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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 8, Issue 3 (July 1, 1933)

The Wisdom of the Maori

page 37

The Wisdom of the Maori

On this page in previous issues of the Magazine, I gave a number of proverbial sayings illustrative of the philosophy, the wit and the poetic feeling of the Maori. Here are some more examples of the expressive whakatauki or aphorisms which entered so much into the speech of the native race. Orators delighted in interspersing their addresses with the proverbs of old, and many of these sayings are heard at gatherings of the people and are used in letters, and have even passed over the telegraph wires. The first two whakatauki embody challenge and defiance:

“Ana ta te uaua paraoa” (“Here behold the strength of a sperm whale”, in other words, “I am powerful; be careful how you try to injure me; attack me at your peril.”)

“Taku ringaringa te ngaua e te kuri” (“My hand shall not be bitten by a dog.” Compare with the doughty Scots expression of similar import: “Wha daur meddle wi' me?”)

Some sayings expressive of admiration and praise:

“Me he aroaro tamahine” (“Like the presence of a young girl”—pleasing, comely).

“Mehemea ko Kopu” (“She is beautiful as the morning star”).

“Me he pipi-taiari” (“As white as the glistening shells”).

“Me he putatara” (“Like a trumpet,” said of a strong voiced eloquent speaker).

“Me te rangi ka paruhi” (“Like a lovely tranquil sky”), said of anything beautiful, delicate, softly fading, gentle.

A pathetic saying by aged persons, soon to pass to the Spirit Land: “Moku ano enei ra, mo te ra ka hekeheke; he rakau ka hinga ki te mano wai.” (“Leave to me these last days; I am like the setting sun, like a tree soon to fall and be lost in the many waters.')

Sound and patriotic advice to the owners of the soil:

“Te toto o te tangata, he kai; te oranga o te tangata, he whenua.” (“The blood of man's body is formed from his food; it is land which grows that food to sustain him.” That is to say, “Do not part with your land; do not yield the fertile soil which is the source of your life.”)

A Poetic Lament: The Majesty of Death.

The beauty of thought, the depth of philosophy embodied in the poetry and the speeches of the Maori are nowhere more eloquent than in the chants and addresses of lamentation for the dead. These elegiac compositions, like the Highland coronach, are sometimes very ancient poems adapted to the occasion. Modern laments preserve the old beliefs and classic language of the race.

As an example of the fine poetic feeling of the old generation of the Maori expressed in the mihi aroha or addresses of sorrow and affection in the presence of Death, I give the following letter expressing the grief of the leading chiefs of the Waikato tribe at the death of the Premier, Mr. Seddon, in 1906; it was a message to Sir James Carroll (Native Minister) signed by Mahuta, Patara te Tuhi, Henare Kaihau and other rangatiras at Waahi, Waikato:—

” … We farewell him who has been taken away by the great Creator to the pillow which cannot fall, to that bed which cannot be raised. Alas, alas! Our grief and pain overwhelm us. Depart, O the mooring-post of the canoes of the two races. Depart, O mighty totara tree of the forest, felled by the axe of Death—Death the irresistible, Death the swallower page 38 of greenstone treasures…. Death is the great king of this earth. It takes many forms; it has arbitrary power, none can disregard its voice, none great or small. We your people lament. The heavens likewise cried out, the storms arose, the lightning flashed, the thunder rolled across the sky. The soft wind of the crying of the earth and the great stormy wind have passed through the forest. The trees are sad, they cry, they suffer, and groan with pain. After these portents the people know of the Death, and there is nothing greater than Death….

“A man imagines he will live on for ever in the world, but he dies. The land thinks it rules itself, but when an earthquake shatters it that is its form of Death. In like manner the waters think that they have dominion, but when they dry up that is their Death. Rocks rejoice in their hardness and consider they cannot be broken up, but when they are shattered their Death is accomplished. Death in its many forms rules everything and cannot be averted…. But the results of your parent's work, the great treasure left by him, the result of his life's labours in this world will not be lost. They shall ever be remembered by generation after generation. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but good works shall never pass away; they live for ever.”

The Lone-Flying Heron.

“Te kotuku rerenga tahi,” the white heron that flies singly, is a classic Maori description of the habit of that beautiful rare bird of the swamps and the lagoons. The expression is often applied to the visit of a distinguished visitor, and in that poetic speech usage the saying is interpreted as “the heron of one flight,” otherwise the rare bird seen only once; the visit of a lifetime. Sometimes a kotuku is reported as having been seen, even to-day, when the marshes that provide it with its food are being lessened by drainage and settlement. Invariably only one is seen; it is the solitary bird of the wastes. A lovely spirit-like bird, it still lingers in the land from which the ancient peace of the wilds has departed.

There is a poetic and proverbial saying in praise of the white heron: “He kotuku kai-whakaata.” The meaning is that the heron leisurely examines its food before it eats; it is a bird of dainty habit, by contrast with the duck, which is described as “He parera apu paru”—“A duck that gobbles up the mud.” These sayings are aptly applied to mankind. A person at a feast who courteously waits until the others come before he eats his food is likened to the chieftainlike kotuku. A greedy person, on the other hand, is like the mud-gobbling duck.

One of our South Island lakes has a name which preserves a memory of the time when the white heron was numerous on its shores. This is Lake Brunner, on the West Coast railway line. Its Maori name, as the old people of Arahura village once told me, is Kotuku-whakaoka, which means the heron which darts its sharp bill to stab its prey, otherwise Spear-darting Heron. This expression exactly describes the ways of the white wading bird.

The Morepork's Perch.

The Maori had a genius for coining apt descriptive names of places. Here is one that I do not think anyone else has recorded. The sharp, steep summit of Maunga-kakaramea, the Mountain of Coloured Earth, or Rainbow Mountain, towering over the entrance to the Waiotapu Valley, in Geyserland, was called by the old Maoris of the district Tihi-o-Ruru, meaning Citadel of the Owl, otherwise Morepork's Perch. To the native fancy that sentinel peak of the enchanted valley was an excellent look-out place for bird as well as man of old. Unknowing of this, but striking unconsciously exactly the Maori point of view, a writer (“Traveller”) in the May issue of this magazine described the steamy mountain's top as an eagle's nest, with old Hielan'man McAlpine, of the Forest Service, its keen-eyed occupant. An excellent name, Tihi-o-Ruru.

page 39