Te Kopara 82

Te Kopara 82

(Maori Version at Papers Past.)

[3] Te Kopara, Number 82, Gisborne, 30 November, 1920.

‘Iti te Kopara, kai takirikiri ana i runga i te Kahikatea.’

Although the Bellbird is small, he plucks at the Kahikatea. [cf Nga Pepeha 908]

HOW RIGHT ARE MAORI PRACTICES?

R[eweti] T K[ohere]

I grew up amidst Maoritanga. When I was thirteen I started school. When I was fifteen I arrived at Te Aute, but when I arrived for the first time the school was full and I was sent home without learning the ABC. I grew up amidst Maoritanga. In those days a Pakeha was rarely seen in my area and we children would stare at him.

I was continually hearing stories of ghosts [kehua], tales of witchcraft [whaiwhaiaa], and about the many tapu of the Maori. Perhaps some will say that what I say is just sneering, like the woman who said that women who don’t drink beer and get drunk are hoity-toity. In no way am I ridiculing but a perception has been growing inside me, perhaps because this is a new world, a new time, and my heart has also been renewed. Belief in ghosts and witchcraft and tapu are indicators of Maoritanga, of ignorance, of a person’s being in darkness. As enlightenment increases, so belief in these deceits decreases.

I have never seen a ghost. I have been about alone in the middle of the night, I have passed burial grounds, and no ghosts have appeared to me. If a person sees a ghost it is in his head, like a dream. If I have experienced anxiety and fear it has been because my ears and my heart were filled with stories of ghosts when I was a child. Had I not been taught about ghosts I would never have thought of anything as being a ghost.

Maori have many customs around fishing. If the sinker does not strike the fish then no food will be caught in the fishing-ground. If these practices are transgressed Maori say that the fish will not bite. My mind, familiar as it is with Pakeha ways and with understanding, cannot agree that these customs are right. They are mistaken. Who is going to tell the fish that there is food

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in the canoe, or know if the sinker hit it? How does the fish, who does not know that there is a hook in the bait, know that there is food in the canoe? But I do believe that some nights are good for fishing and others not, because the condition of the sea depends on the phases of the moon each night.

I cannot believe that this night is a good one for food and that tomorrow night will not be, neither is there any difference between Monday and Tuesday or the Third Day and the Fourth Day. If the garden is well cultivated, the seeds are good, there are no weeds, and no blight, then that is a night for sowing food crops;

‘Pai tu pai hinga’

‘Good at standing, good at falling,’ [cf Nga Pepeha 2118]

and if the seed is bad and the plant will be crowded out by weeds, then that night will not yield food. The Pakeha does not believe in good and bad nights for sowing and goes rather by the months and still manages to feed New Zealand with potatoes without bothering about the Maori nights for sowing food. It's right that the ancestors considered what were the correct nights for planting kūmara and nights when there was no rain, because if it rained the kūmara tubers would die. In these days there is a different way of cultivating which doesn’t involve tubers and the favoured conditions are damp and rain.

I have not been able to believe in this thing called witchcraft and many Maori in these enlightened days do not believe in it. If some Maori had such power to use witchcraft then people would have been dispatched to the afterlife. Hongi Hika knew that he had power to strike down people but it was his Pakeha gun that he used as he went to all parts of Aotearoa killing people. If Ngapuhi had powers of witchcraft why did they wait for the arrival of the Pakeha gun? The missionaries did not believe that Maori had powers of witchcraft. Te Manene [F E Maning] was a Pakeha who one could say was truly Maori and who was knowledgeable about all Maori practices but he did not believe in witchcraft, rather he wrote that the practices of the tohunga were deceitful. Only one tohunga truly imposed upon him; it was the tohunga’s voice he heard when the tohunga said that it was the voice of a spirit.

I have heard a Maori minister say that he could kill a person with witchcraft. This kind of speech comes from the age of darkness. When a Maori heard what the minister had said he declared that should he hear that minister’s voice he would ask him to put a spell on him so that he would die within twenty-four hours. Nikora Tautau used to say that the tohunga of Waikato had not been able to kill him with their witchcraft. The burden of Nikora’s speech was that curses were a fabrication.

However I do believe that some people die of fear if they think they have been bewitched. It is not witchcraft that strikes them down but their great fear; many people die out of fear and shock. This what makes witchcraft evil – it strikes down sensitive people because they are so fearful, and this is also, I believe, the reason why the Bible condemns witchcraft. This is what people were like in those

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days when they still believed in Maori practices.

It will not be long before our children or our grandchildren laugh at our belief in such untrue things, in the works of ignorance.

CONSUMPTION

Doctor Te Rangihiroa.

Here we have some clear guidance from Doctor Te Rangihiroa about Consumption which is so seriously affecting the Maori People of Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu. It is good to publish again and again our doctor’s teaching so that Maori can avoid this terrible illness which is oppressing the Maori. This illness is also affecting Pakeha but not with the impact that it is having on Maori. [Editor]

The Source of Consumption [Tuberculosis]

First, it is caused by a germ [bacillus] which, secondly, latches on to bodily weakness which enables it to flourish. It is this germ alone which is the cause of consumption. Consumption is not the kind of illness that is handed down from one’s parents, rather the germ enters a person’s body and the person becomes ill. Thereafter the germ grows in all parts of the body but it is the lungs which are mainly infected.

The places whence the germ comes: 1. The phlegm of people suffering from consumption. 2. The fluids expelled from the mouth and nose of the person with consumption when they cough or sneeze. 3. The milk of cows infected with the disease.

The ways by which the germ enters the body: 1. By breathing in phlegm which has dried and become dust. 2. By breathing in the splutterings from the mouth or nose of the person with consumption when they are coughing or sneezing. 3. Through food and milk. 4. Through the mouth if one is given something to eat which the germ has got into, or by way of the hands if one has been touching the sick person or their possessions. 5. By touching noses or kissing the mouth of the sick person.

The main source of consumption is the coughing of the person afflicted with the illness. That cough dries out and becomes dust that is carried by the wind and if it is breathed in it enters the lungs.

The ways in which the consumption germ is spread: 1. On shoes, if the germ clings to the soles. 2. On a woman’s skirts. 3. By dusty air inside houses. 4. By coughing without placing a handkerchief in front of one’s mouth as one goes about.

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5. On dirty handkerchiefs covered with phlegm and mucus. 6. On cups and pannikins which everyone uses to dip into water. 7. By flies. The consumption germ will not grow in a person who cares for their body.

The things which weaken the body and encourage the growth of the consumption germ: 1. Living in a houses where the windows are not opened to allow fresh air to enter. 2. Breathing in dust and other things that damage the lungs. 3. Tiredness from overworking. 4. Drinking too much alcohol. 5. Eating bad food or too little food. 6. Decaying teeth. 7. Sicknesses which weaken the body. The consumption germ will not live long in places where the sun shines in and to which the fresh air from outside has access, but it will live a long time in places that are dark and damp with no fresh air from outside coming in.

Preventing Consumption.

Consumption is not the most infectious disease. A person will not be infected with consumption if he is only hear someone who has consumption. If a person’s cough is intercepted and is not permitted to dry out and become dust then the main cause of consumption will disappear.

The precautions to prevent a healthy person getting consumption: 1. Live, work and sleep in the fresh air, in the breeze. 2. Open the windows day and night. 3. Eat good food and exercise the body. 4. Go to the dentist to get decaying teeth attended to. 5. Drink in moderation. 6. Wash your hands before eating. 7. Breathe through your nose. The nose is able to destroy all species of germ. 8. Prevent flies from landing on food and beverages. 9. Do not sleep in the bedroom of someone with consumption. 10. Do not sleep in a house that has been occupied by someone with consumption without first having it disinfected by an Inspector from the Department of Health.

Precautions to be taken by people who have consumption: - Consumption will not be passed on to others if the sick person takes care to do as follows. 1. Do not go about spitting but spit into a container or a bottle. 2. Do not cough in front of a person lest they are sprayed with your phlegm. And do not cough over food. 3. Do not touch noses and do not kiss the lips of a person, even if they are close family, and certainly not the children. 4. Put your bed in a separate room; if it is possible outside the house is the best place. 5. Do not let children sleep in the sick person’s room. 6. The sick person should have their own separate eating utensils – plates, cups, knives, forks and spoons. Do not wash them along with those of the health people. 7. The towel that the sick person

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uses to dry their face should be kept separate. 8. Do not dry-sweep the sick person’s room. 9. Take the bed and the bedding of the sick person out into the sunshine. 10. Keep the windows of the sick person’s room open day and night so that the germ there does not infect the healthy people. 11. Do not go to hui and tangihanga and sleep in the meeting houses. If you have a tent or a separate room it is alright.

Chemists or Maori nurses will explain how you can get containers and cough bottles. The phlegm in the bottles should be burned in the fire or buried each day. If you have a flushing toilet then put it in there. After that put the vessel or bottle in boiling water for ten minutes. Use a separate dedicated tin or pot for that. Be careful with your hands lest the phlegm sticks to them. When the sick person is coughing they must hold their handkerchief in front of their mouth. The person must place the handkerchief in a calico bag. The handkerchief must be washed every day, but before washing it should be placed in disinfectant – Jeyes’ Fluid, carbolic, or some other disinfectant. The calico bag should be boiled each day. The handkerchief should not be put in the bag of clothes or under the pillow lest the germ cling to the clothes or the blankets. When the sick person’s room is swept a piece of cloth should be dampened with Jeyes’ Fluid, carbolic, or some other disinfectant, and the cloth attached to the broom. After sweeping the piece of cloth should be boiled.

Symptoms of Consumption.

A person with consumption will survive if they are treated at the beginning. If the illness has taken hold it may be possible to give treatment which will reduce its severity, but if it is left the person will not live. Sometimes the first symptoms of consumption are not very obvious. If the following symptoms are observed then perhaps they indicate the beginnings of consumption. Coughing – even light coughing if it is persistent and particularly severe in the morning. Blood in the phlegm – even a little. The body is lethargic. Shortness of breath – even though one is doing little work. Pain in the chest or in the fingers – if it is persistent. Weakness – one soon gets tired and has no strength to work. No appetite – one does not want food, especially in the morning. The face is pale – because the blood is bad. Hoarseness in the throat – the voice is hoarse. This is a symptom if it persists. If a person has some of these symptoms they should go to the doctor to have their chest examined to see if they have consumption. If a sick person gets consumption while living alone at home they should certainly go. If you get consumption it is best that you know quickly. If the doctor is far away

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and there is a Maori Nurse in your area then tell her about it.

An Infection that Stays Around.

Be diligent in putting into practice the instructions in this letter lest a person get consumption through foolishness and Maori are wastefully consigned to the afterlife. Maori Nurses and the Inspectors from the Department of Health will explain the procedures. If the person with consumption has been occupying a room in a house then tell the local Inspector or a Member of the Hospital Board so that the house can be disinfected.

Maori Councils – Health Councils.

The Councils and Committees have responsibilities for combating consumption: 1. Reporting those thought to have consumption to the Department of Health. 2. To require that the homes of those sick people be brought into conformity with the guidelines laid down in the Council bye-laws. 3. To instruct the parents or the family of the sick person to provide a separate room or tent for the sick person and that no-one else should sleep in that room or tent. 4. To give instructions that the sick person should not go about the marae spitting but should follow the instructions laid down for coughing. 5. To point out to the Inspectors of Health the houses that were lived in by the person with consumption when they were ill or any separate house they were placed in, so that those houses can be disinfected. 6. To prevent people with consumption from sleeping in a meeting house, even if no hui is taking place. 7. To give instructions that meeting houses are not to be dry-swept but should be carefully sprinkled with disinfectant such as Jeyes’ Fluid or Carbolic and then swept. This is to be done every morning when people are staying there. 8. Stopping dirt, dust or litter from the meeting house being swept under the house. Openings that encourage this practice should be blocked up. 9. Instructions should be given that the windows of the meeting house must be open day and night when people are staying there.

Te Rangihiroa,

Medical Officer of Health for the Maori People.

A LETTER RECEIVED.

To the Editor of Te Kopara.

Please publish in Te Kopara the following words to be seen by those who are skilled in the convolutions of the laws of the Maori Land Court, which have not been seen

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by most Maori people, while they have heard of communal Maori land, homes, and cultivations, from the days of the ancestors to the present time, being taken over by different people. Therefore, you people who are skilled in the intricasies of the law, to the best of my knowledge, through the workings of the Land Court our chiefs have wastefully abandoned the essential teaching in our excellent proverb:

He maihi whakairo i tu ki te paenga, he kai na te ahi; tena he maihi whakairo iI tu ki roto ki te pa tuwatawata he tohu no te rangatira.

A carved house standing in the open is food for fire; a carved house inside a palisaded pa is the mark of a chief. [cf Nga Pepeha 838 He Konae Aronui p.31]

Now, my friends, in the time before the working of the Land Court our chiefs stood each within his hapu, but in these days our chiefs stand within the workings of the Land Court, they trust in the law. Perhaps it is a good thing that the Government has laid down laws to be administered by the Court, however by their dealings with the lands those versed in the laws who stand in the Land Courts have made them so complex that the man who has a case concerning the land has not the skill to stand in the Court House.

Himiona Te Tahuhu died leaving behind his children and grandchildren Their eyes were fixed on the handle of the law, they aimed along the handle of the law and it has not exploded yet. It may go off in time. Meanwhile the houses are the subject of a bill, the fences are falling down, the people to whom it belongs are dying, and this land, Mairangi, is part of Wharekauri. How terrible is this state of affairs! This is perhaps the difficult situation which we Maori call a ‘kohikiko’ [?] for the matter has been before Parliament now for eight years, therefore for eight years the grandchildren of Te Tahuhu have been in anguish about their land, their soil, the old dwelling place [oinga remu] of their ancestors and parents. By the children’s time they have been snatched by other people. Everything has been taken – land, houses, wire fences, horses, oxen, cattle – some to be eaten, some to be sold for money which has been used to buy flour, a bag of sugar, or other foods that money can buy. [?One] the milking cows and various kinds of sheep. All you tribes whose eyes appreciate the calling of this bird, Te Kopara, you see the kind of boundless trouble people are having. Wharekauri is a small island with very few inhabitants. The sea extends five hundred miles to the horizon. But although there is little land and few people and we are far from the Parliament of New Zealand, and we do not send a Member to Parliament, and there is no Courthouse for cases dealing with Maori land, all parts of Wharekauri have been brought under the Court by the people of the Land Court,

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even small islands. The two islands are claimed by one man. These islands yielded many good things such as albatross. But such was the claim in the Court that the people who first trod on those islands were excluded. It was not clearly understood, because that one man did not travel by canoe to those islands but he only saw them away over the sea and seeing them he declared, ‘Let that island be known as Motuhara.’ The basis of the claim is that he discovered it there across the sea. The hapu, the tribes, who paddled the canoes which brought people to these islands, had not heard of the naming when Judge Edger, judge at the Maori Land Court session held at Waitangi, Chatham Islands, gave his judgement which excluded many of the hapu who gathered their food on those islands. The leaders of the hapu, of the people who used to go to those islands were Wi Te Tahuhu of Mairangi, a Ngatikura chief, and his elders, Te Poki of Waitangi and Apitia of Onenga. These three leaders were known by everyone here in Taranaki. When the men returned from the island and the canoe came ashore the women called out, ‘Welcome, you who bring back the images of our ancestors.’ When they gathered in the house there were stories of the brave men who climbed cliffs to kill albatross. The girls heard of the bravery of an old man called Tona Hepi Pura of Ngatipahauwera of Mohaka, Hawkes Bay. Therefore the girls sang a song [pao] for that brave man who climbed cliffs to kill albatross.

‘Mata piki atu e Toone i Motuhara, koitu o … tarewarewa e ii.’

‘Climb carefully, Toone, at Motuhara, [?lest you find yourself] hanging there.’

Now, friends, everyone knows that it was not just one man who gathered food on those islands but all the hapu of Wharekauri here, while the decision of Judge Edger was that only one man fetched food from those islands. Given this situation how can the judgement of the Maori Land Court be correct? Te Kopara, those who criticize should send me their criticisms.

Te Hau Mataira.

●●●●●●●●●

It is right that everyone living in Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu should help get rid of the terrible illness, consumption. In the writings of a great Maori doctor he says that one disinfectant that can be used to prevent this illness is Jeyes’ Fluid. Take notice of his instructions today and have Jeyes’ Fluid always available. A can – 12/- a gallon; a bottle – 3/9 a quart; 2/3 a pint; 1/9 for 9 ounces, 1/- for 4 ounces. It is not to be drunk.

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WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

This is one of the largest and most wonderful churches of the Church of England in London. It is also a fine church for its design and for its ancient sculptures. If one looks closely one can see that grubs and corrosion are beginning to damage the stone. Consequently the minister of this church, Dean Ryle, has appealed to the people to contribute £250,000 to restore the church. Within hours of his appeal being published cheques began to arrive, including four of more than five figures. One leading man has said that all the money (£250,000) will be forthcoming, and he also said that if he had access to that amount he would give it all, he alone, and he would be delighted to give it. The King and Queen made the first donations, one giving £1000 and the other, £500. Three hundred pounds has been received from the Prince of Wales. Large cheques have been received – one of £10,000 and another of £5000. The pupils of a school which also bears the name ‘ Westminster’ have sent £53.

ANOTHER ITEM.

A Blind Guide.

The Bible says that if the blind lead the blind then both will fall into the ditch. But in London there is a man who was blinded during the recent war whose job is to guide people to their offices by the fasted way. But London is a long way away. But here in Auckland there is a remarkable blind man, a minister called Rev Chitty. He is a learned man. He gained the degree of MA (Master of Arts) at the University of Auckland, and he is skilled at playing the organ. He conducts services in churches, preaches and does all that is required. He walks about Queen Street and other places without a guide.

LOVING GREETINGS TO YOU ALL
FOR CHRISTMAS AND THE NEW YEAR.

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FOOD FOR TE KOPARA.

Name / Address / Payment / Subscription Ends

November / December

Paora Pene / Mokai Saw Mill, Tauopo / 10/- / January 1921

Ernest M’Leod / Port Awanui / 6/6 / January 1922

Rev J Laughton / Maungapohatu/ 10/- / June 1922

Tohi Pirika Apiti / Te Papatapu / 110/- / July 1921

Hori Pukehika / Putiki, Whanganui / 5/- / August 1921

Matene Pokanoa / Frasertown / 5/- / April 1920

W N Panapa / Kaihu / 5/- / December 1921

Manuka Muru / Kaihu / 5/- / December 1921

Tuta Te Oreore / Port Awanui / 110/- / January 1921

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