A finely carved Maori flute (kauauau) Photo Dominion Museum PRIMITIVE MUSIC IN NEW ZEALAND by MARY MARTIN Maori music today is very different in spirit and purpose from the art that was practiced for many generations by the vigorous high-primitive people who inhabited New Zealand before the coming of the white settlers about 150 years ago. The difference is not so much a matter of the actual sound of the music as it is of the function or part that music plays in a primitive society. Music is more closely associated with the everyday life of the people in a primitive society than it is in more highly civilised ones. For the Maori people of pre-European times, music was indispensable in almost every activity of life. This is very different from the use of music in the Western world where its chief purpose is for pleasure, relaxation and aesthetic delight. The Maori of today can choose to be interested in the music of his ancestors but he is free also to get along without it. This means, in general terms, that for primitive man, music is a vital necessity whereas, with people in higher stages of cultural development, its use is a matter of choice. Dr Charles Burney, the 18th century music historian, defines the function of music in the Western world in the following way: “Music is an innocent luxury, unnecessary to our existence but a great improvement and gratification of sense and bearing.” Compare Burney's definition with one given in William's Dictionary of the Maori Language for an important word connected with music. The word “karakia” is defined thus: “Charm spell, incentation: particularly the ancient rites proper to every important matter in the life of the Maori.” The words “every important matter” indicate the very close association that music had in Maori community life in former times. Every happening, whether connected with life, death, marriage, initiation, love, mourning, work, play or ceremonial rites had its appropriate musical ritual. The watchman on duty in the pa at night sang a “whakaaraara pa” to keep the watch awake or to give warning of danger. The operator sang a “tanga moko” or tattooing-beguiling song to divert the patient's mind during the painful operation of tattooing. In hauling a canoe the boatmen sang a “to waka” to synchronise their movements and the rowers of a canoe kept strict time with their paddles to the rhythm of a “tuki waka.” When kites were flown for the purpose of divining the future the tohunga chanted a charm called a “turu” or “karakia pakaukau”. Special “oriori” were composed for the birth of a child of rank, “waiata tangi” were used for mourning ceremonies, “waiata aroha” to express love or yearning, and visitors were welcomed with a “tau marae”. Even the children spun their tops to an “oriori potaka” throwing them down all together at a particular point in the song. Chants were also used for the important purpose of committing to memory tribal history, legends, genealogies and the occult lore of the race which was passed from one generation to the next by specially chosen people. In that way music helped to supply a deficiency due to the lack of a written language.

PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE The old Maori music is often called ‘primitive,’ in the sense of one being “in an early stage of development,” that is, belonging to undeveloped peoples. However, the word “primitive” does not