SPORT among the Maori people

Te Ao Hou, Winter 1952, Page 60

SPORT among the Maori people by RALPH LOVE Ka kawea tatou e te rehia (‘We are allured by the arts of pleasure.’) Such a term was not uncommon in Maori speech when the Pakeha first came to New Zealand, and began to study and record the Maori, his attainments and his industry, in the arts of war and peace. Raukatauri and Raukatamea, mythical personages belonging to the traditional dawn of Maori legend were, according to Elsdon Best, widely considered to be the founders of all amusements and arts of pleasure, but some tribes had other personages to whom they attributed the origin of amusements. Thus among the Tuhoe tribe Takatakaputea and Marere-o-tonga are said to be the authors of nga mahi a te rehia, the arts of pleasure. Ngati Porou allude to all amusements as Nga Mahi a Ruhanui (the arts of Ruhanui). The period in which the arts of pleasure were mostly indulged in was just after the crops were gathered and stored and Ropata Wahawaha when he addressed assembled members of Ngati Porou at the opening of a new house at Waiapu in 1872, remarked: ‘In former times when Whanui rose, the crops were gathered and stored after which the arts of Ruhanui were practiced.’*The heliacal rising of Whanui, the star Vega, was the sign generally accepted as denoting the time for the lifting of the main crop of kumara. The first person of a village community to observe this star in the early morn, at once roused the Pa with the old and well-known cry— ‘Ko Whanui … E Ko Whanui’, and so the community set to gathering the crops after which came ‘nga mahi a Ruanui’. These details are taken from Elsdon Best, Games and Pastimes of the Maori. In pre-Pakeha days, the Maori people indulged in amusements and pastimes, many of which are very much akin to those indulged in the Pakeha world: GAMES MauiCats Cradle RuruJackstones (Knucklebones) Tumi (Tarere)Swinging (on trees) PakaukauKites TorehereheToboggan HakaPosture dancing accompanied by chants PoiAs above Whakahoro TaratahiKite flying PotakaSpinning tops PotetekeAcrobatics—standing on head somersaults TaupiupiuFootrace in couples Mu TerereA game resembling draughts MoariGiant strides WhatotoaWrestling Whawhai mekemekeBoxing Takaro OmaomaRunning Takaro TupekeJumping Para WhawhaiSchool of Arms Kau WhakataetaeSwimming Whakaheke-NgaruSurfing MoariWaterside swing Waka HoehoeCanoe racing Pou totiStilt walking PiuSkipping PiroriHoops

The advent of Europeans and of their customs had a startling and permanent effect on Maori life, one effect of this contact being the abandonment of many old Maori ways of life, which included indulgence in sports and pastimes. From 1840 to the turn of the present century, Maori interest in sport was confined to participation among themselves in some of the old games and in some of those sports of the Pakeha that appealed to them, football, football, running, tug-o-war, and chopping. Since 1900 there has been an increased interest of Maoris in all kinds of sports and during the last five years it can clearly be seen that not only are Maoris participating in sport in close competition with Pakehas to a greater extent, but the inter-tribal, inter-canoe and inter-district competitions are increasing to such a proportion that they have become a dominant feature of Maori life to-day. Te Ao Hou has attempted to draw up a list of the sports competitions at present being held among the Maori people. This list is not complete, as it takes a great deal of work to make a full investigation. Any group omitted would do Te Ao Hou a service if it submitted the particulars for publication in a later issue. In reciting these competitions, one must appreciate that for every one participant at least three other Maoris are actively interested either in getting that participant to what game is concerned or in accompanying him (or her).