange manner peculiar to the Maori.

Teka and para toetoe consisted of throwing darts of pointed wood or toe cane with feather or dressed flax wings and weighted butts. Distance and accurate aim with skill in parrying were wonderfully developed. Kakere, a childish game, was' played by transfixing a kumara on a stick and jerking it to a human target at a distance. I Boys in a' row played an inverted war dance known as poro teteke. At a signal they stood on their heads and waved their legs in time to a chorus, the -last to fall being the winner. Mamau or whiri, wrestling, in which men and women became skilful, was a favourite health game. Poi, the graceful ball and string game, was the favoured pastime of all. Kotara tara, the war dance, was most wondrous of all. The rhythmic, simultaneous movements of a thousand men tn a frenzy gave a realistic view of fierce fighting.

Kai (Food). A dozen names were used, but in the end “kai” was applied to all foods. Without grain, meat or milk and only the most primitive means of storing or preserving food, it is difficult to understand how the race thrived. Yet the Maoris did, and kept their bodily and mental vigour in the highest state of efficiency. Daily effort, scarcity of food and infrequent eating were blessings in disguise. An absurd theory of many writers was that cannibalism arose from scarcity of food. Nothing is farther from the truth. It bore the same relation to food supply as that of our sacramental wine. Women and children were forbidden to taste human flesh, and would rather die than do so. The Maori race would be poor specimens if the mothers of men were half starved. The kumara, since the migration, was the most valuable food. It required much labour and skill to combat its two great enemies, the huka (frost) and awhato (vegetable caterpillar), one of the curiosities of natural history. Next in order was aruhe, root of the common bracken fem, which in the absence of browsing animals had to be burned annually to promote its development.

The taro, also introduced from Hawaiki, is a handsome plant with leaves two feet in diameter, even more susceptible to the cold than the kumara.

The heart of nikau, tap root of the young whanaki (cabbage tree), tender shoots of the mamaku fern, raufiki (sowthistle), berries of karaka, konini, hinau, kawakawa and other plants were crude but healthy foods. Animal foods were limited to birds, fish, dogs and rats. The means of catching them were ingeniously constructed traps, nets and snares, combined with rare skill and patience. Among the most prized birds were kereru (pigeon), kaka (parrot), putangitangi (paradise duck), pukeko (swamp hen), weka (woodhen), and many sea birds, all being caught when fruits and other foods were plentiful. These were preserved for winter in their fat.

Fish of all kinds steamed in earth ovens were delicious. Oils from sharks and from titoki (berries) kept in (hue) gourds were used as kinaki or relish. In days of plenty two meals were the limit; in scarcity, one only.

Waka Maori (Canoes). Many old canoes are preserved as evidence of the skill and patience of their makers. Symmetry to ensure balance, size of the tree to secure strength and enable them to cut away the sap, and the selection of sound totara for durability and lightness had to be considered. The position for transport to water, and the nearness of land for growing food for the workers had to be thought out. A hundred sturdy men and their families would be engaged for a year or more in the work of felling, shaping and hollowing the tree, which would be up to eight feet in diameter and 120 feet long. The only tools were stone axes. Small fires encircled the butt, and were controlled by water stored in gourds. The charred portions were then chipped out and the process repeated till the giant trunk fell. Everyone had pride and pleasure in the work, each for all and all for each. There were no grumblers, strikers or shirkers. Their eager industry and happy relationship were like those of children at play. The explorers used waka taurua (double canoes) and the famous “Arawa” had shrines (pako kori) built on the long wide deck in which they worshipped at dawn and dusk. The “Aotea” canoe was a waka ama or outrigger. All used sails of the light porous raupo (bulrush) leaves, triangular in shape, with the apex pointed upward. Double canoes were seen in plenty when Tasman came over 200 years ago, and Cook saw some of them. Owing to narrow river navigation they are not now known. The larger vessels from 60 to 120 feet were waka taua (war canoes) and had elaborately ornamented prows,