Title: Making New Zealand vol 01 no 02: The Maori

Author: Centennial Branch, Department of Internal Affairs

Editor: Eric Hall McCormick

Publication details: Centennial Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, 1939, Wellington

Part of: The New Zealand Centennial Publications

Conditions of use

Belief in Spirits Influenced the Whole of Life

'A New Zealand Deity,' or hei tiki, sketched by John Savage in 1805. The greenstone tiki was of course not a deity, but a precious ornament greatly valued as a tribal or personal heirloom.

This scraper-board drawing shows a 'tuahu' or 'wahi tapu' (sacred place), where various religious and magical rites were performed. In 'The Maori As He Was' Elsdon Best states that each of these stones represented a certain 'atua' (god).

The Maori was a deeply religious person. He relied on the gods for help and protection in his work and in his play, in times of crisis and sickness, in times of danger and in times when all was going well. In fowling, fishing, warfare, housebuilding, and half a hundred other activities he used rituals and incantations, prayers, and ceremonials to secure the good favours of his gods.

His gods were many. Supreme above all and known only to the select few was the great god Io —Io the Parentless, Io the Eternal, Io the Unchanging—to give this god a few of his many names. His cult was exceedingly sacred and incantations directed to him were made only on the most urgent occasions. A second class of gods were departmental gods who presided over the various natural phenomena. The most important of these were: Tangaroa, god of the ocean; Rongo, god of agriculture; Tane, god of forests; Tu, god of war; Whiro, god of darkness and death; Tawhire Matea, god of the winds. A third class of gods were the ancestral spirits who were invoked to give help for smaller undertakings.

The Maori also believed in a group of evil spirits. These were spirits of darkness who caused disease, sickness and physical suffering. They became angry when some prohibition was broken. They could also be stirred into activity by the rites of the sorcerer. Then they entered the body of the victim. And the only thing the Maori couldpage 27

A monupent in memory of Te Whero Whero's daughter at Raroera Pa, Waikato. European influences are noticeable in this elaborate monument which was drawn by Angas during his journey through the North Island.

Henry Williams made this sketch of Tohitapu, old-time Maori priest. The old man sits wrapped in a trade blanket. In front of him is a fish and a basket of kumara, probably gifts for services.

do to rid himself of his trouble was to call in the services of the priest-doctor who by suitable incantations would exorcise the spirit.

These priest-doctors were important members of the community. By their aid the Maori could secure the protection of the gods. They were generally experts. Indeed the word tohunga means precisely this: an expert at any activity or craft. They knew the appropriate rituals and prayers. They had been thoroughly trained in the Maori schools of learning. They knew how to communicate with the gods and how to interpret the wishes of the gods to the populace.

The Maori were not idol-worshippers. They did not bow their heads down to images of stone. On certain occasions the gods came to reside in rough wooden or stone representations. Then the priest talked to the god and, when the seance was over, the god left his temporary abiding place. Many of the simple incantations and magical sentences were known to all the people. The more elaborate ones were known only to the trained priests.

The typical Maori shrine was a small cleared place close to the village. Here there might be a rough stone set up, or a small wooden post, or there might be nothing but the clearing itself. The place was peculiarly sacred, however, and here small offerings were left so that the gods would incline a favourable ear to the supplications of the people of the village.