1856 - Shortland, Edward. Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders - CHAPTER XII

       
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  1856 - Shortland, Edward. Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders - CHAPTER XII
 
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CHAPTER XII

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CHAPTER XII.

DIVISIONS OF THE NEW ZEALANDERS INTO 'WAKA,' 'IWI,' AND 'HAPU.'----DISTINGUISHING NAMES OF TRIBES.--CLASSES OF SOCIETY.--RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE.-- 'UTU ' AND 'UTO.'--LAWS AND PRECEDENTS.--ANECDOTES OF THE CHIEF NINI.-- MODES OF PUNISHING CRIME AND REDRESSING GRIEVANCES.

THE primary divisions into which we have separated the entire population of New Zealand--at any rate the three principal divisions, formed respectively by the tribes descended from the crews of Tainui, Te Arawa, and Te Mata-atua--are sometimes designated by the term Waka (canoe), in reference to their reputed origin from the crews of different canoes. The term Iwi, commonly translated Tribe, applies also to those primary divisions, but more generally to their larger subdivisions: smaller subdivisions being called Hapu. Thus, each Waka contains more or less Iwi, and each Iwi more or less Hapu. It will be as well to indicate the way in which these subdivisions have originated. The distinguishing names of Iwi and Hapu are generally taken from ancestors. The first colonists do not appear to have remained living together in one body, but to have dispersed soon after landing, each

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family seeking for itself a locality which pleased it, and there settling. In the third generation, we find a part of the crew of the Arawa settled at Taupo, in the very centre of the island. The off-spring of each of these communities increasing in number, were at length distinguished by the name of some common ancestor of note. Thus, two of the Iwi into which the descendants of the crew of the Arawa, are now divided are called Tapuika and Waitaha; the former being the name of the grandson of Tia, and the latter of the grandson of He, both of them persons who are supposed to have made the voyage from Hawaiki to New Zealand. Another important Iwi, called Ngati-Wakaue, derives its name from Wakaue, an ancestor seventh in descent from Hou, a chief who was also one of the crew of the Arawa. We might in this way go through the whole of the Iwi, which make up this great division of the New Zealanders, and trace them back to some one of the crew of the Arawa.

As an Iwi became numerous and powerful, it split up into the smaller divisions called Hapu; these being also denoted by the name of the ancestor under whom they became a separate body.

If it were our business to make genealogical inquiries respecting any tribe -- a necessary step preliminary to the investigation of native titles to land--we should first ascertain the names of all the Iwi composing the division of natives in ques-

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tion. We should then trace each of these Iwi to its source, from information obtained from the most competent and trustworthy of its present representatives. We should next, by a similar process, trace the Hapu contained in each of these Iwi to their common ancestor from whom the Iwi received its name. It is believed that genealogical tables thus constructed would be found of the greatest value in facilitating the purchase of land from the natives. Without having previously made any investigations of this nature, there would exist an uncertainty whether the persons who offered land for sale were its rightful owners; for the New Zealanders have their full share of that infirmity of human nature which prompts to deceive when there is any prospect of gain. Indeed, in every case that came under my notice, I found them systematically keep in the dark the names of all claimants to land offered for sale, but of those belonging to their own party.

Ngati is the word most commonly prefixed to the name of an ancestor to designate his descendants. It is the compound word Nga-ati, signifying the offspring. The other terms similarly used are,-- Te-ati, the singular of Nga-ati; Ngaiti 1 for Nga-aiti; Te Aitanga, as in Te Aitanga-Kuri, the name of a tribe in the Middle Island; Nga, the plural of the definite article, as in Nga-Puhi. Sometimes the

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name of a district is used to denote several Iwi who inhabit it, as Waikato for the tribes who dwell on the banks of the river so called.

CLASSES OF SOCIETY.--The population of New Zealand is divided into three classes, Rangatira (gentlemen and chiefs), Tangata-ware (plebeans), and Pononga or Taurekareka (slaves). Every man, however, who is not a slave, may, if he be naturally brave and eloquent, obtain influence, and so become a chief; and the children of a distinguished person or chief, though they inherit his importance, will, nevertheless, gradually lose it, if they are deficient in ability and bravery. The superstitious belief of the New Zealander maintains a constant and intimate connexion between the living and the spirits of the dead. Hence they naturally imagine, that their most powerful Atua--spirits of their chiefs-- have an especial care for the living members of their own family; and for this reason the families of chiefs are esteemed to be more under the influence of the laws of tapu than persons of less importance. There is no bar, however, to prevent a tangata-ware from rising to the rank of chief, if nature has endowed him with the qualifications of chieftain--valour and skill in war, and eloquence.

The influence of a chief is almost entirely confined to his own particular Hapu or Iwi, except in times of war. Nothing approaching to a regal office ever existed. Indeed the power of individual

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chiefs depends much on public opinion; and few matters of importance are undertaken, except after having been submitted to public discussion. No people in the world are greater lovers of freedom than the New Zealanders; and the best idea to be given of the political constitution of their society will be to describe it as a democracy, limited by a certain amount of patriarchal influence. Mr. Ellis, in his account of the inhabitants of Tahiti and the Society Islands, says, that a regal office existed there, and that the office was hereditary, descending from the father to the eldest son. In connexion with this office, however, he states that it was the custom in those countries for the father to abdicate the throne on the birth of his eldest son. "This," to quote his own words, "was an invariable, and it appears to have been an ancient practice............. Whatever the age of the king, as soon as a son was born, the monarch became a subject, and the infant was at once proclaimed the sovereign of the people." 2

Comparing this description of so remarkable a custom with a similar custom prevailing in New Zealand, I cannot help believing that Mr. Ellis has been rather extreme in the choice of the terms king, monarch, and sovereign. It even appears doubtful whether the so-called king of Tahiti was in reality any more of a king, than the principal

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chief of any tribe in New Zealand was king of that tribe: for the word Arii, translated by Mr. Ellis and the Missionaries of the Society Islands king or sovereign, corresponds exactly with the word Ariki in use in New Zealand, allowing for a common difference of dialect, the former always dropping the k in words in which the latter pronounce it. It has been explained in a former chapter, that the Ariki is believed to be peculiarly under the protection of the Atua, and therefore, so to say, more sacred and important than any other individual belonging to the family. The word Ariki, however, means no more than the heir male, or heir female, of any family; and it therefore follows, of course, that as soon as the Ariki of any family has a son, that son becomes immediately the Ariki instead of his father.

In Tahiti, the custom of the father being superseded by his son, in the remarkable manner described by Mr. Ellis, does not appear to have been confined solely to one particular family; but, as we learn elsewhere from the same author, prevailed among the families of all gentlemen, the eldest son receiving at his birth "the honours and titles which his father had before borne." 3 From this fact, and from the near identity of the languages of Tahiti and New Zealand, one is naturally lead to infer, that the title Arii in the former country meant the

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same as the same word, slightly modified in sound, does in the latter country; and therefore, it is believed, that to translate Arii by the titles king and sovereign, is only calculated to give an erroneous idea of the constitution of society in Tahiti and the Society Islands.

That Mr. Ellis uses the titles sovereign and king, where most persons would probably have preferred a less dignified title, further appears from the following extract from another page 4 of his very interesting work:---"Pomare the Second's father, called Otoo, was sovereign of the larger peninsula when it was visited by Cook. Subsequently, being aided by the mutineers of the Bounty, he became king of the whole island, and adopted the name of Pomare, which, at his death, was assumed by his son, and has since been the hereditary name of the reigning family." The statement shows plainly enough, that the so-called regal power of Pomare's father prevailed only over little more than half the insignificant island of Tahiti, and is an additional reason for concluding, that a regal office cannot be said to have existed in Tahiti with greater propriety than it can be said to have existed in New Zealand.

The principle of justice recognized in New Zealand was that ancient principle of "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." If a person were killed in battle, it behoved his relations to kill the

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victor, if they could catch him, or some one of his kin, on a future occasion, no matter how distant. If, in addition to being killed, he had also been cooked and eaten, it behoved his relations to cook and eat some one of the enemy of equal rank. But if a person, instead of being killed fairly in battle, had been murdered treacherously, the murder required a further satisfaction. Whenever an opportunity offered, even though two or three generations had passed away, the payment was of necessity to be exacted; for the memory of the injury was handed down as an heir-loom, and the name of some one of the tribe of the murderer, secretly doomed to satisfy the necessity of the payment of blood, was often whispered privately in the ear of his son by a father when on his death bed. Whenever the man who committed the murder or the substitute was caught, his punishment was not only to be killed and eat, but his bones were devoted to purposes revolting to the sentiments of the New Zealander. The hands and fingers were converted into sconces to hold baskets of food, 5 and the bones of the arms and legs into fish-hooks. The eyes were swallowed raw by the Ariki of the family. This extreme expiatory revenge was called uto; whereas ordinary revenge, which required only an equivalent satisfaction, was called utu.

The New Zealanders have certain recognized

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rules of conduct, sanctioned by custom, which they call tikanga or ritenga (making straight or even); and such is the deliberation with which they generally act, that in their more savage days they seldom committed even their worst deeds without thinking over and talking over beforehand what it was proposed to do, and convincing themselves that it was in accordance with their rude ideas of justice. A gentleman of the Church Mission, with whom I was intimate, was one day conversing with a party of New Zealanders, at Maketu, on the subject of a feud which had just been renewed between them and a neighbouring tribe, and accompanied with many of the atrocities of olden times. He, of course, did his best to point out the injustice and wickedness of their proceedings, and his arguments were listened to with apparent attention by the chief of the party. However, they did not by any means convince him there was any thing wrong in his own mode of thinking, and he replied, that no doubt the Missionary was right, judging by the law of white men, but that he was right, judging by the law of his country. The subject, he said, had been thoroughly discussed by themselves, and every knotty point argued according to principles recognized by Maori law, till they had arrived at conclusions which, as he quaintly expressed it, were as straight and even as a board planed by a carpenter.

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The New Zealanders have also a great respect for precedents; and a reference to a case in point will often prevail over a more rational argument. When war broke out between Heke and the colonists, the other tribes were very generally in a state of anxiety and uncertainty how they would be affected by it. They remarked that they had no tikanga to guide them in this case. In any quarrel among themselves, it could at once be determined by reference to ancient usage how it became any particular tribe to act; whereas now they could not refer to any precedent: and many openly discussed the propriety of following Heke's example. As soon as Nini declared himself in favour of the Europeans, this uncertainty was removed: for Nini being a person of great influence, his example was sure to be followed by others. In whatever part of the country imitators of Heke might rise up against the Europeans, it was thenceforth certain that many like Nini would be found to fight on their side. It is impossible to estimate too highly the value to the colony of the decisive conduct of this chief at so critical a juncture.

In acting as he did, however, Nini only followed up the rule of conduct towards Europeans he had always before adhered to; and it was this fact that justified him in the eyes of those of his countrymen who took a different view of affairs. I have heard natives who did not belong to his tribe, and who

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were by no means favourable to the European cause, give as sufficient reason for Nini's taking part against Heke, that "to protect the Pakeha" was a law he had made for himself. 6 They referred to a remarkable occasion when he had stood up in defence of foreigners.

In the more lawless and savage days of the New Zealanders, a trading vessel came into the harbour of Tauranga to purchase a cargo of flax, while a large body of men belonging to the Nga-Puhi tribe happened to be there on an expedition of war. No cargo was at the time procurable, and the captain as persuaded by one of the chiefs of Nga-Puhi to take his ship to Wakatane, about forty miles distant, being led to believe be would there obtain plenty of flax without any difficulty. The chief sent one of his men in the vessel ostensibly as a guide, but he was really the bearer of a message as fatal as that contained in the letter given to Bellerophon; for it was a hint to the chief of Wakatane to seize the vessel and all the property in it.

The Nga-Puhi chief knew that he could attempt nothing against this ship while at Tauranga; for it was there under the protection of the natives of the place, who carried on a profitable trade with foreigners, which would have been ruined completely by an act of violence. He therefore conceived the idea of making both ship and cargo a

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present to the less scrupulous natives of Wakatane, in order that he might claim a share of the spoil. The captain fell into the trap, and attempting to defend the vessel, he and his crew were all killed, and the vessel was then plundered and destroyed.

A secret is seldom if ever well kept by the people of this country. With the news of the fate of the unfortunate ship, its cause, and the very words of the message, 7 were reported at Tauranga. Immediately the event was the subject of public discussion. Nini, after expressing his resentment against the perpetrators of the deed, demanded of the chief of Nga-Puhi, who was present, if it was true that he had sent the message to Wakatane which led to the catastrophe. The chief did not deny it. "Then," said Nini, "you shall be the payment for the white-men:" and with these words he shot him. The act was so sudden and unexpected that no one could interpose to prevent its execution: nor were the chiefs immediate followers sufficiently numerous to avenge his death; for Nini's prompt act of justice was approved of by the majority.

As in punishing offences, the New Zealanders had in view rather to obtain some compensation for the injury, than to prevent crime, by inflicting salutary chastisement on the guilty person, their recognized modes of obtaining redress were fre-

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quently most unjust, innocent persons being made to suffer for the faults of others. For instance, in cases of adultery, the relations of the guilty parties were liable to suffer, and sometimes even the relations of the injured husband.

On a certain occasion, when the wife of a young chief had been guilty of infidelity, her father, uncles, and other near relations, to the number of nearly one hundred, made a descent on the village of her husband and father-in-law, and remained there three days feasting on their pigs, which they caught and killed without opposition. 8 The reason they gave for acting in this unusual manner was, that the wife had been tempted to commit the fault to avenge herself for the neglect of her husband. Her paramour being a slave, and having prudently saved himself by flight, the husband was unable to retaliate on any one.

When the paramour is a gentleman, the regular mode of proceeding is for the husband to go with a party of his friends, each armed with a light spear, called a timata, to the residence of the offender, who, having notice of his coming, awaits him supported by a party of his relations similarly armed. The timata is the legitimate weapon for deciding affairs of this sort. It is, in fact, to them

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what the small sword was some years ago to European gentlemen, and they are very dexterous in using it. It is generally well understood beforehand how the affair is to be settled, whether by giving and receiving compensation in property, or by single combat. In the former case, even the amount of compensation, or, at least, the more considerable items have probably been agreed on beforehand, through the assistance of mutual friends going between the two parties, to learn and report the nature of the terms likely to be demanded by one, or likely to be accepted by the other.

The preliminaries having been thus arranged, the husband and his friends are politely received, and the terms of compromise publicly discussed, as if no understanding had been previously come to. The payment esteemed the most honourable to receive on such occasions is land. "Land," say they, "is the only treasure of equal value to a woman. Most other treasures are perishable, but women and land are treasures which last for ever: women produce children, and land produces food to sustain life." It is with great reluctance, however, that the piece of land asked for is yielded, though canoes, guns, pigs, and every other sort of valuable property are given with apparent readiness.

If compensation of this sort be refused by one or both of the parties, the quarrel must be decided by single combat with the spear. The husband is then

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always the attacking party. His adversary receives him in a position between sitting and standing, having one knee touching the ground, but ready to spring on his feet in an instant. In front of him he holds his spear erect in both hands, prepared to ward off a thrust. His friends arrange themselves behind him in similar postures. The injured husband, supported by his friends, advances spear in hand, and when near enough makes a thrust at the breast of his foe. If it be parried, he may thrust a second and a third time. But after the third thrust the debt of honour is considered to be paid, and should he still persist, his adversary springs on his feet, and both continue the fight on equal terms. The first wound generally terminates the contest; but if one or other is mortally wounded, some relative starts up immediately to seek satisfaction; and soon the fray becomes general, ceasing only when one party is beaten.

On one of my visits to Tauranga, I found the whole population of the district in a great state of excitement, owing to its having been discovered that a wife of one of the principal chiefs, named Te Mutu, had proved faithless. The chief and his friends, to the number of two hundred, had that morning gone in their canoes to a village called Maunga-tapu, where the male offender and his friends resided, in order to obtain redress; and as it was a part of my duty to prevent, as far as pos-

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sible, any breach of the peace, I followed them without delay. When I arrived there, the taua, or war-party, with a numerous body of the inhabitants of the settlement, were assembled in a large open space near the house of the chief of the place. This chief warmly espoused the cause of Te Mutu, because he was his near relation, while the Missionary party of the village supported the offender, notwithstanding the nature of his fault, because he was one of their body. Te Mutu, however, had no wish to proceed to violence, but offered terms of accommodation. He demanded two particular pieces of land and a large canoe -- the property of the delinquent--besides a quantity of miscellaneous valuables not specified, to be contributed by his relations. At the same time, the faithless lady being only a slave, he offered to give up his claim to her. The other party did not come to the meeting; but shutting themselves up in their own quarter of the village, which occupied an eminence very capable of being defended, stoutly refused to give up either the land or the woman. They even made preparations to resist, if attacked; and, to show their hostile dispositions, every now and then discharged a few muskets in the air.

The friendly interference of a stranger in their quarrels is never taken amiss by the New Zealanders, and I have often known it to prove serviceable by enabling the weaker party to yield

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with safety to their honour, on the plea that their so doing was owing to such interference. On this account, I determined to take up my quarters in the village till the dispute was settled, hoping that my presence would contribute to an amicable arrangement.

It is also an established rule with this people never to give up a point in dispute without first making a great deal of difficulty, even if they have all the while resolved in their own minds to submit to necessity at last. In the present case, the Missionary party, who were most in the wrong, and also in the minority, were by far the more noisy and violent; and the Rev. -- Davis, who had accompanied me from the neighbouring Mission Station, in order to exert his influence on his erring flock, was obliged to return home without being able to persuade them to listen to reason. It appeared to me, however, that the noisy opposition made was partly conventional, intended to satisfy the feeling of honour I have mentioned; in fact, to be only what in their language is termed whakaputa (make-believe). And so it turned out; for after a long interview with the opposition party, late in the evening, they so far moderated their tone as to invite me to return in the morning to hear their final determination about the land.

With the morning all opposition ceased; the two pieces of land were granted, and the large canoe,

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with a considerable amount of property in the shape of guns, iron pots, tools, &c. was delivered up on the spot. Several pigs were also killed to provide a feast, and Te Mutu and his party went away perfectly satisfied.

The mode of dividing the spoil, however, will be thought rather odd. Te Mutu took nothing for his own share; but left the canoe and the heap of contributions to be carried away by his men. This, their usual custom, is the active influence by which a large body of followers is got together for such expeditions.

Thieving is not looked on as disgraceful, and is therefore a common vice of the youth of the country. When, however, a thief is detected, he is not allowed to escape without punishment. Once when I was absent, my house at Maketu was undermined by two young men, who by that means obtained an entrance within, and carried off several small things. They were soon discovered, and most of the property was restored. Afterwards a public meeting was called to discuss the nature of the punishment to be inflicted on the offenders. It so happened, that one of them was the son of a chief, who was owner of a piece of land near my house. This piece of land, about half-an-acre, I had wished to include within the boundary of some land bought only a short time before for the Colonial Government, in order to avoid an unsightly break in the

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boundary line. The owner then refused to part with it, as the soil was rich and the situation convenient for a garden; but he now voluntarily offered it as compensation for the theft. On the establishment of British Government in New Zealand, petty thefts were of frequent occurrence in the European settlements, but it was found difficult to apply the punishments usually inflicted by our law for such offences. Sons of powerful chiefs were every now and then the offenders, and their tribe would not submit to the indignity of their being imprisoned in a common jail, although they were always willing to give compensation. Governor Fitzroy very wisely adopted the plan of making the punishment a four-fold payment of the value of the goods stolen, which, being sanctioned by precedent drawn from the Bible, was universally accepted as satisfactory.

Minor offences and disputes between individuals are settled by abusing each other, or, at the most, by pulling each other's hair; and strange scenes, resulting from such causes, are often witnessed by travellers in those parts of the country remote from contact with Europeans. I was one day walking through the large Pa at Roturua with a friend, when we were attracted by the noise of loud shrill voices in altercation. On approaching the spot whence they proceeded, we discovered two elderly females nearly naked, each flourishing a stick in

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her hand, and running up and down screeching the one at the other with extraordinary animation. The rage with which they were transported seemed to be so wild and ungovernable, that I at once recognized the justness of the ancients in representing the furies as females. The opposite sex could never by their words or gestures have appeared so supernaturally outrageous. With the latter, the scene would probably have been cut short by blows and bloodshed: with the former, physical exhaustion seemed likely to be the only termination of the scene. A large crowd of spectators stood or sat around, without interfering in any way with the proceedings of the two principal actors, who were so engaged in their wordy strife, that they did not for some time notice our approach. When, however, at last one of them caught sight of us, she seemed to be struck with shame at being thus seen by foreigners; and, forgetting her rage, let drop her baton and ran to cover herself with her mantle, which had been thrown off in her transports. Her companion in strife quickly imitated her example, and a general laugh from the spectators closed the scene.

Under ordinary circumstances the New Zealanders are not prone to quarrelling. The bearing of individuals to each other is what we should characterize as remarkably gentlemanly; an offensive observation or a practical joke being equally foreign

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to their ideas of propriety. A blow with the fist is never given, for it would lead to a combat with arms. And so it is, that however large the body of persons assembled on festive occasions, one never witnesses the quarrelling and fighting so common among the lower orders in this country.

1   Naiti, among tribes who pronounce n instead of ng.
2   Polynesian Researches, vol. iii.
3   Polynesian Researches, vol. iii. p. 100.
4   Polynesian Researches, vol. iii. p. 250.
5   Pataka-kai.
6   Tana tikanga.
7   Tenei tou rahui poaka. Behold a herd of pigs made sacred for you. (A sentence very significant to a New Zealander.)
8   This mode of obtaining redress, called muru (stripping), is a very favourite one under all circumstances, and has now and then been applied to European settlers.

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