DOMINION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

SPIRITUA! ANDMENTA! CONCEPTS

OF THE MAORI.

E! SDON ! EST .

Tu kua mai ki d a te waim a 0 te tamgata maku e kapo i te toiom 0 a taua

tamariki .

- THE DAWN MAID .

Publ ished by the Dom in io n Muse um , W e ll ingto n , N ew Z ealand , under the

Au tho rity o f th e Ho n . the Min iste r o f In t e rnal A ffai rs .

WE! ! INGTON .

! ! AUTHO RIT! : W . A . G . SK INNER , GOV ERNMENT PR INTER.

Photograph by J . McDonald, 1907 .

FIG . I .

-STONE MAURI OR MANEA .

The m at erial maum’

employ ed as pro t ect ive t al ism ans and shrin es o r

abiding places o f superno rm al beings (a tu a) under who se care a village

,

fo rest , or area of land was placed . (See pageThe s t ones are nat u ral fo rm s , apparen t ly wat er wo rn ; a scro l l design

has been incised in on e (NO 6) . They fo rm part of th e H amm ond Co l lect ionfrom t h e Taranak i Di st rict .

H e t aunga at u a t e m au ri .

The maurz’

is an abiding - place o f th e gods .

No s . I, 3 ,

and 4 are mauri or manea . No . 2 was simply u sed as a

dom est ic im plem en t . No . 5 is a st on e recept acle for a pecu l iarly tapuand revered st on e cal led a whatu hum t hat h ad an em blem at ical sign ificance .

Nos . 6 and 7 were also em ployed 1n rit u al perfo rm an ces .

Photograph by J . McDonald, 19 2 1 .

FIG . 2 .

—THE R AURAU R ITE .

A divinat o ry rit e perfo rm ed by Maori tohunga or

'

priest ly expert s of

fo rm er t im es in o rder t o ascert ain what person s and clan s wi ll su ffer in a

com ing fight . Each clan is represen t ed by a dim inu t ive m ound of earthhaving a branchlet of karamu (Coprosma) stu ck in it . In fron t o f eachm ou nd a sm al l st ick is placed . ! y m ean s of t h e recit al o f a charm th e

priest indu ces th e gods t o fo recast even t s . Then t h e st ick s are seen t o

glide t owards th e m ounds t o at tack th e ham o r branchl et s . At th e sam et im e a l eaf is seen t o fall from each branchlet for each m an o f t hat part icu larclan wh o wi ll fal l in th e com ing fight . The il lu st rat ion shows th e Zohungain th e act of repeat ing t h e charm . (See page

SPIRITUA! AND MENTA! CONCEPTS

OF THE MAORI :

! eing Illustrations of Animism and Animatism.

CONTENTS .

Spirit ual po t en t iae o f m an . Spirit and sou l . Definit ions . The Mao riand abst ract concept ion s . An im ism and an im at ism . Term s deno t ingspirit ual and m ent al concept s . The wairaa and it s funct ions . Thesou l a pro t ect ive agen t . All en t it ies po ssess an indwell ing spirit .

The sou l com es from Suprem e ! eing . The t erm toiora . Sou ls repre

sen t ed by m o ths . The awe o r refined sou l . The tu ku wairua rit e .

The sou l affect ed by m agic . Passing of so u l t o spirit -wo rld . Gho st s .

Angaanga . A la . A ria . The kapu o f a pou rahuz’

. A hu a . Mat erial

represen tat ion s o f immat erial things . Imm at erial represen tat ion s o f

mat erial o bject s . The m iri aroha rit e . Jlfawe . The mau ri and mau rz’

om . Physica l l ife - principle . Mat erial mau rz’

. Pro t ect ive agen t s .

The hau . Manea . Manawa and manawa ora . H ebrew t erm s . Tipu a .

An im at ism . Men t al concept s . A 7 0,hinengaro ,

ngakaw,and pa l m.

O t her expression s . The ira atua. o r D ivin e elem ent in m an . Mao rim en tality . R esu lt s o f in t ro spect ive t hought .

HE men tal concepts of a barbaric race mu st ever possessan element o f interest to the ethnographer

,and in studying

those of the Maori folk we encounter much evidence toshow that they had evolved a belief in many singu lar abstractions .

This is not an uncommon featu re in connection with barbaricpeoples , such as those of Indonesia and Farther India

,and the

o ld - time peoples of Asia . A highly no teworthy . characteristic o f

such races is the fact that they often assign ed a greater numbero f spiritual po t en t iae to man than do more highly civilized people .

Including bo th m en tal and spiritual po t en t iae , we'

find that somepeop les o f antiqu ity believed in the existence of as many as a

dozen . Among ou rselves these are reduced to three— Viz ,spirit

,

sou l,and mind . Thu s the lo t o f people of the higher cu lture

plane,when brought into contact with those of an inferior grade ,

is not t o cu ltivate their sense o f the abstract,bu t to curb it .

In order to anticipate any obj ection that m ay be madeconcerning the indefinite nature o f barbaric conceptions of thespiritual nature of m an

,it m ay here be said that our own

definition of such natu re is by no means too c lear . This factwas brought home to me some years ago ,

when I co llected froma number of ministers o f divers sects their definitions o f theterms spirit and sou l . These explanations by no meansagreed

,though emanating from persons who shou ld assuredly be

DOMIN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

experts in such matters . Annandale t ells us that the sou l is thespiritual and immortal part in man

, the immaterial spirit whichinhabits the body ,

the moral and emotional part of man ’s natu re,

the seat of the sentiments or feelings , the animating or essentialpart

,the Vital principle . Now

,in order to cover this range of

defin ition a Maori wou ld mention the wairaa ,the ngakaa or pa lm

,

the hinengaro ,and the maarz . As to the spirit

,the same English

au thority states that it is the intelligent,immaterial

,and

immortal part in man the soul,as distingu ished from the body

a spectre , a ghost,&c . Herein

“sou l appears as a synonym

for spirit .

”

The New Oxford Dictionary ,the last word in definition

,tells

us that the spirit is the animating or vital principle in man (andanimals) — the breath of life , the sou l of a person that leaves thebody at death

,the

l

disembodied sou l of a deceased person,&c .

The Maori wou ld employ the terms maurz’

,manawa om

,and

wairua to denote these qualities . The above dictionary definesthe sou l as the principle of life in m an and animals

,the principle

of thought and action in man,the spiritual part of m an

,the seat

of the emotions,intellectual power

,spiritual power ; the vital ,

sensitive,or rational principle in plants , animals , or human beings

the spiritual part of m an considered in its m oral aspect ; thespiritual part of m an as surviving after death ; the disembodiedspirit of a deceased person ,

&c . To describe these defin itions ourMaori wou ld use the expressions maum

’

, maham,wairua,

paka or

ngahan ,mana

,hau

,hinengaro ,

and kehaa— tru ly a goodly array .

It will also be noted that,so far as they pertain to the immortal

element in man,the two terms are practically synonyms . This

means that in any scientific treati se we mu st either use theseexpressions indiscriminately

,or assign to each a definite meaning.

This latter course has been pu rsued by the writer of the Handbook

of Folk- lore,as adopted by the Royal Anthropo logical Society .

In this work the definitions are commendably brief,and are as

follows

Sou l . The separable personality of the living man,or

other being .

Spirit .

- A sou l - lik e being which has never been associatedwith a human or animal body .

Ghost . This denotes the sou l after the death of itsphysical basis .

”

These definitions are pleasingly bri ef,but ' that of spirit

calls for a mental revolution by no means easy t o bring about .I t wou ld assuredly require prolonged training to disassociate theterm spirit from man

,and confine its use to what we term

inanimate obj ects . The word spirit is certain ly connectedwith an animal function— with words meanin g breath

,breathing ,

and to breathe — and it seems inadvisable to restrict its applicationto obj ects with which that function is not connected .

The above evidence seems to show that,however mu ch those

o f advanced thought m ay talk abou t the tripartite nature ofman

,as i llustrated by spirit

,sou l

,and body

,yet to the average

p erson among us spirit and sou l are one and the same thing .

SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAORI . 5

The present writer maintains that the study o f Maoripsychological phenomena

,the spiritual attributes of man

,brutes

,

and inan imate obj ects,as believed in by natives

,is one of much

interest , and one that throws much light on Maori mentality .

In his endeavours to understand the origin of life,the cau se of

growth , the change of death,the apparition of those who had

passed from this life,the Maori trod a path as o ld as the human

race itself . His mystic nature prompted him to indu lge inintrospective thought

, to evolve abstractions , to conceive qualitiesand po t en tiae spiritual and intellectual . In these endeavou rs hefollowed the path that all men of all times and all regions havepu rsued . His conclusions resemble those of other barbaric peopleso f far- sundered lands

,for the channels of human thought are

cu riously al ik e the wide world over . The conclusions he arrivedat from what he considered clear evidence were — that man

possesses a spiritual quality that leaves the body du ring dreams,

and qu its it for ever at the death of the physical basis (this isthe wairna) that death is mark ed by the passing

, the extinction ,

o f an invisible activity called the manawa ora (breath of life) ;that man also possesses a physical l ife—principle termed thernanri —one that cannot desert the living body ,

bu t does so atdeath ; that he possesses yet another life - principle called thehan

, that can be affected by the arts of black magic that man

possesses several sou rces of mental and intellectual activity,and

that the semblance of man, or of any entity ,

may be tak en and

employed as a medium in ceremonies believed to affect theoriginals . Our Maori philosopher assigned to inanimate obj ectssome of these po ten tiae, and with very remarkable resu lts

,as seen

in his extended system of personification,and his mythopoetic

co - fellowship with nature .

In the foregoing passage we have impinged upon the domainsof animism and animatism . As defined in the Handbook of Folklore these are explained as follows

Animism . The belief in spiritual beings , including sou l ,ghost

,and spirit .

Animatism . The attribu tion of life and personality t o

thingsj but not a separate or apparitional sou l .

Under this latter heading we shall encounter some highlyremarkable concepts and quaint beliefs , such as have had an

important effect upon the mythology , and even upon the religion ,

of barbaric folk .

In dealing with the spiritual and mental concept s of the Maoriit will be necessary to describe the meanings of the following listof words

,such terms representing variou s spiritual and mental

agents or activities , physical organs and abstract conceptions

Ahaa Hamano Mahara Poho

Angaanga Han Manawa Pnkn

Arz'

a Hinengaro Manea TipnaAro K ehna rManrz

'

Toiora

Ata Kikokiko Mawe Wairua

Ate Kohiwi Ngahan Whakaaro .

Awe

6 DOMIN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

Here we have to face a somewhat formidable list of abstractterms or vehicles , for even those words that denote materialorgans are also employ ed to indicate abstract qualities . It willnot be convenient to tak e th ese terms in their alphabetical order

,

rather mu st we divide them into affinitat iVe groups . Thu s, as a

first instalment we will deal with the series of words u sed t o

signify th e variou s Spiritual pot entiae of man,albeit most of such

expressions are also employed in connection with inanimateobj ects .

THE WA IRUA .

Terms employed to indicate the spiritual and m ental qualitiesof man appear to be derived principally - from words denotingorgans of the body , and such immaterial phenomena as breathand shadow . Thu s spirit and anima are both connected withbreath , while the Maori term wairaa denotes a shadow . It seemsprobable that shadow was the original meaning of

,the word

,

for we have in th e word ata another Polynesian word meaningshadow and reflection and sou l .The wairna of th e Maori is a sentient spirit , the soul of precise

anthropological nomenclature . It leaves the body at death ,but

it can also do the same during the life of it s physical b asis . Thu sit leaves the body du ring its dreaming - hou rs to wander abroad ,

apparently with the obj ect of detecting any impending dangerto the body . It will hasten back t o the body to warn it of anysuch approaching danger , and this is the reason why the Maoriplaced such great faith in dreams . When ,

long centu ries agone ,one Kauhika , an old woman living at the Uruhau pa ,

on a windlashed hill at Island ! ay,

dreamed that sh e saw a fire and strangemen on the Wharau Range at Kaiwharawhara , scou ts were at

once sent ou t to look into the matter . As it so happened ,a

raiding - party was detected advancing by that rou te, but here

forewarned was forearmed ,and the raiders went down to Hades

in the shoal waters of Te Awa- a - Taia,the former entrance - channel

to Wellington Harbou r between Lyall and Evans Bays . ! u t

observe the advantages of po ssessing such an extremely volatileand u sefu l sou lWe know that the term u sed to define the human sou l is not

derived from any organ of the body,nor is it locat ed in any

particu lar organ ; there is no seat of the sou l as there is of theemotions . Cu riou sly enough , the wanna seems to be partiallymaterial

,inasmuch as it can be seen by human eyes , at least by

those of persons who are matakite (seers , persons p ossessed of secondsight) . The Matatua folk have a singular expression— lira maka

to denote a company of wanna seen passing through space .

Certain natu ral phenomena are believed by the Maori t o be , or

to represent,wanna . Tu takangahau described t o me What was

apparently some electrical phenomenon he saw on the summitof Maunga-

pohatu . It resembled a moving fire gliding along thesummit of the range ; on e described it as being lik e a torch .

Tu maintained that it was a wairna,and that it is called Tiramaroa

by natives . We shall see anon that wairna can not only be seenby man

, bu t also slain by him, and that they appear to possess

material bodies in the underworld of Spirits . This singu lar and

SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAORI . 7

o ften confusing native conception of the wairna is described byTyle r as a vaporou s materiality - a definition that seems tofi t the case very neatly . It appears t o be sometimes vaporou s ,and at other times material .Maori belief in the immortality of the sou l i s shown in his

belief in two Spirit - worlds , as also in that of spirit gods that are

the soul s of his ancestors . Against this we must place the beliefthat the wairna can be destroyed by magic arts also that Whirois ever endeavou ring to slay the wairna in the underworld , whileHine , the ex - Dawn Maid

,protects them . Of a verity , he who

attempts to understand and describe the conceptions of barbaricman attempts a harassing task . Colenso has said that the wairnaand kehna (ghost) are two distinct spirits ; bu t this is certainlynot so : the term kehna is applied to the wairna after it leavesthe body at death . Tregear gives reflection as a meaning ofwairna ,

bu t Williams does not include this definition , even inhis fifth edition . It is

,however

,applied to things unsubstantial ,

shadowy ,or dimly seen . Several variant forms of the word

wairna are encountered in Polynesian dialects , and the wai of

wairna may be the Paumotu wo rd vai to be,to exist) .

The wairna is termed by some writers the astral body ; it isassu redly a Spiritual life - principle

,a volatile essential Spirit , the

soul of anthropological nomenclature . When a native Speak sof this sou l being destroyed it is probably its power to protectthe body that is so destroyed , not the actual sou l . ! ut thephysical life - principle having been destroyed

,then necessarily the

person dies , though the wairna survives .

The Maori concept of this soul force resembles that of theancient Egyptians known as the ka ,

save that it does not retu rnto the body after death . Hence it was not necessary that theMaori Shou ld preserve the bodies of the dead by any process ofmumm ificat ion .

When collecting native songs many years ago one of mynative friends forgot the concluding part of one . The next dayhe came to me and said , I will now finish our song my wairnafound the balance of it last night .

” The wairna leaves the bodyduring Sleep and wanders abroad , hence we see distant placesand persons in our dreams . I have heard natives say,

I wentto the spirit - world last night and saw So —and—so — mentioningsome dead person . Te Wai- o - hine , a Tuhoe woman

,once said

to me , 0 friend ! I went to spirit - land last night and sawKiriwai (an old woman who had recently d ied) . She ' no longerlooked o ld , but young , as we were long ago . So now I believethat we regain our youth in the spirit -world . It is owing t o

these quaint beliefs that such folk as the Maori are reluctant towak e a: sleeping person . Many a time a native , wishing tospeak with me , bu t finding me asleep , has stood outside the tentand called softly to me

,

so as to awaken me gradually . ! ou

see his View was that my wairna might be abroad ,tak ing a

little j aunt , and he had to give it time wherein to return to itsphysical basis .

Some extremely quaint conceptions connected with the wairnaare noted by any observant person who lives among our native

DOM IN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

folk . It is often a man’

s wairna that warns him of magic spellsbeing directed against him , thu s giving h im time to tak e preventive measures ; When camped at Te Wh aiti some twenty—fou ryears ago ,

the native children made my tent a frequent place of

call , attracted doubtless by a bu lky 100 lb . case of biscu it in t he

mess - tent . When an epidemic of influenza swept the district,

these small folk were gathered by Maik i—nui into Taiwh etuki tothe number of over forty . Bright - eyed Hara of Tara- pounamubrok e ou t the trail to Rarohenga, and , to lessen the yearning ofthe mnrz

’

rnnri aroha ,took her small sister , Hine—okaia , with her .

Then Wairama, of the Black Dog clan , passed ou t on the am

whannz’

,followed by many another of the Children of the Mist .

Then,from the father of Marewa- i—te - rangi

,the Star Maid

,I

received a short message : Greeting to you , the wairna of you rchild

,Marewa . Come at once . She has been caught in the

snare of Hine - nui- te—po ,and the world of life is closed .

”Here

the four - year - old child was spok en of as mine , and I was alludedt o as her wair

’

na, possibly becau se Sh e had had many meals at

my camp . After the child’

s death her parents always greetedme as the wairna ora (living sou l or vital spirit) of Marewa,

and

others greeted me with the remark,

“ Tena koe, te wairna era 0

to mokopnna ,0 Marewa Greeting t o you ,

the life spirit ofyou r grandchild ,

Marewa Tiro , an eight—year - old child , whosefather had long been absent among the Raukawa folk , said tome

,I think that I will Shoot myself , becau se then my wairna

will go to my father , whom I long to see again . Thu s she

proposed to visit him in the spirit . When the Pu Taewa gaoledTe Wai- o —hine for throwing certain members of that clan overher Shou lder , her friends wrote to her , saying , Be of goodcheer “

although you are afar off, yet are our wairna ever with

you .

Denik er remark s that Spirits are more active than sou ls ,though the sou l of a dead man is sometimes also a Spirit . TheMaori wairna is a volatile and active quality , but not aggressive ;it s activities are those of observation and of warning its physicalbasis . These remark s apply to the wairna of a living person .

After death a person’

S sou l m ay become aggressive— i .e ., be

utilized as an atna to destroy life . The wai rna of a still bornchild was believed to be specially malignant , hence such wereoften placated and employed as atua mo te riri , or directing wargods .

Many illu strations might be collected of curiou s u sages concerning this term wanna . The late Tu ta Nihoniho

,when supplying m e

with ethnographical data , remark ed : My wanna is very intenton this work , that it may be well done Ka nni takn wairnaki ranga z

'

tenei take, kia par te oti

'

nga

The Maori tells us with no uncertain voice that all thingspossess a wairna

, but I do not think that he wou ld claim a

separable sou l for inanimate obj ects,but merely a vital spirit

without which the obj ect cou ld not exist An old native oncesaid to me , If all things did not possess a wairna

,then they

wou ld all be lifeless , and so decay . He assured me that evenstones possess a wanna

, otherwise they would not be entities ;

SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAORI . 0

t hey cou ld no t be seen . We are also told by natives that all

things possess a manri ; but , as applied to inanimate obj ects,

t he two terms may possibly be applied to the same quality .

A missionary once said to Te Mat orohanga , ! our religion isfalse ; it teaches that all things possess a sou l . The o ld man

replied , Were a thing not possessed of the warrna of the atua ,

t hen that thing cou ld not possess form . Thu s we mu st grasp thefact that , in native belief , all entities possess a sou l , or spirit .

The things that mak e for life and superlative welfare all

o riginated with l o , the Supreme Being . Thu s the wairna ,the

manawa ora (breath of life) , the toiora ,and the wananga (occu lt

knowledge) all emanated from that source . The wairna , thea te (liver) , the manawa (breath) , and toto (blood) , by means ofwhich the first woman , Hine - ahu - one , was vivified , were obtainedfrom Io . When these were implanted in the lifeless image ofearth it acqu ired life , it was a human being . The wairna returnst o Io at the death of the body , or abides in the haven providedby the daughter of Hine—ahu - one . A teaching of the Tak itumufolk is to the effect that the wairna is implanted in the embryowhen the eyes are formed . This finds corroboration in a veryo ld form of ritual chaunt connected with birth

Ka k arapinepine t e pu t o t o i a iaK i ro t o t e whare wahi awaKa wh akawh e t u t am a i a iaKa riro m ai a R ua - i - t e —

puk enga ,a Ru a - i - t e - ho rabo ra

, & c .

These Rna are personified forms of knowledge , its acqu isition and

d iffu sion , so that the child was endowed with mind after it acqu iredits wairna .

Io was viewed as the convener (kaz'

paihere) of all wairna ; and

a ll ritual,invocations , &c .

, connected with the Sou l of man

were directed to him that is to say,among high - grade priestly

e xperts .

The expression orongonni i s a season name , bu t it also seemsto have been employed t o denote Spiritual life ; while orongo

tapn implies godlik e mana, or some such meaning . This note,

h owever , awaits confirmation .

In Maori narratives we often hear of the wairna being affectedby magic spells . When about to attack an enemy it was a commonc ustom t o recite certain charms in order to affect the wairna ofsuch enemies . These spells were endowed with power and renderedeffective by the mana of the particu lar atua of whom the wizardwas the kanwaka or medium . The effect of such ritual wou ld bet o throw the enemy into that pecu liar c

h ensive ,

ing danger affects the vigour and courage of the individual .Another term for this condition is pahnnn . Animals are liable tobecome pare/era,

hence it is highly inadvisable to speak of wildpigs

,or birds , or fish you hope to secure ; they may become

pare/era , and hence Shy . or wild ,unattainable . Such an unwise

remark is termed a toitoi okewa . AS o ld Pait ini passed my campo ne morning he said , I go to hunt the wild boar of Ma- te - t a .

I replied,It is well . Now we Shall gain some. fine tu sk s where

I O DOMIN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

from t o fashion anrei (cloak - pins) . The o ld bu shman replied,

E tama I Kana e toitoi okewa ,koi pain tnrz

’

noa rho ahan” O

son Do not‘

comm it a tortor’

okewa , lest I weary my knees to no

purposeNatives have told u S that when the Shafts of black magic injure

or slay a person it 15 his wairna that is affected . ! u t , althoughmagic may destroy a person through his wairna , yet the wairuaitself appears to survive . When it was thought that a personhad been Slain by the arts of makntn

, or black magic , a relativewou ld obtain a fern - stalk and strik e the body therewith ,

saying,

Anei to rakan hai ranaki z

'

to mate Here is your weaponwherewith to avenge your death A person

’

s wairna is veryeasily affected injuriou sly if he has had the misfortune to polluteor vitiate his tapn . Such a condition affects one

’

s torora and

maarz

’

ora to a very seriou s extent , and it is necessary to whakaepa

(conciliate) the gods without delay , or life will be very uncertain .

When your tapa becomes pollu ted you become pakana and

kahnpotr’

a (spiritually blind) the powers of evil find you defenceless

,the gods stand aside ; the konka , or abyss of death , yawns

before you .

We have Spok en of the torora ,and this term is worthy of some

attention ,inasmu ch as it is sometimes u sed in a pecu liar and

interesting sense . It is allied to waiora,a word we have already

discu ssed . Warora denotes health , soundness , welfare ; toiora

has a Similar meaning . Rakan torora denotes a. sound tree . Thisterm is , however , sometimes employed to define spiritual welfare .

Thu s the Dawn Maid expressed her intention of descending t o

Rarohenga,the underworld of spirits , in order to protect the

torora of m an— his Spirit , or spiritual welfare : Tnkna mar

M an te wairna 0 te tangata rnakn e kapo i te torora o a tana tama

riki . Evidently this term is used to denote the eternal elementin man , th e immortal soul , or its welfare . Both expressions ,toiora and waiora ,

are based on‘

ora ,a word meaning life , alive ,

health,welfare , safe , &c . Tor has a meaning of origin , source

of mank ind , and apparently another meaning not yet recordedby our dictionary -mak ers . At Tik opia Island , in Melanesia,

where the language is a dialect of Maori the word ora denotes aSpirit

,a ghost . Thu s welfare

”and su rvival are two pro

minent meanings of this term , which we Shall meet with againwhen dealing with the expressions manawa ora

,manri ora,

han

ora, and kanrn ora . One o ld native told me that toiora denoteste wairna o te atna

,ara 0 l o , kz

'

roto i te tangata the sou l .of God — that is t o say, of Io— in man This means that itexpresses the Spark of the Divine in man , inherited from the godsent sou l implanted in the Earth - formed M aid , and from Tane ,who was of the ira atua . This latter expression means supernatural life , life as possessed by gods and supernormal beings .

Ano ther native au thority tells me that toiora is used to defineboth physical and spiritual welfare , and this definition is supported by a number of examples . Observe the following remark ~

able and highly interesting passage cu lled from the myth of theEarth—formed Maid , describing her acqu isition of the ira tangata ,

o'

r mo rtal life— life as known to man I kona ka whakaao-marama

SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAORI . I I

a Hine i a ia,ka whakaira tangata hoki ki te toiora o te aotnroa nei

At that juncture Hine brought herself to the world of life , and

also attained mortal life with the toiora of the enduring worldThe Maori u tilized the sou ls of his dead forbears to protect

both his physical and Spiritual life—principles , and this u sage willb e illustrated when we come t o deal with the manri of man .

Spirit - voices are o ften heard , says the Maori , and are termedirirangi and irewarn . To hear such is an evil omen sometrouble is at hand . To sing while travelling at n ight is alsoominou s , and the act is termed lapaoe . The traveller

’

s wairnakn ows of some coming misfortune or danger , and prompts himt o sing . A j et of gas from burning wood is said to be caused bya sou l that has come to obtain fire . Inanimate obj ects are ,

innative folk - tales , sometimes credited with the possession of thepower of speech ,

as we Shall see anon . The booming soundmade by a parerehaa , or bull - roarer , is said to be cau sed bywairna .

In a letter received from o ld Pai t ini, of Ruatahuna, he says :We have long been parted , and may not meet again in the world

o f life . We can no longer see each other with our eyes , only our

wairna see each other , as also our friendship . A o day after o ld

Hak opa, of Tuho e , died I thought that I heard one of my campnatives calling ou t , and left my tent to see what it was . Onexplaining my error , the natives told me that the cry I hadheard was probably the voice of the wairna of Hakopa calling a

farewell to me as it passed on its way to the spirit - world .

Natives sometimes lament the fact that , when they dream of

seeing a friend who has died , such apparitions never greet them .

When Ham iora Pio , of Te Teko , discoursed to me on the subj ecto f the dead ,

he remark ed Never more shall we see them,unless ,

when Sleep comes to us , our wairna go forth to meet them . ! ut

t hat is only a kite wairna (Spiritual seeing) . We cannot tou cht hem . The living come and go they meet and greet each othert hey weep for dead friends , and sympathiz e with each other . ! ut

the Spectres of the dead are Silent , and the Spectres of the dead are

su llen . They greet’

not those whom they meet they Show neitheraffection nor yet sympathy , no more than does a stump . They actnot as do folk of the world of li fe . Now

,we know that the sou ls

o f the dead are the only beings who can traverse both realms , thisworld

,the ao marama (world of life) , and the Spirit -world . Since

the days ofMataora no living person has entered the Spirit -world ,

t he realm of Rarohenga , and no Spirit comes back hither toabide in the world of life . AS old as the days of Niwareka ,

thefair Turehu of peerless charms , i s the saying , Ko te Po te kokia

a Taiao (“ The realm of spirits from which none retu rn to the

upperThe Maori had a belief that the wairna of the dead sometimes

appeared in the form of moths , a belief that is also met with inPolynesia while the Shans of Bu rmah maintain that the humansou l leaves the body in the form of a bu tterfly .

‘

A -Maori explained to me that certain moths are viewed as being he wairuano te kehna (sou ls of ghosts) . As kehna denotes the wairna afterit leaves the body at death , this concept resolves itself into that

I 2 DOMIN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

of the Spirit of a spirit , or the sou l of a sou l , which is abstractionwith a vengeance . Inasmuch , however, as the moth is a materialrepresentation ,

i t wou ld appear to be more correct to style it anaria— another interesting word that we Shall have to consider .

! ut another statement is to the effect that such moths can beseen by matatnhi (seers) only , so that possibly they are notordinary moths possessing material form s . Wairua atna (supernatural spirit) is a name applied t o butterflies by the Maori ,wherein he upholds the Bu rmese concept .

!

The Malays hold a

Similar belief . In Ireland bu tterflies are said to be the sou ls of

ancestors , and in ! ork shire the term sou l is applied to theSphinx .

Perhaps the most interesting Spiritual concept of the Maorifolk is that of the awe of the wairna, or refined essence or Spiritof the human sou l . Presumably the exponents of the highercu ltu s saw that the common conception of the sou l was muchtoo materialistic . A Spirit that appeared to possess a materialbody in the Spirit -world ,

and that cou ld be destroyed,did not

satisfy the higher minds , hence they evolved the concept of theawe . After the lapse of a certain time after the death of the

body the released sou l gradually Sloughs off its gross elements,

and this process leaves a refined,immaterial

,and immortal

essential Spirit termed the awe . This word was apparently selectedas a name for it becau se it denotes extreme lightness . The lightdown found under the feathers of birds

,clouds

,and the light

soot deposited by the smok e of a wood fire are all termed awe .

This etherealized Spirit seems to have been called the hamano insome districts

,a word that is a variant form of mano

,and means

the precise centre or heart , as of a tree . Thu s it was that theMaori brok e away from the materialistic tendencies of popu larthought , and pu rified his conception of the human sou l .We have now another interesting matter to scan

,and that i s

the old cu stom of performing certain ritual in order to desp atchthe sou l of a dying person to the Spirit -world . In some districtssuch ritual was known as the wehe

,a word meaning t o detach ,

or separate . A charm known by this name Was recited over thecorpse prior to bu rial , in order to despatch the sou l to the Spiritworld

,to prevent it remaining here to annoy or frighten living

folk,and also to prevent the living following it to Spirit - land .

The following i s a Simple form of wehe ritual : “Haere ra , e takn

tama. Kei rn ihi mai koe, kei tangi mai koe , kei aroha rnai koe, kei

konan mai koe ki ton rnatna i waiho e koe i te ao nei . E oti atn koe .

Haere ra, oti atn koe Farewell,

‘

O my child ! Do not grieve ;do not weep do not love do not yearn for you r parent left by

you in the world . Go ye for ever . Farewell for Andthen

,in the evening , after the burial , all the kiri mate

,or m ourn j

ing relatives , cut their hair Short with Shell or stone flak e , leavingone long lock on the left side of the head . It was believed thatthe sou l wou ld not depart to Spirit - land until this ceremony hadbeen performed .

Ano ther name for the above rite is tnkn wairua ,or sou l

despatching . Some years ago an o ld nat ive and his wife werepro ceeding from one native village to another in the Patea district .

SPIR ITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAORI .

As' they trudged along the old man was tak en ill suddenly , and

lay - down by the side of the track . Feeling that the end was

near, h e said to his wife , They are calling m e . The end hascome . The old woman at once commenced to lament but hesaid

, Do no t lament . It is well . We have trodden the path oflife together in fair weather and beneath clouded Sk ies . There isno cau se for grief . I do but go forward to explore the path .

Then the thought grew in the woman’

s mind— there was no expertpresent t o recite the tnkn wairna ,

and she said ,E pa Ma wai

e tnkn i to wairna ? O Sir ! Who will despatch your sou l ?

Then the thought came,

A , kati— makn e tnkn (“ Ah , well ; I

will despatch it And so the o ld lady lifted up her voice andintoned the chaunt that sends the sou l of man to Rarohenga.

When She finished her recital the worn old companion of a lifetime had passed ou t of the world of light on the golden path of

Tane that encircles the great earth .

The pecu liar rite known as iri enabled the performer to see

the wairna of l iving persons— of absent folk— and nat ives firmlybelieved in this alleged power of the iohnnga . Thu s , whenHim iona ,

of Whakatane,left his wife Kumara

'

at that place , andwent to Turanga ,

where he became attached to another woman,

Kumara enlisted the services of a wise woman named Riperata .

The latter took the deserted wife to the river—bank , made hertak e off her garm ents and enter the water . She then Sprink ledwater over her body and recited the iri charm ,

whereupon shesaw the wairna of Him iona s tanding beside his wife . She said tothe latter

, Retu rn to you r home . In one week you r hu sbandwill return t o you .

”So the woman departed . Riperata

’

s nextact was to perform the atahn rite in order to cau se Him iona

’

s lovefor his wife to retu rn , and induce him to seek his home . Thisceremony included the despatch of a small bird , the rn irorniro

,

as a messenger or medium . This highly intelligent bird at onceflew to Turanga ,

a hundred miles away , went to the village whereHimiona was staying , entered a hu t in which he was at the t im e

,

and alighted upon his head . At once the affection of Himiona

for his wife was rek indled , so mu ch so that he rose and withoutdelay began his

,retu rn joum ey. Thu s all ended happily— at

least , so I was informed by Tikitu , of Ngati -Awa and who am Ithat I shou ld doubt it ?

A Similar ceremony was performed in order to V isualiz e thewairna of a thief or wizard ,

and in such cases the ahna,or

semblance,of the article sto len , or of the delinquent

,was

employed as a medium between the ritual and its obj ective .

Here we enter the domain of sympathetic magic .

The word koimi is employed to deno te a Skeleton,or bones

and perhaps the body sometimes , bu t in some cases appears tomean

“ “sou l . We have an illu stration of this u se of the word

koimi in the legend of Te Ao—huruhuru , who sang her death - songere casting herself from the cliff since known as the Rerenga 0 TeAo - huruhuru . Her husband and others brought their canoe toland at the base of the cliff in time to hear the last lines of hersong : Ka rongo raton ki nga knpn o te waiata a te wahine ra .

Ano, torino kan ana mai i ranga i te kare o te wai, ano he ko e pa

I 4 DOM IN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

ana ki ieiehi pari , na ka whakahokia rnai ano te inamahnfanga ki

tona koimi . Ana ! koia ra , ko te hon o te waiaia a tnawahinc

mataaho inai ana ki nga taringa (They heard the wo rds of

t lre ssong of the woman . Lo They were wafted across the ripplingwaters lik e unto a call re - echo ing from a cliff ; t ru ly had they a

soothing effect upon her wounded sou l (koimi) . Ah ! bu t thepenetrating sound of the song of our heroine came clearly to theears) .

The term koimi was also employed in the same manner as iskohiwitanga . Both are u sed in another sense than that of therepresentation of an atna . In Speak ing of obj ects or happeningsof pre—human days a Maori will say, Tona koimi i tenei ao he

rh ea . This appears to mean the nearest allied form in thisworld is su ch a thing . A rock at Whakatane is the kohiwiiangaof Irakewa , an ancestor .The word kohiwi is also u sed as meaning the human medium

of an atua when not possessed by such aina . The form kohiwitanga

seems t o almost equal aria in some cases (the visible form ,or form

of incarnation ,of a Spirit or sou l— it may be an animal

,bird

,

fish, or reptile , or

‘

som e inanimate obj ect,a tree or stone) .

The spirit gods located in the small carved wooden imagescalled z

‘iki by some do not endow such images with any permanenttapn or mana . The said images are viewed Simply as temporaryshrines or abiding - places for such atua .

The sou ls of the dead return to the old homeland of the race,

Irihia,where

,in the Spirit - hou se

,Hawaiki- nui

,they separate

,

some ascending to the uppermost heaven,others descending to

the subterranean Spirit -world . The superior t eachings of thewhare wananga do not refer to any u ltimate extinction of the sou lin either Spirit -world ,

and the conception of the awe,or pu rified ,

refined Spirit,appears to be evidence against such a belief . Some

seem to have held that the wairna was mortal— at least in somecases— bu t the awe or harnano was immortal .When the Spirit of a deceased progenitor is conciliated and

becomes a familiar of the mediumistic conciliator it seems to bereferred to as an apa ,

or apa han .

KEHUA .

Th is term denotes the sou l of a dead person,

apparentlycarrying an apparitional sense . Williams

’

s Maori Dictionarynotes it as a modern expression . Its u sage is equal to that of ourword ghost . The term kikokiko may bear an allied meaning ,but Williams gives it as a name for malevolent demons

,also known

as atua kikokiko . The Matatua folk often u se the word whakahaehae to denote spirits of the dead that appear as ghosts , whetherseen or merely heard . This term carries the sense of terrifying .

The mythical beings termed tnrehn , parangeki , and painpaiareheare said to be sou ls of the dead

,or wairna tangala . Tu takangahau ,

of Tuhoe , maintained that kikokiko and kehna are both namesfor sou ls of the dead , bu t it seems to me that these terms are

employed only when such Spirits are troublesome or apparitional ,o therwise the word wairna is employed . Mate kikokiko is an

expression u sed to denote bodily ailments believed to be caused

SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAOR I . IS

by such evil beings sou ls of the dead are afflict ing such sufferers .

Persons so afflicted sometimes become mentally deranged,we are

to ld— doubtless an allusion t o the incoherent Speech of those strickenby severe illness . When such a su fferer recovered

,Tutaka said

,

he in some cases became the waka , or human medium ,of the

Spirit that had afflicted him ; thu s he wou ld become a tohnngakehaa ,

a Shamanistic medium .

Mr . White tells us that when a person died , some of his hairwas cu t off and burned ,

while a charm was repeated over it . Thisceremony was performed in order to prevent the wairaa of thedead returning and annoying his living relatives . The mostfavou rable time for interviewing kehaa , we are told

,is at du sk ,

and ju st prior t o d awn . Daylight is too glaring for them ; and

one native blandly remark ed that a Spirit cannot see at night .

A Whanganui native teld me that the appearance of a flock ofmoriorio (the bird called

“Whitehead precedes the coming of

kehaa (sou ls of the dead) . Few persons , however , cou ld see thesebeings ; the vision of a rnatatnhi (seer) was necessary .

Colenso has said that the wairaa and kehna are two differentSpirits ; bu t there is no evidence to support the statement . Theevidence as to wairna o f the dead remaining in this world is verycontradictory

,i f we include popu lar beliefs . The whare wananga

teaching was that the sou l of a dead person remained in thisworld for just so long a period as had elapsed between the birthof the person and the fall o f the pita (umbilical cord ) . Popu larbelief varied ; some held that the sou l wou ld not depart until thetakn wairna ritual had been recited ; and in fact each personseems to have believed what he pleased in regard to thesematters . ! u t ever the dread of ghostly apparitions lav heavyon the Maori mind .

The expressions Tini 0 Parangeki and Tin i 0 Pi ihiata are

applied to the mu ltitude of spirits in the subterranean spiritworld

,the charges of the ex Dawn Maid .

An interesting bu t puzzling note collected by the lateColonel Gudgeon is to the effect that the names Tama- rangi —tauke

,

Whatu - takataka ,Pu -whakarere ,

Haere - tu - te - rangi , Marere - i- waho,

and Taka- ra—waho represent in some unexplained manner thespirits of the dead . The only explanatory remark s are as followsThese are the wairna of the dead that have abandoned theirbodies and These are the spirits that have passed ou t o f

[human! bodies , abandoning the body to death — the wairi taproceeding to Hine - nui- te - Pe .

ANGAANGA .

Thisi’

word in Maori denotes the head ,and perhaps the

anga means a Skeleton . N either seems to beemployed by the Maori in connection with any Spiritual concept ,bu t at Samoa the wairna of a person is termed the angaanga .

This may be a parallel concept to that of the koimi noted abovein bo th cases we see that the term means both skeleton and

Spirit .” The latter was apparently viewed as the support o r

mainstay of the body ,as is the Skeleton . Or the conjunction

m ay hinge on movement , anga meaning also to move,to tu rn

,

r6 DOM IN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

to ac t — as was the case with the Greek term thymos,of which

more anon .

Williams’s Maori Dictionary gives this word as meaning form,

shape , semblance , as oppo sed to substance also Shadow and re

flect ed image also ataata Shadow ,ata—a - rangi

'

z shadow,and koata

ata reflected image in water . Tregear’

s Dictionary gives boldlyata the Spirit

,the sou l . In far- away Taumako Isle

,in Melanesia

,

where a Po lynesian dialect is Spok en ,ata - denotes the sou l .

Shadow and reflection are meanings of the word throughou t Polyn esia In Samoa ata means Shadow ,

”reflected image

,

”

and spirit . Co lenso’

s attenuated dictionary gives the word as

meaning reflected light,

and also as_

a syn onym for ahna .

Ata is employed also by the Maori to denote “ radiant light,

as

a synonym for aho . We see the ata of the moon befo re that orbrises . Ataran denotes the moon in its crescent form ,

also moonlight . Tu ta N ihoniho , of Ngati - Porou , maintained that ata is

employed to denote the wairaa of man,and that ata- a - rangi ,

isu sed in the same sense . Now , in an exceedingly tapa chaunt ofthe cu lt o f l o connected with the ceremonial initiation of ainatakite (seer ) we note proof that the term ata- a—rangi wasemployed to define the wairna of man . One line of the chauntedinvocation runs , K ia tnrnki mai te ata- a—rangi o rh ea and

an explanatory remark reads , At this junctu re was repeatedthe name of the person whose wairna was seen in the vision .

This shows conclusively that the expression was u sed in oldentimes to denote the sou l of m an .

We have seen that the term wairaa denotes the sou l of m an

that leaves the body at death and proceeds to the spiri t—world ;also that the terms ata

,ata- a- rangi , and koimi were occasionally

applied to the same abstraction . The expression kehna definesthe apparitional sou l after death . Turehu

, patapaiarehe, and

parangeki are sometimes employed to denote sou ls of the deadthat appear on earth ,

bu t the two former terms are also u sed todenote what we call fairies or elves .

We have now to consider certain expressions , such as aria,

ahna,mauve , &c . , that denote the material representation of

immaterial qualities , as also the immaterial semblance of a

material body . We shall then proceed to inqu ire into other lifeprinciples of Maori belieffi

AR IA .

This is a term of considerable interest,and one that illustrates

a phase of mentality common to all Polynesian peoples . Itdenotes the conception of a material representation of an im

material being or condition thus the aria of an atua is it s formo f incarnation , the form in which it is Visible to mortal eyes .

We have seen that the term kohiwitanga is u sed in a Similar sense .

The words kohiwi,koiki

,and toiki are all employed to denote the

hard ,sound heart - wood of a tree from which all

'

sapwood has

fallen away owing to decay . On the other hand,we have a

series of words,such as ata

,wairaa

,ahna

,and mawe

,that denote

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I8 DOM IN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

of Maungapohatu ,and that of Takuahi—te—ka a rock . It was at

this rock that I first took part in the singular ceremony knownas nrnarn whenua .

In the strange rite known as tira ora two rods or wands wereused , and these were called the aria of life and death , of welfareand misfo rtune . These were thru st into two small mounds termedTuahu - a- rangi and Puk e—nu i- a—Papa, which represented the samequalities . The first represents the male sex , the latter the femalesex . In many of these sacred ceremonies it was consideredabsolutely essential that both sexes shou ld be represented , thediverse elements and inherent powers of the tamatane and tarna

wahine . The female element is destructive , as it also is in Hindoobelief

, as witness the concept of Sak ti . It also represents Sin ,

misfortune , weakness , the t apuless c ondition ,and death . Tru ly

a load of tribu lations has been placed upon the shou lders ofwomanThe ceremony referred to above was of an absolutory nature .

It cau sed all moral blemishes , sins , evil deeds of the participantst o be absorbed by the tira mate

, or wand and mound representingevil

, Sin ,and death . Thu s su ch persons were freed from the

dangers to their spiritual , intellectual , and physical welfare alwaysinduced by wrongdoing . They were rendered clear -minded ,

and ,

above all , were pu re in the Sight of the gods . They acqu iredresourcefu lness , presence ofmind ,

clear spiritual vision ,and a clean

crime—Sheet . And all th is was done ere going forth to war.

The tapn rnannka tree at Whakatane that was the inauri of

the district was the aria of life , health , and general welfare .

The aria of Hine - ruarangi, an ancestress , is a cormorant , whichis the tribal banshee of the Ngati -Whare folk of Te Whaiti . Thearia of Hine -

pukohu , the Mist Maid , is the white mist you seerising from the breast of the Earth Mother when Tama- nui- tera (the sun ) thru sts Tawera (morning star) up into the realm of

Wat ea (personified form of Space) .A h ill named Ruatahuna i s the aria of the district of that

name— that is , it is the tino (precise place) from which the districtderives its name .

The aria of Karukaru , an atna of the Whanganu i district , isan owl— the common morepork . This atria achieved fame as a

protector of human welfare , as, for instance , in warning personsof attempts being made to bewitch them . Now , this Karukaru isthe only god t o which the writer of these notes ever stood up toin fair fight , and the contest was marked by k een interest and a

considerable amount of incisive language . Party feeling ran highin the mountain—valleys , and dour old bu shmen wondered if thereck less pakeha wou ld be consigned to the gloomy realm of Tai

whetuk i ; bu t that , as Kipling would remark ,is another story .

When a rahni (embargo) was instituted over land , water,path , or products in days of o ld , a post was often set up as a tokenof the prohibition . A frond of fern wou ld be tied to this postt o serve as what is termed a maro , and this , together with a stone

,

were then tak en away and carefu lly concealed . With them was

tak en and hidden the kapn of the pen rahni, or prohibitory post .

This is the aria of the post , and it does not consist of anythingmaterial . The hand of the expert clutches at the top of the post

SPIR ITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAORI . 19

as though pluck ing at something , bu t brings away nothing material .This imaginary symbol , or aria

,the maro and stone , all represent

the post and what that post stands for . The obj ect of this singular performance was to prevent any ill - disposed person destroyingthe efficacy of the rahai (embargo or prohibition) . Those articlesand the immaterial aria represented or contained the mana

,the

power and virtue , of the rahai . They occupied the same place,

and served the same purpose , as does a material inauri . Anotherstone , one possessing no power or virtue , was left at the base ofthe post , as a blind , in order t o deceive any person who wished todestroy the powers of the rahni by means ofmagic . Such a personwou ld wander about seek ing the kapn , repeating as he did so

certain charms in order to mak e the kapn disclose its whereabouts .When the expert was erecting the rahni post he recited charms t orender it effective in protecting the land or products , and alsoanother to empower it to destroy any person who interfered withit . In do ing this he made a pass with his hand as though mark inga line on the earth . This was the waro rahni (the rahni chasm ,

the abyss of death) to which the offender was to be consigned forhis nefarious act . The expert then recited another charm inorder to sharpen the teeth of the rahni

,as the Maori expresses it.

These final words consign a meddler to black death , for behind all

these performances lies the dread power of the gods . Shou ld theexpert learn

,in after - days

,of any act of kairarnna, or infringe

ment of the rahni, he wou ld know that the rahn i had goneto Sleep hence he wou ld proceed to tnrnki it — that is , tosupplement it

,to awak en it and mak e it exercise it s powers , to

re—enforce it .

Another form of whakaoho , or rousing act , was performed whenit was seen that the land , forest , or water was not furnishing foodsupplies as well as u sual — that such fru its

,game

, or

'

fish were inpoor condition or poor supply . The expert wou ld convey - thekapn (the immaterial , imaginary emblem of the material emblemat ical

.

post) t o the ahi taitai, a specially generated tapn fire.At this fire certain ritual was recited over the kapn in order tomake it restore the fertility or productiveness of the land ,

forest,

&c . The inauri of the land , of man , of water , &c .,were included

in this ceremony , presumably to render it the more effective . Atthe same time

,the kapn itself certainly acted as a manri .

AHUA .

We have here a word very similar in its mean ing to theterm aria — that is

,to one of its meanings— that o f semblance

o r immaterial,intangible representation . Williams

’

s Maori Dic

tionary gives as one meaning of the word ahna form,as

opposed to substance . In one sense which we have to deal withthe ahna of a thing is its semblance or likeness

,it s non - material

form . It is also u sed in another sense,applied to material

things— to persons,for example . I t has often been applied to

myself,as in greetings Tena koe

,te ahna o to rnokopana ,

o

Marema”(“ Greeting to you ,

the ahaa of your grandchild,

Marewa Also,

Tena ra koe,te ahna o nga tangata o rnna

”

(“Greeting to you ,

the ahna of the men of yo re This was

2 0 DOMIN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

a reference to my ceaseless habit of collecting data anent thedoings of former times .

Another illustration of a material ahna is noted in the conciliatory rite performed ere a tree cou ld be felled ,

so as to placateTane

,the parent o f all trees . In this ceremony the ahna of an

axe— o r,rather

,stone adze— was employed . It was merely a

leaf tied t o a twig . Again,when a gi ft of food - supplies was

received from another people,the tan inaha rite was perfo rmed

over it,lest the mana o f the givers Shou ld injuriously affect the

recipients,or there might perchance be some magic power

pertaining to the gift,such as the dreaded ni atakai . Even so ,

an expert wou ld take the ahaa of the food (a Small portionof it) , cook ,

and eat i t du ring his ceremonial performance . Thisprecau tionary ac t wou ld remove all danger to m an .

The term ahaatanga is also employed to denote the semblanceor likeness o f a thing . A totara tree at Hok ianga

,and two others

at Nuku taurua are the ahaatanga of three of the Sk ids of thefamous vessel Tak itumu .

The word ahaa does not mean spirit,though it might be

u sed by a person in describing the meaning o f the term wairaa .

When my worthy friend Pa Pirini,of Ruatahuna

,had some

money stolen,he took the ahna o f the stolen co ins to a wise

woman at Whakatane,to find ou t who had tak en the money .

That ahaa was a coin the thief had overlook ed . The fact thatPa bestrode a long saddle o f one hundred and fifty miles Showedhis faith in the seer .

The ahna of a fight or battleground,employed in certain

ceremonies,was often a handfu l of grass or leaves from the

place . The ahna or aria of Tamarau,a hero of o ld who pos

sessed the power o f flying,was a paknra ,

or swamp—hen .

Of the immaterial ahna we might give many illustrations .

As applied to inanimate things ahaa seems t o be equ ivalent t ohau in many cases . The term ata is also u sed in the same senseas ahna— i . e . , to denote the semblance of an obj ect . In thefolk tale describing the adventu re of Te Kanawa with the fairies ,as recorded by Sir George Grey ,

we note that the fairies m erelytook the ata or ahna of th e o rnaments o ffered to them by TeKanawa ; th ey left the material art icles on the ground .

In treating a Sick person in former times a Maori practitionersometimes took the ahna , or semblance , of his disease or com ~

plaint . In do ing so he pro cu red a piece of pnha (a plant) and

passed it under the left thigh of the patient , then waved ittoward the h eavens as he repeated his charms . By this meansthe ahna of the complaint was absorbed by the herb

,and then

passed ou t of it into Space when the shaman waved his hand .

In Hewitt’

s Prim itive Traditional H istory certain references are

made t o o ld - time ceremonies of India in which the left thigh of

man occupies a prominent place .

Gods absorb the ahna of any food offered to them by theiradherents , but do not consume the substance thereof . A peoplewho had defeated an enemy on the lands of the latter wou ldsometimes s ettle thereon hai pnpnri i te ahaatanga o te raupatu

(to retain the semblance of the Victory or conquest ) .

SPIR ITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAORI . 2 1

When a woman wished to separate from her hu sband She

hied her to a tohnnga that he might perform over her the toko(divorce ritual) . His first act was to conduct her to the waitapn (sacred water) of the village community ,

that her aroha

(affection , sympathy) for her hu sband might be miria (effaced) .This was the m iri aroha ceremony . To effect this the operatortook the ahna or aria of her affections . He merely made a motionwith his hand as though picking something from her body

,

and this act represented tak ing the semblance of her affections .A charm was here recited to bring abou t the desired effacement ,a ka rh iria e te tohnnga te aroha

,ara ka horoia ata te aria

,te

ahna o te aroha , ka whakakorea ata”

(“and the priest effaced the

affections — that is, he cleansed or washed away the semblanceof such ; he abolished it After that the divorce ritual wasrecited .

When a deep - sea voyage was abou t to be undertak en thePolynesian navigator took the ahna (semblance) of his vessel toa tnahn (sacred place) to have the pure rite performed over it .After Whiro had mu rdered the child of his brother Hourangi,the latter took the ahna of his child to his elder , Whirikoka,

in

order to ascertain what had become of his child . In this casethe ahna was represented by a material symbol— some du st fromthe path on which the child had last been seen .

MAWE .

This term seems to have the same meaning as ahna— i .e

semblance . It is at least sometimes a material obj ect , or isrepresented by such . Williams styles the iname of a canoe a“ talisman

, but it often means semblance .

” When a persontook to an expert the mawe of some property he had had stolen ,

the latter wou ld see the wairna of the thief preceding the beareras he approached . The mawe of a successfu l fight was often tak enin the form of a lock of hair from a Slain enemy . AS the forceretu rned home the person carrying this obj ect marched in fronto f the party

,and , on arrival at the home village

,it was deposited

at the tnahn , whe1e the ceremonial function took place Whenmy worthy old friends Horotiu and his daughter Mau t ini mur

dered Six Wairoa natives who were their guests , as they layasleep in their hut , Horotiu cu t out the heart of one Roto - a

tara,and took it to the priest‘ of the Matuahu pa at Waikare

moana,as the mawe of their gallant exploit .

When a raiding - party was about to attack a fortified village ,a wily scou t was, in some cases , first despatched in order toprocure the iname of the place . This was u sually tak en in theform of a small Splin ter from one of the stockade timbers , or a

Shred of bark from the aka u sed as lashing -material for thepalisades . Over such a medium certain ceremonies were performed in order to render the enemy nervou s , apprehensiveunstrung

,to affect their minds and courage , to induce in them

the condition of inauri oho ,and to ensure a successfu l attack .

Here we again encounter sympathetic magic acting through a

medium . Shou ld the official priestly expert of the raiding forcechance to be the medium “of an atua toro, a Spirit god employed

2 Inse t— Spiritual .

2 2 DOMIN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

as a. reconnoitring agent , such as Tamarau , then he wou lddespatch that being to procu re the mawe , which wou ld probablybe brought to him in the form of a hair from the head of an inmateof the enemy village .

When Ira—tu —moana slew the great monster Tarakura at Te Awaa- te - atua he conveyed the mawe of that victory to his sacredplace (taahn) , near Te Umuhika . When Mau i of immortal famedrew up this Island from the depths of Hine -moana he took theiname thereof back t o Hawaik i . In these cases the term ahna

might have been employed with equal correctness , so far as myknowledge extends .

MAURI .

We now have to deal with the second of the three mostimportant abstract qualities pertaining to man . I t is by nomeans so easy to define the meaning of this term as in the case ofthe wairaa . It has been rendered as sou l , but we

'

cannotemploy that term ,

for it wou ld be mistak en for the spirit thatleaves the body at death and goes to the Spirit -world . Themanri cannot leave the body , and ceases to exist at the death of

the body .

Tregear’

s Dictionary gives Manri I . The h eart,the seat of

the emotions . 2 . Life , the seat of life . 3 . The sou l . It mustbe remembered that the word does not denote the organic heart .Also , it is only partially the seat of the emotions ; thu s anger ,sorrow , joy,

&c ., do not emanate from the manri . Under oho

rnanri we Shall see how far emotion is connected with it . Nor

does the word mean life in our New Z ealand dialect , althoughit may be termed the seat of life . As for sou l ,

”we have already

seen that this term wou ld be a misnomer , and tend t o misleadthe inqu irer . If it be not presumption on my part to differ withour philological giants , I would define the manri as the activelife - principle

, or physical life—principle , and the most appropriateword to describe it , so far as my limited researches have extended ,is the Greek term thymos . This so far as the manri of man isconcerned . The word thymos originally meant inward commotion . ! ut the thymos did no t , lik e the psyche, continue toexist after the death of the body ; lik e the manri

, it was an

act ive principle that ceased to exist at the death of the body .

Hence the Maori expression Kna nkinki te inauri is equivalentt o saying that the person referred to is dead .

The inauri is the activity that moves within u s, and , lik e thewairna , is not located in any organ of the body . It is a vitalprinciple , but is wrongly rendered by some as the breath of life ,which is the rnanawa ora of the Maori . Some have defined it asthe Spark of life . The material inauri (of which more anon)

may be termed a talismanic symbol,and in some cases it might

be called a Shrine .

An o ld missionary with whom I discu ssed these terms describedthe manri o f man as his personality ; but the term han is moreapplicable to that quality . For instance , in the expression Ka

oho takn inauri, how cou ld we possibly render the word as

personality

SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAORI . 2 3

The definition of these terms is by no means an easy task ,

and calls for much inqu iry and much patience . It is , however ,always pleasing to observe the tribulations of other people , and

we are told that the Burmese have four spiritual pot ent iee t o

deal with . Again ,there are three terms in Hebrew to express

sou l,

”six to express mind ,

and eight t o express heartseven in Greek to express mind ,

and two to express heart .

However,as the Mao ri puts it , Kei ran 0 whenua ona rarnrarn

The troubles of other lands are their ownWe have now to scan the expression maari ora— one that is

frequently heard u sed by the o lder generation of natives . Itdenotes the same quality , bu t stresses it s tapn natu re , and mightbe rendered as sacred life - principle . It includes a sense o f

spiritual welfare . Shou ld the inauri ora of man become noa, or

defiled , t hen his physical , intellectual , and spiritual welfare isseriously endangered , and he is exposed to many perils . Information concerning material rnanri will assist in the explanation of

this singu lar conception . We have seen that a material manri

is a talisman , and sometimes also a Shrine or abiding- place ofa protecting atua Now, the manri era of man has verySimilar powers and functions , and so m ay be viewed as somethingmore than what we commonly understand by physical lifeprinciple . It is a protective power or quality ,

but if defil ed inany way its protective powers cease until restored by means of

ceremonial placation of the god or gods in whose care the personis , and withou t whose care he cannot remain

'

in the world of life .

In a paper written twenty years ago I described the rnanri era as

the sacred spark of life .

When the oho rangi rite was performed at the baptism ( if an

infant , and responsive Hine -whait iri (the Thunder Maid) rumbledto east or north , it was alluded to as a manri ora for the child .

It wou ld survive and flourish . Thu s this term has come to beemployed as denoting welfare , much as the expressions waioraand toiora do . When Turahui and What onga were cast away on

the Island of Rangiat ea their friends despatched a number ofatua in search of them . Tu - nui—a- te - ika (personified form of

comets) retu rned and reported as follows Popo roroa, a tena te

hokinga . My informant explained this message as a manri ora

i . e.,as denoting the welfare of the castaways .Wh en a person commits some harafi that is to say,

disregardssome law of tapn— his protecting genius , or atna , at once desertshim , withdraws his favour and protection , and that person

’smaari ora becomes seriou sly affected and loses its virtue . For

the gods are the strength , the mainstay , of tapa ,of mana,

and of

such qualities as the rnanri , be it the immaterial inauri of man

or the material manri of land , forest , ocean , or village . Now,the

Maori believes his decline in numbers , in health ,and in rnana is owing

to the fact that his manri has become noa , or“tapuless, owing

to his changed habits and lack of precaution he has not protectedthe sanctity of his rnanri . When the natives accepted Christianity

(most of them for reasons not explained in missionary j ou rnals)the appalling du ty of defiling their tapn represented t o them a

terrible ordeal . Many effected it by washing their heads , the

Se e Front i spiece , Fig. I .

2 4 DOMINION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

most tapn part of the body , in water warmed in a cook ing—vessel .No European can conceive what a terrible trial this act was to theMaori . Natives who performed it have stated that they comm it t ed it in deadly fear , expecting every moment to be their last .It is highly probable that fear did k ill some of them . Theknowledge that their inauri ora is defiled has ever Since had a veryseriou s effect on the Maori

’

s outlook on life , and also on his generalwelfare . He feels that he has lost caste , that he has become a

common,graceless being , lik e unto the Slaves of Old , and that he

will never regain his Old - time physical , intellectual , and spiritualvigour . This conviction ,

and his racial fatalism , are responsiblefor the dej ected attitude of the Maori Of to - day. Many a confident ial talk have I had with Old native friends on this subj ect ,and these were the convictions they expressed . Europeans are

not aware of this mental attitude of the Maori,

and bu t fewpakeha will agree with me , but assuredly the statement is a correctone . The noa condition Of the inauri ora is the cau se of thedecadence of the race — SO says the Maori .In pre—European times the manri Of an infant was rendered

tapn ,and SO protective , by means Of a ceremony performed by a

tohnnga , or priestly expert . The ritual recited over the childwas Often termed a inauri . In some cases a post was set up toact as a k ind of talisman— that is a material inauri— t o protectthe welfare of the child . Such posts were known as taapatamariki . The mana, or power , of such a post emanated ,

ofcourse

,from the gods , and was implanted in it , as it were , by

means of sacredotal ceremonial . It preserved the heal th , mana,

and general welfare Of the child ; it averted misfortune ; it wasa protective power becau se it symbo lized the protective power Ofthe gods . It was sometimes alluded to as a tira ora . The basicmeaning of the word ti iapa is to ward off.

When the child was twelve days Old it was baptized , the samebeing an imposing and very pecu liar ceremony we have now notime t o discu ss . In the concluding part thereof the officiatingpriest dipped his hand in the stream in which he stood , and drewhis wet hand across the face Of the child as it lay on his left arm ,

at the same time recit ing the followingMau ri h ik it ia ,

m auri h apaingaMau ri o ra k i t e wh ai ao

,k i t e ao m aram a .

The expression Tihe mauri ora , rendered by Tylor as

Sneeze,living sou l , was repeated by a parent when a child

sneezed . This phrase is a favourite one with the Maori , and is notinfrequently employed t o denote prosperity or welfare . A sneezewas the first Sign Of life that came from Hine - ahu —one , the Earthformed Maid , when vivified by Tane ; hence the above u sage .

The repetition of this expression when a person sneezes is said toavert misfortune and ensure the sneezer

’

s welfare . A lengthenedform is Tihe maari ora ki te whai ao , ki te ao marama . Theword tokomaari means hiccough ,

”bu t the origin of the term is

Obscure ., It may have been thought that when a person hic

coughed his inauri was affected , or was perhaps the cause Of it .In one account Of the vivifying Of Hine - ahu - one occurs the sentence ,At that juncture the panting of Tane - te—waiora in the mouth

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2 6 DOMIN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

revivified ,as it were , and SO rendered mo re capable Of protecting

their welfare .

Material inauri We now come t o the material manri, and

here we have something that is easier for the European mind tograsp . For here

(we have to deal with an entity, a symbol that

represents the life - principle , the vitality of things . The rnana or

innate power to protect held by such a symbo l comes from thegods . AS an Old native friend Of mine put it , the material rnanriis a tannga atua— an abiding - place Of the gods . Hence is it sometimes termed a taarnata, or resting - place . In some cases an

ancestral spirit was implanted ,as it were , in the symbol , bu t in

most cases , apparently , gods Of the third class were u tilized forthe purpose , such as personified forms Of natural phenomena.

These symbols were employed or institu ted in order to protectand fo ster the life - principle and general welfare of man

,birds

,

fish , land , forests , &c . The ark or covenant Of the Hebrews wasundoubtedly a niaari . We are told that when the Philistinesdefeated the Hebrews they carried Off in triumph the ark Of thecovenant , the symbol of the Divine presence , withou t which itwere vain for Israel to appear in battle . Naturally

,for they had

lost their rnanri , the aria Of their war god , and cou ld no t possiblybe successfu l in battle . The zaimph , or sacred veil of Carthage ,was also a manri .

The material rnaari was in many cases a stone,doubtless

selected on account Of its durability . Such a symbol pertainingto a hou se was buried at the base of the rearmost post supportingthe ridge—pole . In the north a young tree was sometimes plantedat the birth Of a child , which tree was viewed as the materialmanri Of the ch ild/ h ence it was closely Observed as t o it s vigourand mode Of growth .

Deep - sea voyagers apparently carried a inauri of their vesselwith them . The stone brought by the Arawa

,mentioned at

page 2 84 of Volume 2 O f the journal of the Polynesian S ociety,

was probably su ch a symbol . ! u t here in New Z ealand canoeswere also provided with material manri , though only the largerand more important seago ing craft

,and possibly no t all O f these .

The smaller harbour and river cano es were apparently not provided with these protective symbols . On the East Coast I wastold that a stone Often served as the inauri O f a seago ing canoe .

It was no t carried in the vessel,bu t concealed on Sho re

,lest it

be found and carried off by some evilly disposed person,in which

case it wou ld ,apparently

,lose its virtu e . This stone served as

an abiding—place fo r the gods in who se care the vessel was placed,

who preserved it from the dangers Of the o cean ,and

,in the case

o f a fishing- canoe

,brought good luck to the fishermen ; as my

Ngati - Po rou informant quaintly expressed it , K ia ngawari hoki

nga ika o te rnoana .

”This talisman also retained the tapa Of the

craft ; that condition being deri ved from the fact that it wasi n the hands Of the gods

,who are the one and only sou rce

(

of tapn .

Ano ther interesting illu stration Of this quaint u sage was theinauri O f a pa ,

or village community ,the fortified Village Of pre

European days . In this case the manri protected the welfareof the village — that is to say,

O f its inhabitants . The symbol

SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAORI . 2 7

was endowed with the mana o f an atua (god) , or gods , and suchgods acted as guardians over the village . Here we see that thecharge was not the life - principle of an individual

,but that of a

community . The general welfare of the village commune wasenhanced

,and its mana strengthened ,

by means of this arrangement . The village was

,as i t were , dedicated to such god ,

whobecame its patron o r tutelary being . Not bu t what the villagewou ld also have dealings with other gods— the departmentalsystem demanded that .

When,some seven hundred years ago ,

the Whetu —kairangi

pa was bu ilt on Seatoun Heights,Wellington ,

Old Whatonga ,the

courageou s sea - voyager who reached these shores from easternPo lynesia advised the locating of a material inauri Of the place .

He said,

Locate the manri of the pa below the village midden .

Let it be an onema stone , or the stone called hnka- a - tai do notuse any o ther k ind . Locate in it the gods Tuhinapo and Tunu iO - te - ika ; two will suffi ce , and those have been u tilized as su chguardians from time immemorial . Maru was another so employed .

These were the village protecting deities . They gave warn ing O fthe approach O f hostile forces

,and of evil fortune o r ominou s

events pertaining to the village,or to an armed force .

A fortified village,I was informed

,wou ld possess no mana

,

and inspire no fear in enemies , unless it were provided with a

manri . I f this talisman chanced to be found by an enemy hewou ld carry it Off and perform over it a ceremony to depriveit O f it s virtue , and then the village wou ld lose both its mana

and its luck . An inevitable and natu ral consequence of thiscondition wou ld be that the people wou ld lose their assu ranceand cou rage ; they wou ld become unnerved

,and SO defenceless

against the buffetings Of fate .

Another account relates that the stone u sed as the manri O f a

pa was Often bu ried at the base of the first sto ckade—post erected,

which was a com er—post . It was laid in the bottom O f the po sthOle ,

and the massive timber was set up on it . This stone talismanwas Often alluded to as the whata O f the pa ,

and certain ritualwas recited over it when SO deposited . There was a considerableamount Of religiou s ceremonial connected with the bu ilding

,con

secration ,and the tapn lifting of a new pa . The ritual chaunted

over’

the stone s ymbol was for the pu rpose O f conciliating thegods

,and to promote the welfare of the village . It was specially

impressed upon me that no material maari per se cou ld protectthe village ; i t was bu t a tannga atria

,an abiding—place or Shrine

fo r the gods ; they were the true guardians . The stone was bu ta symbol O f the gods and their power . When the tapn was li ftedfrom a new pa ,

the girl who took SO important a part in the ritetook her stand near the maari

, because it represents the mana

of the place .

The amorangi , or iorangi (emblem of an atna) , carried by a

priest in the van Of a marching force going fo rth to battle,I have

never heard styled a inauri, though it may have possessed some

O f the att ribu tes O f that u sefu l Obj ect .

The material rnanri of a stream was Often a stone concealedsomewhere near the source o f the stream

,unless that chanced

“

2 8 DOMIN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

to be on the lands of another tribe . That of the Rangi - taik iRiver— o r

,rather

,of that po rtion of the river within the tribal

bounds o f Ngati - Manawa— is a large stone in the bed o f the rivernear old Fort Galatea . A Ngati - Porou native informed me thatin his district the stone manri of a river or stream wou ld havecertain ritual recited over it to endow it with the necessary powersor virtue

,and wou ld then be concealed somewhere near the stream .

The resu lt wou ld be that an abundance of fish wou ld be found insuch river . Of a Similar natu re were manri of lak es

,of forests

,

and o f pools or streams resorted to by pigeons,and where they were

snared . Shou ld su ch a talisman be taken away by any person ,

then the fish or birds wou ld become scarce they wou ld move awayto other parts . Natives of the Whanganui valley did no t placethe material manri o f an eel - weir at the weir , bu t concealed itnear a waterfall or cataract . The obj ect was to fru strate thedesigns of ill - disposed persons who might attempt to locate thernanri and deprive it of its maria

,or powers

,by means of magic

spells . The idea was that the stone inauri wou ld not be able tohear the noxiou s spells on account of the sound of many waters .

This is decidedly a novel idea,bu t probably originated in the

belief that the protective spirit gods inherent in the stone mightbe affected by the powers of the charm if heard . Such a maari

is often referred to by Whanganu i natives as an iho,a curiou s and

interesting word .

In Volume I O of the journal of the Polynesian S ociety is a

reference to a rock at Motu that is the manri of the sea- fish calledkahawai . The in

‘

auri of sea - fish was sometimes a small stone,

which,together with the gills of a kahawai, or whatever might be

the principal fish of such place,wou ld be concealed . This talis

man wou ld preserve the productiveness o f the o cean,cause fish

to be plentiful,and bring luck to fishermen . When the At iawa

Tribe of Taranak i occupied Wellington district a centu ry ago

there were bu t few kahawai in these waters , hence they sent backto Waitara for the rnanri

,and on its arrival and location here

those fish became plentifu l . The sea manri of the Whanau - a

Apanui Tribe is said to be a rata tree . The first fish caught of

any season was depo sited at that tree,evidently as an offering

to the gods . The inauri of an eel - weir was depo sited at theOpening thereof

,at the base of one of the supporting—posts .

The inauri of a forest was deemed a very important matter ,more especially among such tribes as were unable to producelarge quantities o f cu ltivated food products . In the Waiapudistrict is a hill called Taupa—nu i

,said to resemble a bird in form .

It is viewed as a rnann tipna,a supernormal bird

,and is the bird

inauri of the district . This place was much frequented by forestbirds . The forest inauri at Maungapohatu was a stone resemblinga dumb - bell in form . I t was sought in vain Since the death of

the o ld men who had known its hiding - place,bu t was discovered

by accident du ring the excavation of a hu t - Site at the settlementformed by the fo llowers of Rua

,the so —called new Messiah .

”

Another maari,at Tauwhare - manuka

,on the Tau ranga River ,

consists o f two rows o f stones half embedded in the earth . Theseforest inauri ensu red the productiveness of such fo rest , and caused

SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAORI . 2 9

birds and other products to be plentiful . They represented thehaa of the forest— that is, its vitality or vital principle— and itsrnana . A curious form of charm was recited by a person en

deavouring to find a manri in order to destroy its virtue , Otherformu lae were repeated in order to attract birds to a forest . Shou lda manri become deprived of its virtue

,or a forest become tarnaoatia

(defiled) by some feckless person carrying cook ed fo od into it ,then the birds would forsake it

,and flocks of them wou ld be

seen,or heard

,migrating to other districts .

“Travellers sometimes h ied them to a priest and obtained fromhim a maari for the period of the j ou rney to be made . In thattalismanic obj ect wou ld be located the mana of the particu laratua or god in who se care the traveller placed himself .

Whenhe retu rned from his j ou rney he wou ld hand the manri back tothe priest

,who wou ld make it noa (common) by banishing its

virtue— that is , by disassociating from it the rnana o f the proteeting deity . A protective charm repeated by travellers wastermed a inauri ariki ,

‘ it s repetition ensured the protection ofthe gods .

Material manri were u tilized in connection with agricu lture ;they were placed in the field where crops were planted

,and it

was a firm belief tha t they had a highly beneficial e ffect on thegrowing crops . This belief and practice hinge on the convictionthat such crops are possessed of a manri

,or li fe - principle

,withou t

which they cou ld not possibly flourish . This belief carri es us backto Indonesia

,where certain agricu ltural tribes believe that ri ce

possesses such an active life—principle . In both regions the beliefhas been the origin O f very singu lar ceremonies . The Maori maintains that forests , birds , fish ,

&c . ,also possess this immaterial

inauri or vital principle . In all cases the material manri representsthe immaterial inauri and protects it from all deterio ration or otherharm . This means that the gods whose rnana is implanted inthe talisman protect and cheri sh the life - principle

,the vigou r

,

vitality,and fru itfulness of crops , forest , birds , fish

, &c .

The inauri of a crop— as,for example

,a field of knmara (sweet

potatoes) — was in some cases a rudely fashioned stone image,

Specimens of which can be seen in the Dominion Museum . .Some

at least of these represented Rongo , the patron deity of agricu l

ture,who

,as we have seen , represents the moon . Thu s the moon

god that nu rtu red the crops of the old- time folk of Accadia has

crossed the wide seas to protect and vivify those of the Maoriat you r doors . And when the Maori o f yore planted his cropswith much ceremony and ritual , the sw

'

aying,feather- decorated

Spade - Shafts,10 ft . in length , carried on their upper ends the o ld

,

Old symbol of Rongo , the crescent .In some cases the first knmara planted in a field served as

a rnanri , and the puke, or small mound , in which it was plantedwas tapn .

The product of this plant was u tilized as firstfruits

offerings to Rongo . A very curious custom of former times wasthe ut iliz ing of Sku lls or bones of the dead as manri to cause a

crop to flou rish . These might be remains of either friends or

enem ies .They were conveyed to the field with much ceremony,

and there deposited until the crop was li fted . When Tuhoe slew

30 DOMIN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

Tionga,o f the Arawa

,they cu t off his head and carried it hom e

t o serve as a maari for a bird - snaring tree . In after - days NgatiAwa

,o f Te Teko

,borrowed the head to use as a rnanri for their

crops .

When the knrnara was first introduced into New Z ealand,

fear was entertained that its inauri might ret urn to Hawaiki,its

former home in Polynesia . Hence the introducers were advisedto Slay one Taukata

,who had been the cau se of its introduction

,

and sprink le his blood on the door o f the storehouse in whichthe seed - tubers were k ept . This had the desired effect

,and

,for

many years after,the Sku ll o f Taukata was used as a inauri for

the harnara plantations ofWhakatane . The employment of boneso f the dead for such a purpose is assuredly a survival Of humansacrifice for the same purpose . Certain folk of India Slew a

person each year in order to render their crops prolific,each

landowner obtaining a small portion of the flesh of the Victimto bu ry in his field .

Now,when Hape

,sire o f Tamarau

,the flying man

,went from

Whakatane to the Sou th Island he took with him the manri,or

life - principle,of the prized knrnara

,the chief cu ltivated food

product of the Maori . The resu lt was that the crops of Whakatane did not flouri sh

,and the Sons of Awa were in parlous plight .

Hence Tamarau followed his Sire to the sou th ,where he found

that he had died . However , he recovered the manri and broughtit home with him

,after which the crops flourished once more .

Among the Ngati - Porou folk a pecu liar divinatory rite wasperformed in order to ascertain what fate held in store for man

,

as in cases o f illness . For this purpose a small shrub of karanga

(Coprosrna) was employed as a temporary inauri . The operato rwou ld go forth in search of such a Shrub of a su itable Size . He

wou ld then endow it with mana,or power to act as an oracle

,by

reciting certain charms over it,and these located temporarily

in the Shrub the wairaa,or powers of the wairna

,of a defunct

forbear of the patient . The Shrub now possessed the necessarypowers to enable it to peer into the future and to notify man

as to the resu lt . The operator or augur grasped the stern of theShrub and repeated the words

Toh ungia t e t ohu o t e mat e .

Toh ungia t e t ohu O t e o ra .

(G ive t ok en of t h e S ign of death .

G ive t o k en o f t h e Sign o f l ife . )

He then pu lled at the Shrub so as to tear it up by the roots ,as he repeated

H e unuh anga a nuk u,he unuh anga a rangi

Ka unu t o pek e m ua,k a un u t o pek e ro t o

,

Ka u nu t o pek e t aha,k a unu t o pek e m au i .

I f the roots of the Shrub came away and were not broken inthe pu lling process the fact was viewed as a good omen

,and the

augu r exclaimed ,a nki

‘

ki tahito‘

o‘

te rangi . Shou ld the roo tsbreak it was an evil omen ,

“

and he cried E Tanknri E 1He atua I

He taitahae ! Alas There is the devil t o pay

SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAOR I . 3 1

The word mauri must not be looked upon as deno ting themind

,but the following remark made by an o ld native is sug

gest ive : K 0 taua ni ea ko te mauri he whatu mahara i roto i te

ngakau ko te whatu o roto i te manawa That thing the mauri

i s a sou rce of thought in the mind ; the nucleus within theheart This look s as though the speak er viewed the mauri as

being a sou rce of thought or memory ; bu t I have never knownany other native to express this View .

In the old saying , . Mauri mahi , rnauri ora ; inauri noho,

inauri mate,i t is difficu lt to see how the word inauri shou ld be

rendered . I t is probably here employed much as we do theword sou l in such expressions as He is a good sou l .

”So

,an

indu striou s sou l is prosperou s , while an indolent one sufferswant .

We have now seen that the term mauri denotes the physicall ife - principle

,and that in Maori belief it extended to what we term

inanimate obj ects ; also that certain material talismans,called

by the same name , represented and protected the Vitality and

welfare of animal life and of inanimate obj ects ; that either theimmaterial li fe - principle or the material talisman loses its virtueand protective power i f defiled in any way,

hence the necessi tyfor preserving the tapu

,or sanctity

,of one

’

s mauri ora . Taranak inatives tell u s that the moa became extinct because its li feprinciple was defiled by the early Maori settlers .

In Volume 2 9 of the journal of the Polynesian Society ,at

page 149 ,appears an interesting paper by Mr . Percy Sm i th on

Clairvoyance among the Maoris . The writer states his Opinionthat the Polynesians were acquainted with some branches o fpsychic science , such as hypnotism , telepathy ,

Clairvoyance,&c .

The first illustration given is as follows : Abou t the year 1853the natives of Taranak i were fast decreasing in numbers

,owing

to introduced diseases and change in habits and beliefs . Thenatives believed that it was their abandonment of tapu that wasthe cause of their misfortunes , and that the existence among themof o ld tapu obj ects and places had a very harmfu l effect uponthem . This was becau se su ch tapu obj ects , &c .

,were no t respected

as formerly , and this failure to respect them was the cause of theafflict ions su ffered by the people . This meant that

,despite their

acceptance of Christianity , the natives still believed in the powersof their old gods .

Now,at many of the o ld deserted pa (fortified villages ) and

other places in that district were concealed or buried materialinauri of former times . It was believed that trespass on suchplaces cau sed the gods to punish the offenders . Hence it wasresolved that all such tapu places and obj ects shou ld be renderednoa

,or free from tapu

,by means of proper ceremonial .

In certain divinatory ceremonies performed in public we are

told that the powers of priests wou ld cause a dead body to turnslowly over

,and cause leaves to fall from green branchlets in the

raurau rite .

! The mysterious power described by the word hoaenabled an expert to shatter a hard stone with a tap from a lightwand

,to blast a tree , to Slay a person o r animal with no weapon

bu t this strange force , this neolithic vril .

See Fron t ispiece , Pig . 2 .

32 DOMIN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

THE HAU,OR V ITAL SPIR IT .

The hau of a person is another vital principle or attribute thatwe have to consider

,and we Shall find

,as in the case O f mauri

,

that it is a term also u sed in connection with forests,land

,inanimate

obj ects,&c . In some cases it is employed Where ahua or ohonga

might be u sed,and i t i s an extremely diflicu lt quality to define

it is doubtfu l i f the English tongue contains a word to meet thecase .

The hau of man, of land , &c . , is an intangible quality

, one

of three potent iae pertaining to such things . It is the vital essence,

bu t is not the same as the mauri,or active life - principle . It

represents vital force , vitality— perhaps vital prin ciple is thebest definition that can be given . I t must be clearly understoodthat it is not a spirit as we generally understand that term ; iti s not an apparitional sou l ; it has little in ,

common with thewairua ,

save that it is intangible , and it i s not located in anyorgan of the body . The hau of a person

,of land

,of fo rests

,&c . ,

can be destroyed by the arts o f black magic,hence great pains

were taken to protect it ; such protection has already beendescribed under the heading o f “Mauri .

” The hau is moreclosely allied to the inauri than to the wairua . The ordinarymeanings of the word hau are wind

,

” “air

,

” “breath

, &c .

Coleridge’

s definition of personality plus vital power gives someidea of the hau of man .

AS in the case o f the mauri,we have to deal with both

immaterial and material hau . The immaterial hau is a necessaryvital principle ; the material hau is some obj ect that representssuch vitality . It serves a Simi lar pu rpose to that o f the materi almauri

,the material aria

,and the material ahua ,

inasmuch as i trepresents an immateri al quality ; it is a symbolic medium .

Certain obj ects u sed in divinatory ceremonies were called hau .

Material obj ects representing a battleground or a fight , &c . , weretermed hau . In these cases such things

,so far as I can see , might

equally as well have been styled mawe,aria

,o r ahua . The r

i

teknown as whangai hau was the offering of such hau to the godsin the case o f a fight the heart o f the first enemy slain was SO

offered .

In cases of makutu,or black magic

,it is often said that the

hau of a person was taken,but it wou ld be more correct to say

that the ohonga ,or material obj ect designed to be employed as a

medium,was taken ,

and through which medium the hau ,or vital

principle,or essence

, of the person was affected . One explanationseems to Show that

,if the intended victim were within Sight of

the wizard,the latter might affect his hau by means of direct

action — by Simply repeating his charm ,no material medium

being employed . In the ac t known as matakai a wizard reciteda spell while the Victim was eating

,so that food and Spell entered

his body together,the resu lt being death . This fatal resu lt

presupposes that the person attack ed had not had his lifeprinciple protected by means of the safeguards we have alreadydiscu ssed .

When it was desired to avenge a person Slain by witchcraft ,a leaf was moistened with saliva from the dead man

’

s mou th ,

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

34 DOMIN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

o f the hau that is so tak en , and this immaterial ahua serves as a

medium through which to affect the vital powers of a person .

Certain branchlets u sed in a singu lar divinatory 1ite calledraurau were known as hau , and here such obj ects were probablyviewed as representing the vital powers of the enemy they wou ldbe material symbols of su ch powers . Agents were very frequ entlyemployed by the Maori in his dealings with gods and supernormalforces . By endowing portable symbols

'

with the protective mana

o f the gods he was enabled to preserve the life—principle and

vitality of all things ; a forest so protected was as safe as thoughits vital principle were conceal ed in the material symbol calledthe inauri .

The wairua has appeared as an active force that does much toprotect its physical basis . The hau seems to be a passive elementthat needs every protection , though the name is also appliedo ccasionally to the talisman that protects it . This transference ofmany of these terms from one condition or element to another isvery confu sing t o Eu ropeans .The term apa hau denotes the Spirit of a dead person that has

passed into a living descendant— that is,the latter has become

t h e medium (waka, kanwaka ,and kaupapa) of the Spirit of his

forbear . Such a spirit was alluded to as an atua apa hau ,and

was consu lted by it s medium in all crises and troubles . It doesnot appear that su ch Spirit abode permanently in it s waka, bu t

it was ever accessible when wanted . Offerings of food and otherthings were made to such atua,

and this act was known as kurnanga

kai .

The hau of the human footprint is known as inanea on theEast Coast . This Can be tak en and u sed as a medium in blackmagic ; hence , when travelling in enemy country , people oftenwalk ed in water as mu ch as possible , so as to avoid leaving theirmanea in their footprints . Another peril t o such travellers wou ldbe that danger might lu rk on any path . By reciting certainspells over an obj ect , and then bu rying it in a pathway , an expertcou ld mak e such a path a death— .trap Any person walk ing overthat Spot wou ld eith er perish or be seriou sly a ffected , alwayssupposing that his mana was not sufficiently powerfu l to savehim . There also appears t o have been a material manea,

the powerso f wh ich seemed to be those of a mauri , and employ ed to protectt h e welfare of land and man . In the Taranak i district the termmanea seems to have been applied to stones u sed as mauri ofstreams or of fish .

When Mau i drew up these lands from'

the depths of the oceanhe went back to Hawaik i in order to tak e the hau of this land as

an offering to the gods . In this case the term hau wou ld be bestrendered as semblance .

Hau cm is an expression u sed to denote welfare , health , vigou r ,&c . In some cases it mu st be rendered by some su ch term as

salvation or saving -

,power as in the expression , Ko te

paepae , koinei te kanora o te tangata . Again , hauora i s employedto denote not only physical welfare

,bu t also intellectual vigou r ;

and hauora, toiora , manawa ora , and inauri ora may all be employedt o define a condition of Sp iritual welfare .

SPIR ITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAORI . 3S

MANAWA .

Here we have another term that is '

allied to many others theworld over— that is , in its lengthened form of manawa ora . Thetwo primary meanings of this word manawa are the organic ,material heart , and breath while the form rnanawa ora denotesthe breath of life . All three vowels are Short , and . the wordmust not be confused with manawa , a word meaning welcomeand to welcome . Manawa is also used much as we employthe term heart to express mind or spirit , as in the sentence ,E hiakai ana ahau , kaore aku rnanawa korero (I am hungry ,

and have no heart to talk— that is , no spirit for conversation) .The heart is Viewed by the Maori as one of the seats of the

feelings , as seen in the expressions manawa kino (uneasy ,appre

hensive) , manawa nu i (stout—hearted) , rnanawa pa (grudging ,parsimonious) , manawa popore (anxiou s , considerate) , manawa

rau (distracted) , rnanawa reka (gratified) , manawa rere (rash ,impetuou s ) , manawaru (anxious) , manawa wera (excited , angry) .Manawa is also u sed to denote staying - power or support .

I heard a native remark ,! c te manawa o te pakeha he pia

Beer is the support of the white In the Old sayingE waru nga pu rnanawa reference is made to inherent talent s

of man ,as courage , industry , generosity , &c . The expression

Kuku o te manawa implies that which has a hold upon theaffections . Natives have often asked me for some special food toserve as a manawa for a Sick person ,

and here we see the meaningof support again . The expressions wai manawa whenua and

komanawa wai denote water gushing forth from the earth , and

manawa has sometimes to be translated as bowels .

Manawa as meaning breath is well illustrated by suchsayings as tanga manawa (breathing - space) and Ka he toku

manawa I am out of breath rl/Ianawa may be compared t othe Latin anima

,a term that originally meant breath ,

”but in

course of time came to signify the infinite in man , and so anima

was employed to denote the sou l . Our word spirit is derivedfrom a word meaning to breathe . Again , the Greek term psycheoriginally meant breath ,

but came into use to express sou l .”

The psyche was not located in any organ of the body ; it pervaded , as it were , the whole body . The manawa ora of the MaoriI render as the breath of life the expression carries a senseof something more than mere breath— a spiritual sense . Themanawa ora obtained from the Supreme Being , and implanted inthe image that was to be Hine—ahu - one , the Earth—formed Maid,the first woman

, was something more than the mere power ofbreathing . It was the pneuma or anima

, the spiritual breath of

life , that , together with the wairua , obtained from the samesource

,endowed Hine with her twofold life essence , the ira atua

and ira tangata . It is evident that manawa (breath ) was theo rigin of the manawa ora concept , as was the case with anima

and psyche . The rnanawa cm is one of the vivifying agents or

pot ent iae that impart life to man .

In Hebrew terms for these phenomena we have ruach ,that

meant breath ,bu t also denoted t he sou l , or y ital spirit , as

some term it . The Hebrew word nesharnah seems to nearly

36 DOM IN ION MUSEUM MONOGRA PH NO . 2 .

approach the manawa cm of the Maori . Max Mu ller explains itas t he Vital breath which every creature has received fromGod . This was the power or quality that endowed Adam witha living sou l . In this expression the definitions of breath of

life and sou l are clearly combined . In later times the Jewsdefined more clearly the five spiritual pot ent iae in man

(I . ) The vital power— Nephesh .

The vital spirit— Ruach .

(3 . Consciou sness— Neshamah .

(4 (5 Epithets only of the sou l .

The term manawa ora, says the Maori , denotes life itself , as

rnauri also denotes life , and the hau represents life,bu t in a

somewhat different sense . ! u t the Maori did no t View the bloodas representing life , as some S emitic folk did . One o ld sageremark ed to me that all things possess a wairua ,

and rnanawa ora ,

and mauri . In regard t o the wairua, he wou ld not , I believe ,assign an apparitional soul to a tree or stone , bu t Simply a spirit .

AS t o the manawa ora possessed by such inanimate obj ects,here

is proof that this expression implies something more than breath ,

for no native wou ld connect the power of breathing with a stone ,albeit the stone is no t absolu tely lifeless in his eyes .

This expression (manawa ora) is sometimes u sed in the samesense as is kanora ,

and so a person of a cheerfu l nature is alludedt o as being in a condition of inanama ora, or of a manawa ora

d isposition . Some o ld folk s consu lted have not carried thepossession of manawa ora outside the animal k ingdom , so thatan element of doubt pertains t o its extension . Again , the ex

p ression is u sed to’

denote fresh air, as illu strated in the remark ,

Tenei mea te rnanawa ora e hangia nei e tatou This thing ,t he breath of life , breathed by u s Moriori mothers of theChatham Isles recited certain ritual over a newly born infant ino rder to endow it with the breath of life , the power of breathing ,and also t o cau se its wairua t o attain life and vigour in thisworld .

The expression manawa waiora is occasionally heard ,and

seems to carry the same meaning as does inanama ora . I haveheard natives say of a dead person ,

as during mourning cercm onial , The nianawa ora has departed , the ahua alone remains .At one time I gave evidence in an assau lt case to show that theaccused had been struck himself before he retaliated ,

whereuponh e remark ed Ae, ko koe taku rnanawa ora (

“! es you are my

manawa ora

In olden days the Maori firmly believed that tohunga of highc lass rnana cou ld endow a person apparently dying with theb reath of life by means of reciting certain ritual formu lae . This

p ecu liar ceremony is known as whakanoho manawa . We havec ollected several of these charms

,and their wording is pecu liar ,

as in the linesTuku a at u t am a k ia pu t a k i t e ao

H e oh o rere t e t o komau ri

Tihe m au ri ora k i t e ao m aram a .

A somewhat Similar composition was recited over young infantswith the same

'

object as that in'

the case of the Moriori mother .

SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAORI . 37

The employment of the term manawa ora seems to Show thatthe Maori believed life to be something more than the actualbreath . He certainly u sed words of material. origin to denoteimmaterial conceptions ; but then ,

what race does not do so ?

TIPUA .

Ere passing on to the last series o f words in our list we willpeer a while into the realm of animatism

,and discuss the Maori

belie f in non - apparitional,indwelling Spirits pertaining to in

animate obj ects . .Such Obj ects are described as tipua ,

and thisterm is also applied to such animals as were believed to bepossessed of supernormal indwelling spirits . It is occasionallyapplied to persons

,as to such as possess strange , abnormal

characteristics,and to

‘

any strange Sickness . The first Eu ropeansseen by natives were styled tipua

,on account of their uncanny

appearance . Thus the word tipua,of which tupua is a variant

form,may often

'

be rendered as demon,

” “goblin ,

or obj ectof terror . The Ngapuhi folk called Marion and his French crewsea- demons .

”

Tylor drew our attention to the fact that savages do no t

mak e the distinction between animate and inanimate obj ectsthat civilized folk do . The question of preanimistic religi onis a very doubtfu l matter , and we cannot speak with anyconfidence concerning it . The theo ry o f such a strange , un

familiar cu ltu s hinges on the mental attitude of early m an toward natural phenomena ere he personified them ,

or viewedthem as being animated by an indwelling spiri t . The conj ectu reis of too vagu e a natu re to claim much of our attention and

time,hence we pass on to review the animatism of the Maori .

Shortland tells us that a tipua is the spirit of a person who ,when living

,was noted for his knowledge of potent karakia,

orritual formu lae . ! u t it is with material tipua that we are dealingnow . It is true that tipua obj ects are possessed of an indwellingspirit

,otherwise they wou ld not be tipua , bu t the original human

owner of that spirit need not necessarily have been an adeptin the karakia line . What was necessary was that he Shou ldhave been a person possessed o f mana

,for that quality it was that

endowed the material obj ect , rock or tree,with its mana . Such

rnana was shown in its powers— the power to punish offenders ,to cause storms

,&c . Nor were all tipua animated by Spirits

of deceased persons . When Tamatea,

annoyed by his wife’

slamenting their desertion o f their former home in Polyn esia,

uttered the dread matapou spell that transformed her and hertwo dogs into block s of stone

,all three of them became tipua .

It is thus apparent that the Spirit of a“

person is not a necessityin our tipua obj ects . And in cases where some common obj ect— a weapon

,a log

,a piece of a canoe

,St e — became a tipua there

is nothing to Show that any animal Spirit has passed into It , yetan indwelling spirit it assu redly had in Maori belief . Anthro

pologists Wou ld possibly term the material tipua a fetish .

”

East Coast natives informed me that many tipua originatedin the death of a t raveller , or in the act of resting by bearerso f a corpse at some place . A rock or tree at o r near a place

38 DOM IN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

where such an occu rrence took place wou ld come to be lookedupon and treated as a tipua . This wou ld probably be theresu lt of the fact t hat su ch a Spot wou ld become tapu

,and a

symbol for such tapu wou ld be requ ired,some visible representa

tion o f the sacredness o f the place . The obj ect selected as a

tipua wou ld be animated,as it were

,by the wairua of the dead

person on account of whom the place was made tapu,and it was

thus that the tipua obtained its rnana . This belief seems toclash with that of the wairua going to the Spiri t -world

,bu t

apparently the Maori does no t worry about su ch inconsistencies .

Probably the original concept was that,while the wairua o f the

defunct person proceeded to the spiri t -world,yet its influence

,

combined with that person’

s mana,rendered the obj ect a tipua

i . e .,a supernormal entity . That tipua stone

,rock

,tree

,or log

in many cases came to be u sed as an uruuru whenua . Thisexpression denotes the mak ing of an o ffering to such tipuaobj ects

,the act being accompanied by the recitation o f a Short

charm . This performance was certainly a placatory one,a placa

tion of the Spirit inhabiting the tipua obj ect,the guardian

,as

it were,of the tapu spot . Shou ld any traveller neglect to mak e

such an o ffering,which u sually consisted of a branchlet , or

handfu l o f herbage,then he wou ld meet with some mishap . The

giving of this propitiatory gift is described by the word whangai ,a term meaning to feed

,to o ffer as food . The persons dwelling

on the lands near a tipua were apparently allowed some latitude,

bu t woe betide any stranger who neglected to perform thisSimple ceremony ! Some misfortune wou ld assu redly assai l himdeath or sickness ; or a storm wou ld render his j ou rney an irk

some one . The offerings preserve the mana of the tipua,and

that mana brings the o fferings . The offerings also Show that thedescendants o f the person whose wairua and mana originatedthe tipua still bear him in mind and still upho ld his mana .

Even a stream In which a corpse has been washed has beentreated as a tipua

,an offering to it consisting of a stone cast

into it . Any person who defiles such a tapu place,as by tak ing

cooked food to it,wou ld be slain or seriously afflicted by the

inherent wairua of the tipua .

When people were traversing a strange district,a rnatakite

(seer) among them wou ld,we are told ,

recogn ize any tipuaobj ect passed on the way. He wou ld see the guardian wairuao f the place

,and so wou ld know the place to be the location

o f a tipua .

Leaves o f the kawakawa,a small tree

,were

,i f available ,

preferred as an offering to a tipua,but for what reason I canno t

say. Can it be in remembrance of the kava o f Polynesia ,a

plant of the same genus ?

AS a person approached the tipua,offering in hand

,he recited

such a charm as the followingTawhia k ia it a

K ia it a i ro t o,k ia ita i waho

Tam an a t ak e k i a k o eH u renga a nu i

,h u renga a roa

Tam au a t ak e k i a k o e

H e k op inga a n u ku,he k op inga a rangi

K i a k o e , e k o ro .

SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAORI . 39

He then deposits his o ffering . The following is a Short,

simple form o f recital used,Shou ld a person no t be acquainted

with the longer one : Ina au taku aitu,taku arangi .

”This

acknowledges the tapu o f the place .

Some tapu trees , such as tipua,or burial - trees , or a tree in

which the umbilical cord of an in fant had been deposited ,had

more valuable articles deposited at,on

,o r in them— occasionally

a small piece of the priz ed greenstone . In late times , brighthued handkerchiefs or strips of cloth wou ld .be hung on such taputrees .

When explo ring Waikaremoana many years ago I was warnednot to touch stones and rock s at certain places , for , i f I did so ,a sto rm wou ld ensue .

In the Paumotu dialect tupua denotes a ghost . In manyof the isles of Polynesia the word carries Similar meanings towhat it does in New Z ealand . At Taumako Island atupuameans a Spirit .

The tipua log known as Tutaua,that is said to have dri fted

for many years athwart the confined waters o f Waikaremo’

ana,

possessed the power of Singing . In the dead of night themountain - folk wou ld hear the weird voice of the enchanted logas it drifted across the troubled waters o f the Star Lake

,and

wou ld say,one to another

,K0 Tutaua e waiata haere ana

It is Tu tana Singing as it goesWe know also that many of the mountains and great hills

were viewed as tipua . They were tapu ,and so cou ld be ascended

with safety only after the recital of certain placatory formu lae .

When,long years ago ,

I ascended Maungapohatu in companywith my worthy old friend Peka- hinau— he who Shot Panetakataka at Te Kakari— that grey - haired o ld tohunga of theChildren of the Mist made me leave my pipe and tobacco at thebase of the range

,lest its tapu be defiled .

Much more might be said concerning tipua,

and a greatnumber of illustrative stories related anent such phenomena as

enchanted obj ec ts,mountains

,&c . ,

endowed with powers of speechand locomotion

,inanimate articles possessed o f rnana

,weird

powers and influence s of which we find illustrations in our fairytales . All of these things were real

,very real

,to the Maori mind

,

as they were to those of our own forbears in the centu ries thatlie behind .

MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MAOR I .

It is when we come to deal with Maori terms for the mindthat we encounter words denoting organs of the body . We haveseen that the heart (manawa) is viewed as being partially theseat of emotions

,bu t the terms puku and ngakau are more widely

used in this connection .

The Maori employ s the expressions are ,hinengaro ,

and ngakau

in o rder to define what we call mind . H inengaro is also usedto denote conscience . The definitions of the word aro are

mind,seat o f feelings

,desire

,the bowels

,to know or understand .

”

In connection with the meaning to know or understand,however

,

the initial vowel seems to be lengthened,hence Williams treats it

40 DOM IN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

as a di fferent word . By adding t he causative prefix to aro weget the form whakaaro

, meaning thought,intention

,opinion

understanding , plan as a verb,to think

,to consider

,to plan .

The word rnea is also employed as meaning to think,to say,

to do,to wish

,&c .

,bu t in a secondary manner

,as it were .

Familiarity with the use of this term alone enables one to understand its marvellous adaptiveness .

Hinengaro is the name of one o f the internal organs,bu t

,like

arc,is much better known by its other meanings mind

,

c onscience , seat of thought and emotions; the heart (as seat o f theforegoing) , desire . This term is a far- spread one

,as Shown by

the forms finangalo of Samoa,hinaaro of Tahiti

,inangaro of

Mangaia, finangalo o f Tonga

, finangaro of Fu tuna ,hinangaro of

Paumotu,hinenao of Marquesas

,&c . the meanings being

‘‘

rnind ,

desire,affection

,&c . The Moriori form means conscience .

’

In the expression Kai te rnohio taku hinengaro ka taea e au

tenei mahi My mind knows that this task can be accomplishedby me

”

) the meaning of mind is clear . In the foll owingremark

,made by a person when condemning the action of another ,

Hua atu ma te hinengaro e whakaatu raai te ahua he”

(“ One

wou ld think that the hinengaro wou ld indicate the perniciou saspect of your act understood!, the meaning of consciencemu st be assigned . The word hua here employed means t o

think,to decide

,to know

,&c . The affections do not emanate

from the hinengaro . A native made the following Singu lar remarkto me : The emotions m ay originate with the hin engaro and

descend to the ngakau in order to find expression .

”The same

person remark ed that the affections pertain to the ngakau ,to the

puku,as seen in the expression puku aroha (affectionate) , and to

the rnanawa .

Katahi ano ka kitea te inea nei kua eke ki runga ki ta te

hinengaro i whakatakoto ai (I have at length seen what the mindhad conceived) .In the remark E hara te hinengaro o rh ea he ngakau kino

the terms hinengaro and°ngakau are synonymou s in meaning .

Te hinengaro o rh ea kua rnaruapo (The mind of So - and - SO has

become dark ened ) .Mahara is a word meaning thought

,memory

,recollection

as a verb,to remember

,t o think upon

,to be anxiou s . Whaka

inahara means t o remind .

”Williams tells us that the term

mahara also denotes some part o f the intestines .

Mohio means to know,to understand ,

wise,intelligent , a

person of knowledge,

Mohiotanga z knowledge ; whakamohio

to teach,instruct .

Matau means to know,

' to understand . Al atauranga

knowledge whakain atau to teach .

Ngakau . This word is commonly used t o denote mind ,and

,

figuratively,the heart as the seat of feelings

,also desire , inclination ,

&c . As in the case of manawa,it enters into a number of

expressions,as oranga ngakau (comfort) , ngakau

- nu i (eager) ,ngakau

- k0re (disinclined ,dispirited) , ngakau

- rua (uncertain , vacillating) . Ngakau also means the bowels

,viscera . It also

denotes a medium (also termed tiwha) by means of which assistance

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DOM IN ION MUSEUM MONOGRAPH NO . 2 .

vivifying and protective agent , Shou ld it by any means becomedefiled ,

then its physical basis , man, becomes helpless ; he is left

in a condition of Spiritual destitu tion ; he lies open t o everybanefu l influ ence ; every Shaft of magi c and ot her evil powers .He loses the important protective power of second sight ; theability of his wairua to preserve his welfare wanes . His ho ld onlife thu s becomes precariou s ; his only hope is to restore the condition of tapu that alone represents safety and general welfare .

The Vitalizing - power of tapu , be it remembered , emanates fromthe gods

,and the favou r of those gods mu st be retained .

We have now made a fairly comprehensive su rvey of th eSpiritual and mental concepts of the Maori fo lk , at least so far

as they are known . We have seen that these barbaric Polynesianshave evolved some very Singu lar and interesting conception sconcern ing the Spiritual and int ellectual powers of man . Someof these are pitched upon a high plane of thought , and remind us

of those of Asiatic peoples , both possessing similar mystical andmythopoetic t emperaments . Isolat ed for many centu ries in smalland far—scattered isles the Polynesian has made but little advancein material cu lture . His artifacts are crude , his indu strial methodsare antiquated and verge on the primitive , his social cu stomsthose of uncu ltu red man . ! u t

,bound as he was by ignorance ,

by fossilized conditions and lack of opportunities,he yet advanced

in on e direction . No retarding conditions cou ld efface the superiormentality of the race , no cloud of superstition and ignoranceprevented the neolithic Maori seek ing to learn the origin and

meaning of life , the whence and whither of the human sou l . His

amazing geniu s for personification ,his powers of introspect ive

thought , his long - developed facu lty of abstraction ,have resu lt ed

in some of the most interesting concepts known to man . The

post mortem pu rification of the human sou l , and the evolving ofthe belief in a Supreme Being untaint ed by human passions ,represent the acme of the intellectual powers of the Maori . Inhis lack of t eachings as to fiendish tortu res of the soul of man

in the Spirit -world the cannibal Maori stands the superior of thecu ltured peoples of the Occident

, and emphasizes the abominationsof the perniciou s doctrine of some Christian priesthoods . In hisallegorical myths of the golden path of Tane , of the protection of

the sou ls of the dead by the fair Dawn Maid , of the celestial maidswelcoming the sou ls Of the dead to the uppermost heav ,

en weobserve the finest conceptions of the mythopoetic mentality of

the Maori .In his endeavours to conceive the marvels of life the Maori ,

as we have seen , evo lved the belief in several Spiritual and intellectual potenties . He not only endowed man with these principles , bu t also ass igned them t o animals and to inanimate obj ects .

His belief in the ever present and ever - active powers of evil ledhim t o protect such life—principles by means of mat erial and

immaterial symbo ls , or talismans . These media again were prot ect ed by divers methods , of which the gods were the active powerand mainstay . The vitality of land and forest were protectedin a Similar manner . In infancy our Maori was dedicated to theSupreme Being , or to departmental gods ; in the serious crise s

SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL CONCEPTS OF THE MA'

ORI . 43

of life he placed himself unreservedly in the hands of his gods,

with such a Simple remark as Ki a koe, e Rehua ! To thee , ORehua And in face of all this evidence cu ltured writers havetold u s that the Maori has no power of abstract thoughtIt is for us to read the lesson contained in these beliefs and

conclusions of man the barbarian . It i s for u s to retrace our

steps down the path of intolerance , and regain the broad highwayo f altru ism— t o tread the four-way path of Tane over which , fromall quarters of the fair eart h ,

the souls of the dead fare on t o

Hawaiki—nui, the domain of purification . And whether the wairua of man seek s the care of the ever- beau tifu l Dawn Maid , o r

his awe ascends to the realm of l o the Eternal , to be greeted by theMareikura

,the golden light of Tane - t e -waiora Shall cheer them ;

t h e end is peace , the terrorizing myths of priesthoods a byword .

The task s of Hine - ahu - one,the Earth - formed Maid , and of

h er fair daughter have been well performed . The ira atua and

ira tangata are made one , the kanmae runga j oins with the kanmaeraro perverse man alone bars the thrice - sacred fou r-way path .

The life -weary Maori will never again break out the trails ofnew realms , never again tu rn his mythopoetic mind to seek thesecrets of the universe . For his sacred life - principle is befou ledo fman he has lost caste , and there is no health in mind or body .

Even SO his wairua will desert h is "tapuless

” body and fare ou tupon the Ara whanui in search of the Daughter of the Sun , whoever stands between it and misfortune . Then the great oceanworld that he explored , and peopled , and traversed for so manyc entu ries will know him never again ,

and the last of the gallanto ld path - finders may tru ly say, Tangi kau ana te hau ki runga

o Marae- nui o Hine-moana (“ Nought save the wailing of the

wind is heard on th e vast plaza of the Ocean Maid

! y Au tho ri ty : W . A . G . SK INNER ,Go vernm en t Prin ter, W el l ingt on .

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