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Mahuta of Waikato
Sir Maui’s Funeral Speech

IN the year 1912 the Hon. Dr. Pomare (as he was then) visited Waahi, Waikato, on the occasion of the mourning over the late Mahuta Tawhiao, son of King Tawhiao, and grandson of Potatau, the first Maori King. Standing in front of the body of the dead King, he spoke as follows: “The tree has fallen and there it lies. The giant totara has come crashing to the earth, and the sound thereof reverberates through the length and breadth of the land. The stars of the heavens grow fewer. The ridgepole of the house is broken asunder. The whare leaks. The children shiver with the cold. The father has gone. The tribe is left desolate. The little ones are left orphans. The canoe of fate which was fashioned in Hawaiki by the God of misfortune—Aitua—has come. It has visited your home as it needs must visit the dwelling-places of man. Each time it takes its silent passenger to the realms of Night. So to-day, you are the silent passenger, and we have come to bid farewell. Depart to the Spirit Land in the company of your illustrious brother who preceded you. Together wend your ways to the great ones of the earth, to our common ancestors, and tell them the truth concerning these days.

“In their time this was the proverb: ‘The man first, and then the land.’ Now the world is upside down, and the proverb has been transposed: ‘The land first and the man after.’ In their day thus was the word: ‘Man is easily lost, but the land remains for ever.’ This saying is also changed: ‘The land is easily lost, but man remains for ever.’”

Dr. Pomare then chanted an old song and incantation, Te Neke’s Lament. Thereafter, as their representative in Parliament, he greeted Waikato and the other assembled tribes.