MAORI HEALER.

Waikato Times, Volume 117, Issue 19564, 1 May 1935, Page 8

MAORI HEALER.

MORE ALLEGED CUREB. DOUBTFUL CASE CONFIRMED. (Special to Times). NGARUAWAHIA, Tuesday. The number of visitors to the Ngaruawahia 'Pah seeking the aid of Te 'Huiatahi Rawiri, the Maori healer, shows no sign of diminishing and accommodaton at the pah is severely taxed. The healer' himself Is finding great difficulty in obtaining rest. It had been arranged that Sunday was to he the day specially set aside for the treatment of Pakehas, but in order that Te Huiatahi may obtain rest, the pah committee have decided that after next Sunday, the day for Pakehas will be Saturday. • A case of miraculous healing Is reported to have taken place at the pah on Monday when a Wellington man, suffering from pains in the head, a stiff neck, bad eyesight and deafness, w'as stated to have been completely freed from his ailments. Perhaps more serious than his other afflictions was the. fact that the patient's Jaws also made a cracking noise whenever he moved them. After prayers had been offered by Te Huiatahi, however, this trouble is said to have entirely disappeared. A civil servant from Rotorua, is reported to have received healing for bad eyesight and numbness in the head, while cases of the relief of rheumatoid arthritis are also alleged. Innumerable instances of healing are said to be taking place continually among the Maoris.

The administration of healing is by no means limited to the Waikato tribe of which the healer is a member. Maori visitors from other tribes often obtain healings more readily .than local residents.

Some doubt was oast upon the genuiness of the healing of Miri Arangi, a young woman from Taranaki," of curvature of the spine. The Auckland press stated that on telephoning the New Plymouth Hospital it had been learned that no such case had been admitted during the past five weeks. The pah committee, however, strongly resenting the questioning of the veracity cf this outstanding miracle, obtained authentic information that Miri Arangi had been in the New Plymouth Hospital during February and had been under X-ray examinations, thus confirming this marvellous cure. 'Te 'Huiatahi’s mail is rapidly increasing and letters from Australia asking for prayers to be offered are by no means uncommon. An interesting feature accompanying Te Huiatahi’s healing ministry is his apparent power of prophecy. He repeatedly emphasises the imminence of another war. It is also said that he can tell beforehand with amazing accuracy how many visitors will come to him during the day.