GAMES OF THE OLD TIME MAORI

Te Ao Hou, April 1958, Page 45

GAMES OF THE OLD TIME MAORI by HEMI BENNETT PART 1 MAORI youth often met during the winter months in one of the larger houses of a pa or kainga, passing the time in story-telling, singing, haka, games, contests and other pastimes Important occasions, such as the completion of the digging of the kumara crop, were the signal for several days to be set aside for games and contests such as kite flying, wrestling, canoe racing, dart throwing, haka and various others. Many early writers blame the missionaries for the discouraging of ancient Maori games and pastimes. The elders for ever had the idea fixed in their minds that it was absolutely essential for the young lad to be so trained as to develop into an efficient fighter. Consequently he was encouraged to indulge in those pursuits which fitted him to become proficient in the use of arms. Boys were taught at a very tender age the use of weapons when they indulged in mock battles in which reeds and flax stems were used in practising movements they would later use in earnest when the taiaha and tewhatewha were in their hands. The welfare and survival of the tribe depended upon the agility, dexterity and efficiency of the young warrior. Many of the games played by Maori children in bygone days are identical with those played today by children of other races the world over. As an example, let us take kite flying which was known in most countries and throughout the Pacific. Although ostensibly a child's game, kite flying was also indulged in by grown man. In former times it was regarded as having two different aspects—recreational and ceremonial. Names applied to kite flying were manu (bird), kahu (hawk), and pakau (wing). When indulged in by adults, kites of superior quality were made, while those for children were made simply and quickly from raupo (bullrushes), these were not very good and flew saggingly. Those used by adults were painstakingly made and, resembling birds, were not unlike those of the Chinese. A triangular form of kite called taratahi was made of raupo tied to a light frame of toetoe stems. The manu aute was the name given to a superior form of kite made in the form of a bird with outspread wings. As the name implies the inner bark of the aute tree was used in its making. Incidentally, it was from this tree that the Islanders made their Kite with toitoi plumes and centre of raupo. The framework is very light. These kites were very perishab'e. The one pictured here (origin: Urewera) is still in the Dominion Museum but has suffered from the passage of time. (Dominion Museum Photograph)

clothing called by them, tapa cloth. It also gave its name to the celebrated Maori boys college A large kite of superior make was sometimes flown for purposes of divination when it would be flown over the fighting pa of the enemy and made to hover. Should the kite mount steadily, it was regarded as a good omen; but trouble would surely ensue should it side-swoop or mount hesitantly. A karere, or messenger, consisting of a light, wooden, feathered disc with a hole in the centre through which the cord was passed, would be sent up. The wind, acting on the feathers, forced the karere upwards. Another, made in the semblance of a kaka, called, appropriately enough, manu kaka, was made from toetoe. The frame of this was made from light manuka twigs, the whole being covered with kaka feathers. It looked most beautiful when in flight. Then there was a kite made in the form of a man's head, tattooed on either side, with long wings and short legs. Some were even made in such a way that it was possible to manipulate the wings, making them flap as the kite soared on high. At times the hair of the kuri was attached to the head of the kite as well as feathers to the body and wings. The cord by which the kite was flown was tied to the middle of the kite. Kites were sometimes so big that it took two men to fly them. These often had a wingspread of fifteen feet. In order to gain the great strength required to fly such kites, the cord was made in the same way as was a superior fishing line. The process was called miro: two strands of whitau, or flax fibre were rolled together, while a third was worked in between the two, forming a three strand cord. This resulted in a much stronger cord than a plaited one. At times bunches of tuangs (cockle) or kakahi (freshwater mussel) or kuku (mussel) shells were tied to the usually lengthy tails attached to kites in order to produce a rattle as the kite moved about in the air. The tohunga of a fighting force might, in flying a kite over a pa against which they were taking the offensive, release the cord so that it trailed across the village in a favourable wind. Should the cord happen to be grasped by one of the inhabitants of the pa, it betokened the greatest misfortune to the inmates, often resulting in a successful attack being made upon the now disheartened defenders. The uncertainties of life were surely exemplified by the flying of a kite to determine the perpetrators of a murder, for, when a kite was sent out to discover the guilty, and it began to hover over a certain village, a force was swiftly despatched to wreak vengeance. A story is told of how a jealous husband—doubtless with a certain amount of justification—