Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-04-07

, to tell the facts His conscience seems
to hurt him If he tells an untruth and,
at best, he is such a poor liar that you
can detect it almost at once"
HE THINKS INDIA
ORIGINAL HOME.
Captain Mair leans to the belief that
the original Macris were native of India;
that gradually they drifFed into the
Pacific and that other Polymesian races
are merely OfshOOts Of the main body
which came to New Zealand and that
they found there a large tribe of meek,
inOffensive savages whom they first con-
quered, then assimilated. He points out
| that the Maori excels in the water; that
he is a sailor and not q iandsman and
that, Of all savage races, the Maori OF
old best understood navigation and could
guide his canoe by the stars and by the
sun. Only such a people could have
made in safety the rough voyage Of
many months to New Zealand in frail
! outrigger canoes, as did the original
settlers. The Maori never was skillfN In
tracking or In woodcraft, as were the
American Indians. He made paths>N
through the bush and underground and
left them only IN emergency. His habits
were simple and in a land like New
Zealand where nature did not SUPPLY him
with a great variety Of wild frults or
vegetable foods, his diet was very plain
That he won through in spite of his lack
Of ability to make the most of those
things which were at hand was remark
able.
Among the old customs which remain,
the ceremonies are most interesting. A
funeral IS a prolonged affair Of several
days in which the mourners gather about
the home Of the dead, whose family must
feed them. 1t Is customary also to bring
to the funeral all Of the gifts which had
I been given by the deceased to friends or
relatives and, after carefully wrapping
( them in mats to show they had been
treasured, to pile them about the body.
Later the relatives return them to the
owners and after that the gifts are theirs
to do with as they please. To give away
a present during the lifetime Of the
dOnor-in other words, to indicate that
1t was not appreCfated-is unthought of.
Quite often I have heard a man say
in the United States that he WAS glad
that he had not married his wife's fam
lily when he wed. s Maori cannot say
that. for. in effect, he does that very
thing. His wife's relatives are at all
times privileged to make themselves at
LONE in his house and he is under obli-
ga atoms to feed them. It is an expensive
thing and I imagine that q Maori, work
ing for about SO d day for about two days
a week, in the government forest service,
thinks the same thing.
INTELLIGENT
AS \ RACE.
That the faOris are Intelligent people
is quite evident from the success Of
many Of them, and they are quite proud
Of the fact that they are represented by
four elective members of the Dominion
House Of Representatives and two ap-
pointive members Of the Legislative
70
ate. Several members Of the race have
risen to high positions. One. Sir James
Carroll. has been knighted and made a
member Of the Dominion cabinet, and
others have held high offices in the gov
eminent. They are wei represented
among the professions and several have
become millionaires IN agricultural pur-
suits. How far the new generation, edu-
Gated in the public schools and instilled
with the high ideals Of the white man,
will go is hard to forecast. For those
who desire to go farther than the Ordi-
nary school, the government maintains
six large boarding schools. for which
scholarships are issued and are much
sought after
Before we parted I obtained from Su-
san one Of the native skirts, made from
fax and requiring long and tedious work
to produce. The skirt consists of pen
dants Of fax, in which the hemp is raw
elled out in sections and dyed with mud
which has been cooked with the leaves
Of a poisonous tree.
Were the curse of drink eliminated
altogether the Maori probably would
hold his own as New Zealand progresses,
As it is, Maori men are permitted to
have drinks served over the bar but can
not take a bottle home. The women
supposedly cannot have a drink at all.
as they are not permitted in the bars.
But the "scallwag," or New Zealand boot
lecger, is ever at work, and for a few
dollars Will sell to the natives a vile
cOncoction almost as terrible in it's eff
fects as wood alcohol
The Maori language is not harsh. neil
Their is it liquid or musical as spoken by
those who know how, but it is a STUN
bling block for the beginner. Every
vowel must be sounded in order to pro-
nounne words correctly, every word ends
in vowel and no cOnsonants ever come
together. Names of places and things
often are long and involved, having been
given to places or objects as the result
of the most trivial incidents. The ma
tlves themselves have made no effort to
preserve original spelling or pronuncia-
ton and they copy the white mans meth
DDS of shortening lengthy words of mis-
spelling them and mispronOuncing them.
l am sorry that I am leaving the Ma
oris. 1t would be a pleasure to stay
among them, to listen to their beautiful
love stories and legends indefinitely ana
I am sure that nowhere in the world
would it be possible to find a race of
natives that would not grow tiresome
long before one would be willing to tear
himself away from the Maoris.