| Show The South Pacific Islanders Prepared for the Natural History Society of ot Utah III Superstitions and Religious Rites Every tribe in New Zealand has its priest or who is to them not only a prophet and seer but also a aleader aleader aleader leader in war a physician to the sick and a judge of the deeds of men Of course these priests have lost much of their influence on account of contact with civilization and the introduction of Christianity among them They are here spoken of as found in the remoter and less Christianized districts or as observed by the first missionaries In n times of war it is the duty of the priest to learn beforehand through signs and omens what will be the result of the battle Often he spends the whole night in making these determinations and then leads the warriors to battle The Thet t mere presence of the priest is thought to tobe tobe t. t be a great help towards victory i He is also the physician to the tribe As it is thought that sickness is caused by some evil power generally the sick I person is said to be bewitched by an ani i enemy With a firm belief in such a cause it is natural that they should look to the priest or to someone with supernatural endowments to overcome a similar power exercised by an enemy Whether the cure is effected or not depends depends depends de de- upon the relative powers of the priests the priests the and the doctor Witchcraft is a source of great terror to a Maori He fears to give offence to toa a sup superior or to allow an enemy to obtain obtain obtain ob ob- tain possession of a lock of his hair or ori i anything belonging to him lest an in incantation incantation lD- lD might be repeated over this F object and cause the powers of the invisible world to fall upon and destroy him Once possessed of the idea that f he is bewitched he is sure to die unless unless unless un un- less waited upon by some priest in inI whom he has great faith Equally fatal I is is a breach of the ta tapu u which consists in eating food in a place where a chief has recently died or in partaking of of- fruit that has grown about a burying ground I It t is believed that such an act calls down the vengeance of the departed departed departed de de- de- de parted spirit and will surely result in iii sudden death The facts are that such an act often does result in death The knowledge that he has committed such an offence even though he may not have have- realized it at the time is often enough to kill a native He is literally scared to death To speak of a chiefs chief's head was also a great reat offence and was liable to call down the vengeance of the gods The name of a chief could not be ap applied applied applied ap ap- plied to objects unless a new name were given the chief and the old one- one entirely discarded The Maoris thought it the height of blasphemy for Englishmen English English- men to name ships after their queen It was likewise dangerous to call a person after an object especially any any- article of food All the vile names that belong to the English tongue would be comparatively inoffensive to a Maori even though he understood English but butto butto butto to call him a potato is to pronounce pronounce- upon him a curse that at one time might have brought about the death either of of- the offender or the offended The writer once had occasion to observe the details of a case of this kind A young married couple were given to quarreling and asboth as both had learned to speak English they indulged their feelings by calling each other all the bad names learned from bush But this was too tame they had to resort to their native language language- and ideas The woman called her husband husband husband hus hus- band a potato For this great offence she was brought before the tribe in a atrial atrial atrial trial which lasted several days and nights Fortunately neither life was was- lost but both met with severe reproof The judges ordered the fence surrounding surround surround- ing their field to be torn down that the wild pigs might come in and destroy their crops Thus deprived of food it was thought th that t the young couple would learn to love each other and live in peace The idea of propitiation by sacrifice held a prominent place among religious religious- rites At one time human sacrifice was offered There were also offerings of animals and various kinds of food These were a portion of the duties of the priests and the privilege of performing performing performing per per- forming the numerous rites and ceremonies cere monies was confined to them Having no written record a knowledge of the mysteries of religion was handed down by tradition The young priest was sworn to secrecy and if the omens were favorable the knowledge of the aged priest was communicated to him To betray in any way these secret rites would surely bring swift destruction Under these circumstances it has been difficult for Europeans to obtain information information information tion concerning the exact nature of many priestly ceremonies Some knowledge knowledge knowledge knowl knowl- edge has been gained from priests who have become Christian and have renounced renounced renounced re re- the power of their Maori Maor gods One such priest thinking he had overcome overcome overcome over over- come these to him now heathen influences influences influences in in- consented to relate the s secrets crets of Maori worship but although he constantly affirmed his disbelief in them he was so frightened at his own boldness boldness boldness bold bold- ness that cold perspiration ran down his cheeks and his hair stood on end When a professed unbeliever in these traditions is thus affected no wonder that the firm believer is frightened to death by his own acts of blasphemy After child childbirth birth a woman was ta tapu lt for fora a c c certain number of days and until the priest had made an offering to the gods This done she might again associate with the people The child was purified by sprinkling and repeating of incantations incantations by the priest If a boy he was baptized or dedicated to Tu the god of r 1 war if a girl J to te Hine the goddess of all the necessities of life Among all the people omens and dreams were infallible signs of human destiny The manner of the flight of a abird abird 1 bird the stroke of an oar or the simplest simplest simplest sim sim- act of man or beast had about it the prophetic element To dream of wounds or weeping was an sign of death and so every other kind of dream had a definite and portentous interpretation Not the less interesting and fearful earful to the Maori are nga taniwha or monstrous destructive gods that live in the water and allure boatmen to destruction Lake Taupo is perhaps most famous as the home of some of these destroyers of mankind There is a certain place on the lake the home of a taniwha that is especially dangerous At one on time a company of natives having with them a very powerful priest were bold enough to row to this spot On reaching the place it is said the canoe suddenly stopped whirled around and a great rock came up out of the water This was the taniwha which is apt to appear under any form The priest pulled a hair from his head repeated repeated re re- an incantation and threw the hair into the water The rock disappeared disappeared disappeared dis dis- appeared and the company passed safely on They were badly frightened and convinced that they would have been killed had it not been beert for the great power of their priest Europeans may pass over any of these places with safety because the Maori gods have no no power over them Their idea that the devil or an evil power can appear in any form corresponds corresponds corresponds corres corres- ponds with the ideas expressed in jn ancient literature beginning with the account of man in Eden where Satan appeared in the form of a serpent Also in the Book of J asher it is related that Satan appeared to Abraham and J Isaac I in the figure of a very aged man of a young man comely and well favored and in the form of a brook large and powerful as the mighty waters The Maori word atria god is applied to spirits of all kinds of gods men and devils The spirit of a great man becomes becomes becomes be be- comes an to be reverenced or feared according as he was good or bad The emotion of fear is generally most alent The translators of the Bible denominated min all these as Maori gods and introduced introduced introduced intro intro- foreign words to represent the God and devil of the Scriptures Milton Bell Bennion n |
