MAORI MEMORIES

Wairarapa Daily Times, 21 July 1934, Page 4

MAORI MEMORIES

(By J.H.S. for “The Daily Times.”) OTHER TRAITS OF THE MAORI. Savage tribes throughout the world are noted for their cunning, which indeed is imprinted on their features. With the Maori, this is quite the exception. The simplicity of ideas, the freedom with which they express their feelings and their fears, is generally seen in their open faces. If taxed with a theft of which they have been guilty, they will at once admit it, and offer payment. They cannot be trusted with a secret, which they will reveal with the frank innocence of a-child. The Maori language itself has a remarkable directness about it, and contains no hint, subtlety, or suggestiveness. ' V,

Their food was extremely simple, and was obtainable only by exertion, from which circumstance health was universal. Cannibalism, arising from the desire to destroy the evil spirit of an enemy by cooking and eating choice portions of his body, thus preventing his soul from reaching the future world, was commonly practiced. It was also firmly believed that any virtue or bravery in the dead would be acquired by his consumer. Significantly, the heart as centre of emotion, and the tongue as the mode of expression, were the most prized, and were allotted to young Chiefs in training for a career of conquest. However horrible the practice may appear to us, the character of the Maori amply proves that it may co-exist with the highest ideals of our own natures.

Vanity, especially among those in authority, is a feature of the Maori character. A number of them were employed carrying , timber from the bush for a settler, when their Chief tried to enforce some unreasonable demand by threats, flourishing his tai alia as though to strike. This was too much for the Britisher, who hit him square on the face with his fist. The Chief became furious, but soon calmed down. Next day the Chief came privately to the settler and begged to be given a half crown that he might show his people as a token that the insult had been paid for. It was clearly a case of wounded vanity, to be appeased only by the aggressors appearance of yielding. Thus the loss of dignity was requited and no resentment was shown.