MAORI MEMORIES

Taranaki Daily News, 22 June 1935, Page 13 (Supplement)

MAORI MEMORIES

SCARED OF LAW UTU

(By

J.H.S.—Copyright)

Success had undoubtedly followed missionary self-sacrifice and ardent devotion, but I am certain that in some localities they were to blame for the fact that it was merely transient. Certain Church missionaries did not find their way to the hearts of these simple receptive people, and as mere men, were not so much respected as their calling required them to be. One potent factor was that they were hard, illiberal dealers, with commercial instincts, contrasting sharply with the conduct'of ordinary Pakeha settlers, not only in respect to their purchase of commodities from the Maoris, but in an acquired habit of expecting gifts of such things. Nor was this contrast confined to the prices offered and paid by them for their daily food supplies; but comparisons were drawn between men “as missionaries” and others as “Heathen Devils,” a designation given alike to unconverted Maoris and non professing Pakehas, and this was not always in favour of the first named. There was one form of commercial religion which prejudiced the Maori against our missionaries—that of “taking Utu” for Testaments, as in the Maori custom of avenging a wrong, which in this case did not exist. The usual price in 1840 was one large pig, then valued at 30s. Those natives well knew that the good people in England (all children born of the beloved Kuini Wikitoria—millions of them) had sent them out as gifts.

One tribe, the most peaceable and friendly,' living within a mile of the mission station had but one Testament among them. However incredible this may seem, it is an actual fact. I cannot say that the practice of bartering pigs and potatoes for Testaments was general. I hope and believe it was not; but Colonel Wakefield also referred to it as existing in Port Nicholson. Emblems of religion such as ornaments, crosses, etc., were often given, with the implied condition that service was to be offered in return. This gravely interfered with the purity and permanence of Maori faith in our religion even more than that of our diversity of creed—a condition quite inexplicable to these people, who among friends or foes were united in one faith. Traffic in their ancestral lands, their sole sacred inheritance, was also a source of enmity to our people. Restraints.

In seeking to convert the Maori, all traces of the superstition upon which his laws and customs were based had been removed.

No civilised nation can exist without the restraint, of the civil law. No such power, however, was found among the Maoris, and their good conduct ought to excite the greater surprise, when we find that the removal of superstition had not utterly ruined them. They enjoyed a personal security within their tribal ranks of many thousands, to an extent quite unknown by us. In. January, 1840, a 'young widow with her two little children lived in a lonely spot far removed from other white settlers of Kororareka, and distant only about two miles from the Maori village. She had not the least apprehension of those roaming neighbours, though she had decided fears of some worthless characters among her own people. The effect of our teaching when ap-_ plied to their simple nature is to make them decidedly worse members of society. It removed the vital restraints of superstition, and postponed prospective punishment indefinitely, thus enabling them to become the more expert rogues. Such teaching, applied to the better class, resulted splendidly; but to inferior minds it did harm, for now nothing short of civil law and physical force can restrain them.

For example, the only instance of theft ever known among these simple people was “Moe Tahae” (stolen sheep), in reference to rare cases of infidelity. These were punished by death, which not infrequently occurred through their own superstitious fear of the consequences, before the law could act. Traders and settlers could leave their doors unfastened during many weeks absence, and were perfectly secure from theft by their tribe. The degree of security was greatest where civilisation and conversion had made the least progress. Though the admission is mortifying, the truth must be acknowledged. Many missionaries and their wives suffered hardship, sacrifice, and martyrdom, and we cannot blame them, but the system, for the deterioration of most Maoris under our civilisation.

Speech and Writing Though the distinction is somewhat subtle, the Maori has been rightly described as cheerful rather than mirthful. Still they indulge in very frequent joking. and badinage. Many are practised humorists, and will show up a friends absurdities in the happiest form of irony, without apparent hurt to the feelings of its victim. They are much given to jugglery, and will perform many tricks as experts. Their intellectual capacity is hidden by our want of knowing the language. To the privileged few, it is quite apparent that the Maori mind is in no way inferior, and that knowledge only is wanting to enable them to disclose their mental rivalry. They are admirable speakers, with animated manner, graced with natural and appropriate gestures.

Speech making is a universal and favourite form of social entertainment, at which their conduct is exemplary. They listen with the utmost attention, and never interrupt. At the original Waitangi meeting, every European was deeply impressed with the order and decorum, and with the close attention to the subject. When invited to express their opinions on the Treaty, they did so with eloquent judgment. Instead of a raised platform, a space is reserved for the speaker, to permit his retreat, and advance for about twelve yards. In the advance, a sentence is delivered with the united effort of mind and energy. As he retreats, he finds time to arrange his ideas and rest his muscular energy. When the subject is of great importance, each sentence is rearranged and repeated in a most impressive form. This manner of oratory or writing is rarely heard or seen among us. The only instance of it I know is in a book by A. S. M. Hutchinson. On all occasions the Maori acts from reason, not'passion. The ideal simplicity of their written language, thanks to Samuel Lee, enables every Maori to learn how to read and write in a week. This proved a source of revenue to the Post Office in the early days. In 1840 the Postmaster at Kororareka reported upon the rapid increase of Maori correspondence, saying that it amounted to a daily posting of a foot square of letters when tied in a bundle, and that was long before the day of oenny postage.