Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1883-09-27
THE TAPU AMONG MAORIS.

Weeping and I.SugkinG in Church Cause
OF Some MassacrSs-DruES versus Cam
nIbNlIsm.
The Maoris are people who not
only weep in church at the pathetic
passages, but laugh uproariously at
anything in lessons or sermon that
tiekles their fancy. Mr.. Hay has seen
Il church full of them waving their
arms, stamping their feet, grinding
their teeth with rage, when the treach-
/ cry of Judas was being related. TO
such people Christianity came as Il new
form of tapu (taboo). They are ready
for any number of rites and ceremonies,
and it was only when they began to
| read for themselves, and to contrast the
teachings of the Book with the conduct
of the land-grabbing rakehas round
them; when, moreover, their implicit
faith in the missionary had been weak
cned by the coming in Of rival faiths,
each claiming to be the only true way.
that they got to be eclectic, giving up
the New Testament, in its practical
portions, and sticking by the Old, he
cause it allowed polygamy AMI revenge
and strictly forbade the alienation of
! land.
This tapu had many uses. A river
was tapu at certain seasons, SO us TO
give close time for fish; wood was
tapu when birds were nesting. fruit
ripening, or rats (delicacies in the old
Maori cuisine) multiplying. To tapu
a garden answered-till Captain Cook
brought in pigs far better than the
strongest fence. A girl, tapued,
would be as safe amid the wild license
of unmarried Maori life as if she had
been IN a nunnery. Tapu was proba.
hlynever Intentionally broken, so weird
was the horror which surrounded il
But in this case shining in ignorance
was no excuse; and the most furious
wars were those which arose from
breaking it. The sign of tapu was
easily set up-a bunch of flax or hair.
a bone, rag on a carved stick, that
was enough. To lift it was much
harder, needing the intervention of the
tohunga (priest), who by muttering
incarnations, and, above all, by making
the tabooed man eat a sweet potato
/ (kumera) charmed it away.
Many Il massacre of whites was due
to an unwilling infringement of the
tapu. The historic massacre of Du
/ Fresno and his crew was brought about
by deliberate breach of tapu; and
such outrages on native feeling were
so dangerous that Governor Ma~quarie
of Sydney, in 1913, tried to make every
skipper in the New Zealand trade sign
a bond for eI000not to ill-treat Maoris.
not to break tapu, not TO treSpass on
burial grounds, not to kidnap men or
women. His efforts were fruitless.
Maoris were fine, sturdy fellows, and
/ though there was, as yet, no Kanaka
labor market in Queensland, no Queens
land at all in fact, ship that was
short-handed was very glad to get some
of them on board by any kind of device
The worst thing connected with the
carrying off of native women was that
the poor creatures we1e generally put
ashore in some 2ther part of the islands
i. e., among enemies. There slavery
! or worse, was sure to he their fate.
Another cause for bloody reprisals was
/ the treatment of the men who were
! taken on board. I'm a chief" said
one, who was being driven by a ropes
end, when incapable through seasick-
ness, to some menial work. you
a chief" scollingly replied the master
of the Boyd, for that was the name of
the ill-fated ship. "When you come
to my country you'll find I'm a chief,
was the reply. The Boyd happened to
sail into the harbOr of Whargaron, the
very place to which the fogged chief
! belonged He showed his tribesmen
his scored back, and they vowed ven.
/ geance, for even blow to chief is
an insult that can only be wiped out
with blood. The captain and part of
the crew, leaving some fifty souls in
the ship, went ashore to select tim
ber. The Maoris waylaid and mur
dered them, dressing themselves in
their victims clothes, went at dusk to
the ship, climbed on board, and killed
every one except woman, her child
rem, and boy who had been kind to
the chief during his distress. The
vessel was plundered, and the chiefs
father, delighted at securing some fire
arms, snapped musket over an open
barrel of powder and was blown to
pieces with dozen of his men.
Tapu was successfully broken by
the early missionaries in the Bay of
Islands. One of their settlements was