THE TE ORE ORE MEETING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 719, 17 March 1881, Page 2

THE TE ORE ORE MEETING.

The'great Te Ore; Ore meeting civme'bff. yesterday, and was tp'a eertairi"extent,a ; disappointment to both Maoris and iurov peans, Many of the former expected a revelation, some of them a miracle; but neither the one nor the other, transpired. Many of the latter expected a war-dance, : some of them a haka; but neither the one nor the other came off. In the course of the day as ninny buggies, traps, <k, came on to the ground as are usually seen at a racecourse, and the number of Europeans was quite equal to that of the Maoris. The meeting had its origin in a mysterious dream. Paora Potangaroa, a little old infirm native, the Moses of Te Ore Ore, saw a mystic flag in a dream, and assembled the tribes apparently to interpret it. We assume that Paoroa considered that he had done his part of the business when ho had dreamt of the flag and called the people together. The. interpretation of the dream did not lie. in his department, and, apparently to the disappointment of one and all, no one, whether Protestant, Catholic, or Hauhau could throw the necessary light on the marvel. The flag itself was stretched on the flagstaff, and was an imposing piece of bunting. The central field of it was surrounded by a deep black border containing four rows of stars, four in each row. On the right was some chequer work, and on the left a blue ground with an empty coat and knickerbockers painted on it. Privately, a hundred different interpretations were given of it, but none of them seemed entirely satisfactory, and the bunting is still admitted to be an unsolved conundrum. The black ground was said by some to' be the lost land of the Maories, by others, to be a sign of mourning. The sixteen stars were said to represent tho sixteenth day of the month, also sixteen, islands thothad been lost. There were at least sixteen interpretations of the sixteen stars. Without the flag the Europeans would have been vory hard up for amusement and they certainly owe a debt of gratitude to Paora. It was supposed that the ' trouble' would be commenced at 10a.m., and at that hour ladies and gentlemen from Masterton began to arrive at the camp expecting. to see° marshalled hosts of native warriors in paint and feathers. Instead of that the lords and ladies of the soil were scattered all over the place, eating hot breakfast, and looking anything but picturesque. As the day advanced the crowd of visitors increased by arrivals from Carterton, Gieytown, the Lower Valley, and all parts of the district. Wellington, too, was fairly represented, but probably the most influential visitor from a Maori point of view was the Ven, Archdeacon Williams, Inspector Shoarman, of the police, with.a staff of men, waß on the ground, but the admirable management of tho natives by their own leaders rendered the presence of a constable quite unnecessary. The Protestant Maories were arranged on the aide of the enclosure next to the Big House, and, the Catholics Mid Hauhaus near the flagstaff, About one o'clock the bell began to ring to call the Maories together, hundreds of white people being arranged on the outside of the ring—many ladies being present among them—to watch the proceedings. At 1.30 p.m. the flag at the flagstaff was hoisted half-mast high. Divine service then commenced by the Protestant Maories ■singing'a"'hymn, one of the native officers going round to see that all huts were taken off by both Maories and Europerns, Tho responses were rendered in true Maori style, every voice keeping in perfect time. The opposite Maories then went through a short service of their own, and the speeches commenced, Piripi Te Maero arose and called upon the people assembled to interpret the meaning of the flag that was flying above them. He made no comments, but simply called upon them to show their wisdom on this occasion.

After this silence reigned for a considerable time, none, apparently, liking to make a commencement, .

Piripi again came forward and called upon the wise men to interpret the meaning of this wonderful flag, If they could not do it let them say so and be done with it.

Urupiiii Fohara then stood up and said he thought the people would not be able to understand its meaning, as it had been made by the hands of man, Let the man who made it explain it if he could, Potangoroa had said he would show them a miracle that day, and he now called upon him (Potangaroa) to show them his power in this, tray, that they might see and bolieve.

Tamilian! To Neke next arose,* and said that he was not able to understand this wonderful fjag which was displayed to their view. His opinion was that God, the true God, could work.miracles, Let the Prophet interpret it himself. If God told the Prophet to make the Hag, he ought to be able to tell them all about it,

Potangaroa then came forward and said:—lt waa not his duty to enlighten them about the hidden things of God, If they could not understand it, it was no fault of his, and shewed great weakness on their part. He should not explain the matter then.

Wi Mahupuku then addressed the people. He said ;-I stand up to interpret. The man on the flag has no head, no body, no entrails, no hands. He is no God-he doea not speak. The flag is a dream. You may fancy a God—there is no reality, Urupuni Puhara arose and said he had come that day to hear the truth, He did not come to hear about that thing (the flag) that he should worship it. Wi Mahupuku arose again and said (pointing to the flag):—Let that in the coat Bay who he is, if he has a word in him. There is no life in him. (Wi Mahupuku then shouted a song of derision in which his party, joined heartily; which proved to be the moat lively part of the proceedings.) Hamuera Mahupuku said:—He thought they had heard guite enough about the

flenare Matua then arose and made a long speech. He said:—You have all given your idea about this question. The God you talk about is a false God. My Gid is a real God, and he lives in me j I am his house; I speak for him ; ray words are his words which I speak unto you this day. There were false Gods in Israel; but they were only allowed to be there to show that there was a living God. You know already what I think about this calico. Who shall strive with me!' This is all play. These dreams are not light to me—they come from the devil. The secret God is the true God. He will give me power to speak this day. He has snid "I am .the begining and the end," If these dreams are good, the spirit would reveal them; there is no God in calico. Hoani Meihana .said it was now 40 years [since Christianity was introduced into the country. He' came yesterday to hear something new and wonderful, but he.was disappointed. There were, no fruits of all this great meeting, and it is the same to-day. Had he. not been faithful to the churoh ? (They all answered' "yes") lam the same to-day, I say to : you, if you are not. born again of the, Bpirit, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. " .

..-.. Karauama said ho did notjide with; anybody, but wanted fair play,he did not : like-the white people to treat him with contempt,'and call' him"an adjective Maori", because he chose to wear peculiar clothes..' Some white men thought they

ought to treat the Maori's like a pig. Ho hoped they would soon respeot the Maories more and then all would be well,-' .. There were many more speechesß made 'to« tho same effect, at the conclusion of which they had their usual services; and then the meeting broke up, ~. ...,-..,. ' ■ The Maoris expressed regret that they could not-favor the Europeans with a haka yesterday. The religious sorvices connected with the gathering prevented them from' introducing such'a feature into their programme. They were, willing, i however, on any other day to get up a haka for visitors,. For: several. days past the natives have been discussing religious questions with very little result, a» far as settling the merits of different religions go, but with some moral advantages far as the moral and religious tone of the camp is concerned, We presume that as soon as the food begins toruil short the, camp will disperse, and the great meeting 1 end in nothing but a great feed and a great talk. .