THE MAORIS
This morning I stood and watched a crowd of Maori girls and boys
swimming together in one of the steaming pools near my hotel at
Rotorua. The pool was about twenty feet square, and in it were a dozen
children as naked as the day they were born. Steam rose from the water,
and in the rays of the morning sun the brown bodies shone through the
mist. One of the bathers was a girl of fourteen. She was pouring water
over herself with a bucket, when I threw a silver sixpence into the
pool. With all the rest she dived for it, finally emerging with the
coin in her mouth. As I walked on to other pools I saw here and there
the heads of men and women floating, as it were, upon the water. They
were Maoris, but whether they were taking this method of getting warm
or merely having their morning baths I do not know.
I have been into many of the Maori houses. They are a sort of cross
between an Indian hut and an English tenant cottage. About Rotorua
many of them are built directly over the steaming earth, and have warm
bathing pools behind them. In this part of New Zealand old Mother Earth
is kind to her Maori daughters; she does their cooking for them. They
never have to make a fire or put the kettle on. Each woman has a steam
cooker of her own, always at the right temperature. This cooker is
usually an old wooden box with the lid knocked out and slats nailed on
the bottom, sunk into the earth over a steam hole. The food is dropped
in, an old piece of carpet or cloth is thrown over the top of the box,
and in due time the meal is cooked.
Cooking is done also in the boiling pools. Potatoes are pared and put
into bags made of a network of flax, each holding a quarter or half
peck. The bag is dropped into the pool and tied with a string to a
stake outside. In a little while the potatoes are ready for eating.
Meat may be prepared the same way or it may be put into a bucket and
steamed. In fact, the Rotorua Maoris, who now celebrate Christmas in
British fashion, cook their plum puddings in these petty volcanoes.
In some places all the villagers cook at one great vat, and in others,
such as Whakarewarewa, all do their washing in the same hot pool, the
water of which is soft and cleansing.
It is surprising how few Maoris one sees in travelling through New
Zealand. According to the last census there are about fifty-two
thousand of the aborigines living in the Dominion, most of them on the
North Island. The race is more than holding its own, and has increased
by about ten thousand persons in the last thirty years. Most of the
Maoris are scattered over the country in villages situated on lands
reserved for them. They are represented in Parliament by four members,
and although subject to the laws of New Zealand, they are governed
largely through their own chiefs. The better class dress in European
clothes, both men and women affecting bright colours.
No one knows where the Maoris came from, although a number of
scientists are convinced that they navigated to the New Zealand
islands from Hawaii. Others believe that they originated in Tahiti
or Tonga. They have light brown complexions and high cheek bones and
their noses are more like those of the Anglo-Saxon than of the North
American Indian. The men are of magnificent physique, being tall,
broad-shouldered heavyweights, with strong necks, big hands, and big
feet. They excel in games, especially in football and other contests
where quickness of eye and hand is essential. Nearly all of the men
speak English. They are orderly and well-behaved, and even when drunk
do not cause as much trouble as do our Indians.
I rather like the Maori women. The older ones are not especially good
looking, but they seem well disposed and pleasant. Some of the younger
ones are beautiful and many have rosy complexions. They have luxuriant
dark hair, heavy eyebrows, and liquid black eyes full of soul. Some of
them are clean and nearly all are intelligent. Their beauty vanishes
with years. Now and then one sees an old native woman with her chin and
lips tattooed, after the ancient fashion. This was a sign of a wife’s
submission to her husband. The young women of to-day do not thus mar
their good looks.
The Maoris used to be experts in tattooing. In the past both men and
women decorated not only their faces but most of their bodies in that
way. Every great chief had his face covered with ornamental spirals and
designs picturing his exploits in battle and was tattooed on the thighs
and hips in patterns that often extended from his knees to his waist,
giving him the appearance of having on a pair of neat-fitting trunks.
The women were tattooed chiefly on the lips and chin, with a sort of
fish-hook curl at the corner of each eye. Some of them had their
thighs and breasts decorated. The tattooing instrument was a small bone
chisel, which was driven in with a mallet. The pain was so great that
the work could be done only a little at a time, and a complete job
often took years.
When the British first came to New Zealand cannibalism was quite
general among the Maoris. The tribes warred with one another, and after
a battle there was always a feast of human flesh, in which the women
were not allowed to join. The greatest insult one Maori could offer
another was to hint that the man’s father had been eaten; for this was
considered a family disgrace.
I have before me a paper that tells just how one of these cannibal
feasts was conducted. The corpse of one of those killed in the fight
was sacrificed to the god of war and the rest of the dead were given
over to the braves who had taken part in the battle. The cooking ovens
were dug out of the earth and the human flesh was thrown in and kept
there for about twenty-four hours. When it was roasted the chief had
the first bite, then his sons, and then the whole army. The eating was
accompanied with singing and dancing, and all gorged themselves to such
an extent that many died after the banquet. When the feast was over the
remains were packed up in baskets and sent around to the neighbouring
tribes. Any tribe that accepted the offering was supposed to have made
a treaty of friendship with the senders and to be ready to fight with
them thereafter.
[Illustration: “This morning I stood and watched a crowd of Maori
girls and boys swimming together and diving for pennies in one of the
steaming pools near my hotel at Rotorua.”]
[Illustration: The Maori _haka_ used to precede battles and was
intended to work the braves into a fury, for the fight. Nowadays the
_hakas_ are frequently staged for the benefit of tourists.]
In spite of their cannibalism, the Maoris were more advanced in
civilization than our American Indians. They had a social organization
of their own, the people of each tribe being divided into classes
consisting of priests, chiefs, a middle class, and slaves. They were
warlike and it is doubtful whether the British could have gained a
foothold on the islands without great loss of life had it not been for
the dissensions among the various tribes.
Maori marriage customs were much like those of savages in other parts
of the world. Sometimes girls were carried off by force, and then the
friends of the groom and the friends of the bride would fight each
other. Both polygamy and divorce were allowed and the chiefs usually
had several wives. The Maori gods were demons who were feared rather
than reverenced or worshipped.
The men were fishers and fighters, and the women cooked the food, wove
baskets, brought the firewood, and made the clothing. The men were not
hunters, for there was no big game in the islands. They snared the wild
pigeons and other birds. When Captain Cook came along in 1769 he left
the natives the first pigs they had ever seen.
In the days of tribal warfare the natives often barricaded themselves
within an enclosure called a _pa_, the term now used for their
settlements. As day after day they pursued their policy of “watchful
waiting” for their enemies, the men occupied themselves with wood
carving, in which they became most expert. To-day one sometimes sees
the doorways of their houses beautifully and accurately carved as in
the olden times. They had no patterns but made up their designs as they
went along.
The women used to make most elaborate and beautiful feather cloaks,
plaiting the soft, downy plumage of the kiwi into woven flax. These
cloaks were handed down from mother to daughter. Few are made nowadays,
but they are sometimes worn on special occasions and in the _poi_
dances.
For the _poi_ dance the girls are dressed in kiwi-feather cloaks or
in loose embroidered draperies of gay colours. Their long, wavy dark
hair is confined only by ribbons about their foreheads. Usually their
feet are bare. The dance gets its name from the two small balls of flax
fibre with which each girl is provided. These are attached to strings
and, as the girls go through various movements, representing such
things as swimming, the flight of butterflies, the soaring of birds, or
the rowing of a canoe, the _poi_ balls are swung in perfect time. The
music is a soft crooning, which is delightful, as the Maoris all have
beautiful speaking and singing voices.
The men’s dance, the _haka_, is quite different. In olden times this
usually preceded a battle and was intended not only to work the braves
into a state of fury but also to put them in good condition for the
fight. It calls into play practically every muscle of the body. It is
always possible for tourists to see some kind of a _haka_, but only on
great occasions, and for distinguished visitors, like the Prince of
Wales, for example, is it witnessed in its true glory. Then Maoris,
who in ordinary life may be doctors, lawyers, grocers, and landlords,
put patches of black paint on their faces, array themselves in knee
skirts of flax fibre, and arm themselves with feather-tufted spears.
With their bodies bare to the waist and with bare feet and legs, they
leap and stamp, stick out their tongues, and make faces such as the
old natives believed would frighten their enemies, give sharp barking
shouts, slap their knees, and swing their spears in perfect time to the
music of a band.
In their primitive state the Maoris were, of course, superstitious and
traces of their ancient beliefs are still to be found. For instance,
near the native fort at Rotorua is a kind of bird box set on top of a
pole. This was a spirit house, and when danger was near, the spirit who
lived in it was supposed to shout out a warning to the people. Within
the memory of old native women the Maoris used to put food in the box
for the spirit.
Like other South Sea Islanders the Maoris believed in the _tapu_, by
which certain things were forbidden. For example, a chief, his family,
and his belongings were _tapu_. A chief who touched his own head must
put his fingers to his nose and snuff up the sacred contagion from his
head or else he would suffer the consequences of _tapu_. One might
make a tree _tapu_ by giving it a chop with an axe. Certain animals,
places, and foods were forbidden. There are cases on record where
natives in perfect health died in great agony after finding they had
made a mistake and eaten some food that was _tapu_. Charms were worn to
ward off evil. The most common was a piece of green stone carved into a
grotesque figure with rolling eyes and tongue lolling out. This is the
_tiki_, or green charm, which is still often worn by the native women
on chains about their necks.
It gives one an idea of how recently the Maoris were savages, feared
by the pioneers, to hear the story of the first white man born in the
Wellington District, who is still alive. He remembers how one night
when he was three or four years of age the Maoris came upon the hut
that his parents had set up in the bush. The older people were obliged
to run for their lives, but the child was too heavy to carry and could
not walk well. If they tried to take him, all might be captured and
killed. So he was thrust far up the chimney and told that whatever
happened he must make no sound. There he spent the rest of the night,
without a cry, while the Maoris searched the house and took away
whatever struck their fancies. In the morning, after the natives had
left, his parents returned and took him down from his perch, half dead
with fright and exhaustion.
Yet the grandchildren of those uncivilized Maoris are to-day occupying
important positions in the Dominion, acting as members of Parliament
and making good in various professions. They had their own battalion
in the Anzac forces in the World War and were conspicuous for bravery.
Many of them married French girls. The cultured Maori is received
in any society. The outstanding orator of New Zealand is Sir James
Carroll, the son of an Irishman and a full-blooded Maori woman. He has
served in the highest position his country can bestow, for he has been
acting Prime Minister of the Dominion.
In New Zealand, while intermarriage with the Maoris is not exactly
favoured, neither is it actually frowned upon, and the number of half
castes is increasing. Still, one hears gossip about mixed marriages.
There is the case of a wealthy New Zealand girl who announced her
intention of marrying a native. Her mother was opposed and took her
daughter on a trip around the world. But the girl returned and married
her Maori. Her children are rather dark, yet they go everywhere.
Another case I have heard of is that of an Englishman of good family
who married a native and took her to England. Their children were
educated on the Continent and did not realize the status of their
mother until their father died and she returned with them to New
Zealand. Then she went back to her Maori relations. The oldest
daughter was engaged to an officer in the British army, but broke her
engagement when she found out about the roots of her family tree.
The Maoris now own about five million acres of land in the Dominion,
by far the larger part of it in the North Island. They are fairly good
farmers, though inclined to be indolent. Sometimes a native will sell
some of his land, take the cash, and live high while it lasts. The less
educated man who comes into money usually gets himself a high-powered
car and a loud checked suit; he buys his wife an expensive fur coat
and makes all the display possible. The natives are protected by the
government through special land boards, which will not allow a Maori to
part with all his land.