[317] TE TOA TAKITINI
Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper.
Number 52
Hastings
1st November, 1925
A PRAYER
THAT GOD WILL GUIDE AND BLESS THE ARRANGING OF A BISHOPRIC FOR THE MAORI PEOPLE.
Almighty and everliving God, who orders all things in heaven and on earth, graciously hear the prayers of your servants as we set up a Bishopric for the Maori People.
Enable the members of the General Synod to see and to know the right things to do and to make every effort to bring those things to fruition.
Give to those to whom is committed the weighty business of choosing a Bishop for this Bishopric the guidance of your Holy Spirit that they may select the person of your choice to fulfil your will and to further your holy Kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A NOTICE ABOUT THE PAPER.
1. The publication of the December issue of Te Toa Takitini may be delayed until after the meeting of the General Synod in Wellington so that we can include the discussions about the Bishopric for the Maori People.
2. Copies of the editions of Te Toa Takitini from March to December, 1924, have been bound into a book, together with the waiata and other material from the Board of Maori Ethnological Research. All the waiata are here from Number 1 to Number 35. The book is well bound. The cost is 12/6. ‘The early bird catches the worm.’
Published by the Rev F A Bennett and printed by Cliff Press, Queen Street, Hastings, HB>
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Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper.
The Price of the Paper is 10/- a year.
Address letters to ‘Te Toa Takitini, Box 300, Hastings.
Te Toa Takitini, 1st November, 1925.
THE BISHOPRIC FOR THE MAORI PEOPLE.
By the Editor
All the New Zealand Dioceses are discussing the appropriate constitution for setting up the Bishopric for the Maori People. There are many difficulties in doing this. Some Maori and some Pakeha too think it swill be easy to set up the new Bishopric. However, if they could see the leaders involved in this task, they would see the world’s complex laws they are engaging with relating to such matters and realise the difficulties.
It appears that the Dioceses of New Zealand are in agreement on this proposal. Some of the Dioceses in the South Island are uneasy about it. They do not agree that Maori should be divided from Pakeha. Nor are they convinced that Maori as a whole want a separate Bishopric for themselves. Some are thinking that a decision on the matter should be delayed for three years.
The authoritative voice of the whole Church in New Zealand is the General Synod. This General Synod meets every three years. However, the Archbishop has called upon the General Synod to meet in Wellington on 1st and 2nd December. There will be two meetings of General Synod this year. This session of the Synod has been called to discuss all aspects of the Bishopric for the Maori People. There are eight New Zealand dioceses and all of them will meet to discuss this important subject. Then we will know if the proposal for a Bishopric for us has been approved or not.
We Maori have a powerful voice in this matter. Don’t be afraid to speak about it; don’t be afraid express your thoughts. Our Pakeha friends want to hear our ideas, whether they agree with them or not. But let us put forward a strong case.
So, people, what are you thinking? When you have Church meetings make this a subject for discussion or put forward a motion on the matter.
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One matter in dispute is whether the first Bishop should be a Pakeha or a Maori.
At the hui in Rotorua in June we Maori said that we would not object to the first Bishop being Pakeha but that the Maori people overwhelmingly wanted their Bishop to be Maori. People, as we looked at the difficulties and the hard work involved in setting up the office of the new Bishop we said that the first Bishop could be Pakeha. Therefore, should it happen that the first Bishop is Pakeha, we would not be distressed. But perhaps we would not always be distressed. We pray that the Holy Spirit of God will guide us in every aspect of this matter. We also pray that we will be be given the one of God’s choice who will do God’s will. We are grateful for God’s leading which has been with us as we have dealt with all the issues around a Bishopric for us Maori up to the present day. Our prayer and our hope is that we may permit the Holy Spirit to guide us as we take each step towards achieving this great advance for the benefit and the honour of us Maori People.
A NGATI RAUKAWA CHURCH HUI.
Motuiti
28th October, 1925.
To Te Toa Takitini.
Greetings, my lad. Here are a few words about the Hui which Ngati Raukawa held with W G Williams at Matakarapa, Foxton on 25th October. They are for you to carry to the many marae on these three islands.
1. To choose two people to accompany the two ministers to the meeting in Wellington on 2nd December.
2. To choose lay representatives for the Synod at Papawai on 20th December.
3. To deal with the money collected at Otaki on 9th February, 1880.
£ s d
From Maori 621 1 6
From Samuel Williams 500 0 0
£1121 1 6
4. To deal with the lands given by our forebears to the Church for the building of a church and school, and the fund.
5. About the Bishop for the Maori People.
As for items 1 and 3; people were appointed for these tasks.
Concerning item 3; the amount of money has now reached £15,000. W G Williams explained items 3 and 4. Only the interest on the money will be given to the Maori Church Board, but if the Pakeha Church sees that the business of the Maori Church Board that has been delegated to the managers who are still alive is fully audited,
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then all the business, money and land, will be handed over to the Maori Church Board, since they have become familiar with all these matters, that is, they have reached maturity. As for item 5; the person favoured by the remnant of Ngati Raukawa and Mr Williams after careful investigation and consideration is ….
So much for explanations. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. [Ephesians 6.10].
From your servant,
Teri Te Paerata.
[Congratulations Teri and your remnant of Raukawa. You had a good hui. Don’t be upset that we have not printed the name of the one you would like to be Bishop. May God guide us, that we may choose the one of his calling for this sacred role.]
THE STONE CANOES.
W Whatanui, Te Whaiti.
There is a remarkable treasure that has at last been found – a rock cave, and in that cave are the canoes, all of stone.
The person whose cave this is is Toi Kairakau. His hapu are Tini-o-Toi, Te Marangaranga, and Maruiwi. These were the first hapu on this island when the canoes of the great migration arrived, including Matatua, and Whare Pakau and his nephew, Tangiharuru, came. They defeated Te Marangaranga and the two of them took the land. Tangiharuru took the place where this cave is.
The cave is at Kaingaroa, near Murupara.
[Thank you, friend, for this new story. It would be good if you could answer these questions.
1. Did you ever hear your parents speak about that cave? What did they say?
2. What are these canoes like, as they are different from the Maori war canoes of these times?
3. Does the cave have a name?]
A LETTER FROM BISHOP AZARIAH FROM INDIA.
September 18th, 1925.
To the Maori People.
Greetings. I am sending you the report on St Luke’s Hospital. The gift from the Maori People last year was £36/10/-. Although you did not reach your one hundred pounds, it does show the goodwill you have for our hospital anyway. We Maori of
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India salute you Maori of New Zealand for your kindness.
Give my love to the Maori People. From your friend,
V S Dornakal.
(Bishop Azariah)
[To the Parishes of the Diocese of Waiapu, greetings to the remnant. We (and our friends who have departed) agreed that the Maori Church would give £100 a year to help the work of Bishop Azariah by paying the salary of a doctor at St Luke’s Hospital, so it is right that we are all woken up by Bishop Azariah’s letter
Kotahi tonu te kupu a te Rangatira.
A chief speaks only once, [cf Nga Pepeha 722]
We have given our word, and it has been passed in the Synod. Parishes, fulfil what you promised lest we renegue on our promise to this great and holy man, Bishop Azariah, and this returns to us as a failing, a betrayal on our part as Maori. Help the Lord’s work being done under the direction of Bishop Azariah.]
ST LUKE’S HOSPITAL
The Report for 1924 – 1925.
Bishop Azariah.
This hospital is now two years old and we give heartfelt thanks for the strong growth of the activities of the hospital. Two groups have particularly sought the help of the hospital this year [? Komati and Mawari]. These groups are stall holders. They did not come during the first year because of their apprehension about their caste. At first they brought with them their own water to mix with their medicine because they were afraid that the hospital water would taint their caste. But now all is well and they have no fear.
Most of the sick we deal with are very poor; they are people who have never gone to school and they are ignorant. One sick man came with eye problems. After inspecting him the doctor gave him two pieces of paper. On one the doctor had written the amount he owed. On the other he had written down the medicines for the chemist to prepare. When he was given the papers the sick man asked, ‘On which eye do I stick the large paper and on which the smaller?’ His question reveals his ignorance!
One sick person brought with him a very large bottle and asked for it to be filled with medicine, thinking that a large amount of medicine would make his illness disappear faster!
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Some of the infants have been poisoned from the womb by the quantity of opium smoked by the mothers.
The total number of sick operated on ……………… 145
The people vaccinated ………………………………….. 127
The sick who had a consultation ……………………. 9,376
The number of Christians …………………………….. 5,336
“ “ Hindus ………………………………. 3,313
“ “ Muslims …………………………….. 727
This year the managers of the hospital have conducted missions in the parishes of Dornakal, Nekonda and Manukotiah. At night thedre are meetings and slide shows of scripture and during the day the doctors work with the sick. Although the leaders despise the Christians, when they are ill they don’t despise the Christian doctors.
Although they have much work to do, the nurses take every opportunity to teach the sick the basics of the Christian faith. The doctors visit the schools frequently to see how the children are growing up. There is much gratitude for the blessing of God on all the work done by St Luke’s Hospital. The hope is that the people will continue to appreciate what this hospital is doing. The Indian people living in darkness are receiving many benefits and are learning much from this hospital. Our desire is to increase the number of beds in the hospital so that the many sick people seeking admission can be admitted.
Thank you all who are supporting this work under the shelter of our Lord.
SOMETHING TO GLADDEN THE HEART.
D P Hawiki
To the Honourable J G Coates, Prime Minister and Minister of Maori Affairs.
The Maori people of Tuhoe have seen your speech in Te Toa Takitini of 1st October, 1925.
In it you spoke of the Government’s thinking. For that we applaud you, in that you are helping your Maori People here in Aotearoa. You pointed out the difficult parts of these proposals and you also pointed out the attitudes of those promoting these matters in former times. Yes, I agree with the Prime Minister’s lament. It is not right for ignorant people to fly over the Treaty of Waitangi as the place where the grievances over the confiscation of lands after the past wars are to be dealt with. Therefore, Prime Minister and Minister of Maori Affairs, these remnants want to know whether, if they vote for you to be Prime Minister and Minister of Maori Affairs, their votes for you to remain as Prime Minister and Minister of Maori Affairs will be defeated. We also praise Sir Maui
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Pomare and the Honourable A T Ngata. You two
also have the power and the strength to fight over these confiscations. May the Invisible One protect you and the Government as you bring into effect the Government thinking voiced by the Prime Minister. Therefore, the remnant of elders want you to quickly give us the Commissions to enquire into the confiscations while they are still alive so that the eyes of the elders can see this wonderful work, which they could not achieve because of their ignorance in the days when Maori were outside the law.
Greetings, new Prime Minister. Keep hold also of your Prime Ministership of the Maori People.
THE REPORT OF THE TE KUITI HUI.
10th October, 1925.
The following entered the Matua-a-whare, Te Tokanga-nui-a-Noho and were welcomed by Hotu Taua, Tomika Kereti, Wehi Ringitanga, Tuwhakaririka Patena, and Hiri Wetere, that is, all the chiefs of Ngati Maniapoto.
The King and all his tribes Waikato and all Taihauauru. Those who attended were Koroki te Rata Mahuta Tawhiao Potatua te Wherowhero, and his older relatives, namely Tonga Mahuta, Te Rau Mahuta, Tawera Te Wherowhero, Te Puke Hema Ted Ao, Tungia Hema Te Ao, Te Aata Wanakore, Haunui Tawhiao, along with the chiefs of Taranaki, Te Ua Haumene, Nohomairangi Te Whiti, Toroa Ngatau, Te Pou Wharepouri, Raungaiti Te Awaitaia, Noho Ropihana, Atiria Nohomairangi, Sir Maui Pomare, and Taite Te Piwa.
Five hundred people attended this hui.
The two men who dedicated the building were Tumua Wharenikau and Hone Hira. The prayer leader asked, ‘Who is this house for?’ He was answered by Parehina Tuwhakaririka, ‘For the King.’ The prayer leader asked, ‘What is the name of this house?’ The people answered, ‘Te Tokanga-nui-a-Noho.’
Among all the matters discussed at this hui, there was no agreement to proceed with the issues around electing members.
THE LABOUR PARTY
Ihaia Hutana
Within the speeches explaining the Labour Party and the poor they are linked as if they were one cause. But the cause is to get Maori members elected to Parliament to support the policies of the Labour Party as set down by their wise men, their experts, to put before the Parliament of the whole colony. Also in that programme is a part which they say will save the Maori People.
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Maori who have been appointed to promote this policy are going around speaking about it.
Now, you growing generation of the New World, pay attention. Don’t be flustered. Consider carefully our state. It is only the doctor who knows the sweetness or the bitterness of what is in the medicine bottle.
But besides the sick. Their policy is to call in question Maori ways that the legal experts have been unable to do away with, despite Parliament. The good thing about their policy is that it aims to bring together us and the Pakeha people. There is only one way in which this will be achieved and that is by doing away with our customs – our inherited rights [mana], people’s rights, rights to possessions, covenant rights, and legal rights relating to land and people. Look into these things and think deeply about them. Don’t let your wisdom be fattened up to be eaten by people. Fatten up what your parents and ancestors have left you – things that are pleasant to listen to.
It was said by an elder of Te Whanau-a-rua: Alas! At last my foolishness has used up such strength as I had to get my child Pakeha wisdom. The response, the payment I get is ‘a bloody bugger.’
Your ancestors said: Son, don’t let the people be afflicted by what others think; but settle it, so that, right or wrong, your affliction is worthwhile. Labour Party, do what you have to do, but don’t extinguish love, for that is what will make you at home in, that will welcome you to, the villages when you return to the old women and the old men who are creeping to the grassy borders of the homeland of love.
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If you hold on to Pakeha forbearance you will find it to be the point of departure, a place from which to speak to the ‘Maori World,’ besides that of education.
The Poor: The poverty of the Pakeha is their loss of lineage. The blood is dry, love is cold, when it comes to family blood relationships, instead it attaches to personal possessions. It is from this that come the line of ‘close friends.’ If the possession is taken by the friend, that is the end of the friendship. The ‘close friend’ is rendered poor. So, the Pakeha is able to waste his body for the possession. But, also, the poor wastes something valuable. The poverty of the Maori is different from that of the Pakeha. In the days of Maoritanga people did not speak of a person’s poverty but of his personhood. It was not spoken of because he still had his genealogy, and the blood still flowed as the embodiment of the family love inherent in his genealogy. Neither legal experts of the practitioners of divination or witchcraft are able to put to sleep Pakeha ways. But it can happen that we are brought to Parliament to be extinguished, then the blood will go cold and the genealogy will be burned in the fire, and those who rely on their lineage will be fined.
At this point let us ask: How will the crumbs be eaten as they go and the rotten disappear? The answer: Ask the leaders of that Party.
Here are the proverbs of your parents and ancestors to guide and steer your thinking and to set at rest the many vessels of the mind amidst the practices of ‘the new world’ and ‘Pakeha ways.’
1. Kia mau te manaaki tangata, ahakoa tangata haere, karangatia kia peka ki te kaainga kia ingoa ai koe.
Practise hospitality to people, though they be travellers. Welcome them to the village that you may get a good reputation.
2. Te tohu o te tangata Rangatira he mahi kai, he manaaki, he aroha ki te tangata.
The marks of a chief are providing food, kindness, and love of people.
3. He kino te nui tangata ki te kai i nga kai, engari kei te ra o Tu ka kitea te pai o te manaaki ki te tangata.
It may seem onerous when there are many people to feed, but on the day of Tu [Battle] the benefit of kindness to people will be seen.
4. Nau ko te rourou naku ko te rourou ka ora nga hoa horokai o te manuhiri.
By your small basket and my small basket the ravenous visitors swill be sustained. [cf Nga Pepeha 1981]
5. He taura taonga e motu, he taura tangata e kore e motu.
A gift chain may break but not a human link. [cf Nga Pepeha 753]
The descendants of your parents and your ancestors are present to you, and the branches of your genealogy stretch out so that you are all linked, and, therefore, one cannot speak of the poverty of the Maori.
The season of poverty in Hawkes Bay began in 1851 with the sale of the Te Waipukurau Block when the places they lived in were set apart to provide them with a living. These reservations eventually were nine in number. Te Aute College was the tenth of them. During 1865-66 the law makers in the Colony’s main Parliament got to work, but they were not our experts, and their expertise was such as could not be explained. This was the law requiring ten people for a grant. In 1867 this great imposition was unleashed and land and people suffered. This was the confiscation that affected Hawkes Bay. It was quietly formulated in the confiscation law. One hundred people or two hundred even were left with certificates, while the land was taken under a single grant and the ‘ten people’ grant. The Labour Party are not aware of these afflictions. These stories and these policies are held by the Parliament and are in the papers of the Supreme Courts. Some have been implemented, the severity of some has been reduced, laws have been passed concerning some parts which make it possible to activate them, but all the laws have been passed which make possible actions which go beyond the Dominion’s laws and even those provisions of the Treaty of Waitangi which are available to provide a breathing-space for the Maori People. All these proposals have formerly been constrained over the years by the ancient wisdom passed down to us. We are those who hear and see the distress of the whole world arising from the programme of the Labour Party which are run after by those who are poor who long for the possessions and the good things that the affluent have.
The afflictions of the Maori are not like those of the Pakeha. The medicine for our afflictions has been gathered and placed before us in these days.
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The obvious question is, ‘Who is responsible for this work being as it is?’
From the time of and during the tenures of all the Governments up to the present
one with all its supporters the great problems facing the country have been made
clear. One of those who has done this is the Hon A T Ngata MP, MA, LLB, the
Member for the Tai Rawhiti. When the sickness has been discovered and diagnosed
the prescription for medicine can be written, however it is for the sick to tell of
their illnesses and then they can ask for the right places to be investigated.
Be strong, Te Toa Takitini, in bringing together the People to proceed with caution.
And be strong about making our days count.
THE DYING CHRISTIAN TO HIS SOUL.
By Alexander Pope (Maori version by R[eweti] T K[ohere])
[The following is my back-translation of Kohere’s version. – Barry Olsen]
1. O spark of life which flew here from heaven’s flame,
Abandon, alas, abandon this sickly husk;
It trembles, hopes, lingers and flies –
Alas, the pain and the glory of death!
Enough, beloved body, cease your vacillations,
And let me subside into life.
2. Listen! A sound: the angels are saying.
‘Brother spirit, come!’
What is this that draws me?
It takes over my thoughts and suppresses my tears,
It drowns my desires, it pulls at my heartstrings.
3. The world diminishes and disappears!
Heaven is open to my eyes! And my ears hear
The singing of the angels.
Give me, give me your wings. I rise up, I fly.
O Grave, where is thy victory?
O Death, where is thy sting?
This is a poem full of instruction; it needs to be read carefully to grasp the layout of the
words and ideas. This man is dying; he is between life and death, between this world
and the next. And so, his being is debating with himself: the body wants to hold on but
the soul wants to escape. The words reflect this tension; there is trembling and hope;
there is delaying and fleeing; death is both pain and glory, listlessness and life.
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In the first verse are the words of the Christian to his soul, telling it to fly to God the
source of its life. He instructs his body to stop vacillating and to release his soul. In the
second verse his senses have departed, his eyes are closing in sleep, and he hears the
voices of the angels welcoming him. In the third verse he is about to be released; he
has heard the angels’ song; he has risen; he has crossed from death to life. His last
words are those of Paul – exulting over death.
Many people reading this article will be English speakers and some of them will not
have seen Pope’s writings in the original English versions. There one gets the true
flavour of these writings – the rhythm, the flow, the smoothness, therefore it is
appropriate to print what Pope wrote in his own language of English.
1.
Vital spark of heavenly flame.
Quit, O quit this mortal frame;
Trembling, hoping, lingering, flying –
O the pain, the bliss of dying!
Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life!
2.
Hark, they whisper: angels say,
‘Sister spirit, come away!’
What is this absorbs me quite?
Steals my senses, shuts my sight,
Drowns my spirits, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?
3.
The world recedes: it disappears!
Heaven opens on my eyes! My ears
With sounds seraphic ring;
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O Grave! Where is thy victory?
O Death! Where is thy sting?
ALCOHOL
Its bad effects and its addictiveness. Which is in the wrong? The person or the
Alcohol?
Dr M E Staley (a woman doctor). Translated into Maori by H Poananga, LLB.
This is a subject for us to consider, because we know the consequences to a
person and to the people of drinking alcohol, whether beer or wine or other[128
intoxicating drinks.
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Children in the Government Schools are taught not to touch such drinks because
they are poisons. One asks why are those children taught this, and what are the
consequences of imbibing these drinks – do they strengthen or weaken a person?
The answer is clear when we consider what these intoxicants contribute:
1. To the food in the stomach.
2. To the temperature of the body.
3. In preventing illnesses.
4. To the growth of the body.
5. To strengthen the body to work and the mind in its thinking.
6. To the command of the brain over the body.
7. To the People, to people’s wrongdoings, to the growing children, and to the
benefits which might come to the village.
First, what is ‘Alcohol?’ It is a liquid, it has a distinctive smell, and it irritates the throat. It cannot be drunk by itself, it would burn the throat and the stomach. So it is mixed with other innocuous liquids: in that form it becomes beer, wine, whisky or some other intoxicating drink.
Alcohol has a strong desire to consume water. If meat or an egg are placed in brandy, the meat or the egg are dried out and hardened by the alcohol. The same happens to the body of a person who drinks these intoxicating liquors; the places where the flesh of the body grows are dried out. This why the throat becomes so dry; when it has finished the first drink it wants more. This is also the reason why it is difficult for a person to stop. If he drinks a lot the throat wants more.
What do these drinks do? Alcohol is taken from the fruit of a tree and the starch of growing things. When the sugar and starch are cooked together there emerges alcohol and the gas known as ‘Carbon Oxide’ [sic]. Only two of these ingredients are toxic. These two are not present when you eat the parts that are food. In beer there are 90 parts of water to 6 parts of alcohol (poison) and 4 parts of barley. In wine there are 10 to 20 parts of poison to 100 parts of water. In brandy and whisky there are from 50 to 60 parts of poison to 100 parts of water.
Why is alcohol called a poison? These drinks do not enter the bodily systems that promote growth, warmth and strength. Their first work is to afflict those parts. Poison does the same thing, It is not right to call these drinks ‘food’ because the job of food that is eaten is to grow the bones and flesh, to strengthen the body and the mind, and to strengthen the body to
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ward off diseases that attack it. If meat is thrust into a glass of whisky, before long the meat goes white and is leathery. These drinks have the same effect when they enter the stomach. The food is dried out as is the lining of the stomach so that it is no longer able to digest the growth promoting foods. As a consequence there is little desire for food.
We find guidance about this in 1 Corinthians 8.13 where it says: ‘Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat so that I will not cause one of them to fall.’ As for us, we should look at Matthew 18.6 which says: ‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depths of the sea.’
We see beautiful fruit and bad fruit emerging from the actions and the thoughts of people. Because no-one is an isolated individual, we must be careful to provide a good example by not drinking this poison. Good things will result if we take these stands. If we see someone thinking about jumping off a cliff we don’t say, ‘That’s his problem. If he wants to die, so be it,’ Don’t take that attitude, but make every effort you can to prevent him from dying, and establish our reputations for courage.
This is another thing we can do for those who consume poison, who drink intoxicating liquors.
Why do people who drink get fat? For the reason why this is so we must look at the work of the blood. In the blood are two lots of corpuscles of different colours, white and red. These flow in the blood to all parts of the body. The work of the red corpuscles is to carry the essence of good breath, oxygen. When it encounters the fat in the food being eaten it produces warmth and energy. It is the same with steamers and trains; they are driven by the heat of the engines. If the cola in the machine does not burn hot then the train does not go. Alcohol attacks those red corpuscles so that the fat places are not warmed and the body has no energy. The fat eludes the blood and attached to the heart, the liver and the kidneys. These places become fat and they also harden so that they cannot perform their tasks. Therefore some of those who drink become fat and their bodies lack the capacity to prevent diseases from inside or outside the body.
Do these drinks warm a person? No. The body gets cold because of the inability of the fat places to become warm. When a person drinks his pulse races and the blood flows more quickly to all parts. His skin flushes and also gets warm. Before long it gets cold. Soon he is unable to fend off the cold from outside like a person who does not drink. Many people have died from exposure to cold.
There are many kinds of poison. Alcohol is called a poison which causes torpor (narcotic). Its effects are to weaken the body, the mind and the heart also. There are many who have entered upon ‘the long sleep.’
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Is this why people who drink are less able to avoid diseases? If a person drinks he has less strength to counter the germs that attack the body. The work of the white corpuscles in the blood is to attack the germs that enter the body. Those corpuscles are like an army fighting the enemy. If those soldiers are to accomplish the work assigned to them they must eat good food and breathe fresh air. If someone drinks alcohol and gets drunk those soldiers get sleepy and have no energy to fight those bad germs.
We observe the wonderful working of the body. Each part works as intended by Almighty God. But people can mistreat it by drinking poison.
Alcohol has bad effects on digestion in the stomach and weakens the body. If the corpuscles in the blood are not properly fed, then the body is weakened and is not strong enough to defend itself against diseases. These are the words of an expert from Cambridge University in England, Sir G Sims Woodhead:
‘There was a time when doctors said that many would still be alive if they had consumed less alcohol. Now doctors have seen that the work of that drink is to weaken the bodies of the sick.’
(To be continued.)
THE TE ARAWA TRUST BOARD.
Te Toa Takitini has received the Report of the Te Arawa Board for the year ending 31st March, 1925. The report has been printed in book form. It is an excellent report and the activities of the Board are clearly explained. This is not boasting on the part of Te Arawa, but there will be benefits for all the peoples of the country if they examine thoroughly the initiatives of the Te Arawa Report. Te Arawa have put firmly in place the ladder by which their descendants can climb to the heights of enlightenment in times to come. Congratulations to the Board of Te Arawa. Your children and your grandchildren will inscribe on parchment their gratitude to you for opening a road before them by which they will attain physical and spiritual blessings. Congratulations to the whole Board.
But for the moment we must delay the printing parts of the report until our paper is free of the articles that have piled up.
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SEEKING OUR RELATION.
We have passed on our friend, Wiremu Kingi, from Peria, Mangonui. He was a noble and good young man. No evil words, no rudeness, issued from his mouth. He laughed off any personal abuse. The place where he suffered his tragic death was Te Mamaku, Rotorua. A boarding-house was burned down. His bedroom was on the upper floor. The noise of the fire and the crashing down of parts of the building woke him so that he was able to escape from his bedroom and flee in the early dawn trying to see where the ground was. He fell to the ground. From his cries it was obvious that he was a man.
He was taken to the hospital at Te Pukeroa. After a long time in hospital he entered upon the long sleep of his ancestors. Now the hospital administrators are trying to identify the man. The name by which he was known was Kewha Kingi but his correct name was Wiremu Kingi. Your own people, Ngati Whakaue, fetched him to lie in the belly of his ancestor, Tamatekapua, and the hapu of Te Arawa came to pay their respects. His friends, Maori and Pakeha, also came to lament over him.
Greetings to you all in Christ Jesus.
Pirika Te Miroi.
Ohinemutu,
5th October, 1925.
T Wi Repa, MB.
Maori are rather strangers to [Pakeha] work.
This is what I think. We should look at how the Maori worked and what he did before he was discovered by the Pakeha. He was not a stranger to his work. Nor was he lazy when he came to do his work. The widespread occupation of Maori was Fighting [Riri]. This was his approach, whereas what occupied the Pakeha was getting money, that is, power [mana]. All the reasoning, all the work, of the Maori world was subjected to this objective. The works of the tohunga, works other than that of the tohunga, were all solely to help strengthen them for Fighting. Consider the carvings. The faces are contorted and the tongues protruding. These are signs of Fighting. The posts of the pa are carved with grimacing heads challenging the enemy. The pa’s earthworks are built for protection from the enemy. The palisaded pa serve the same purpose in that they provide a nest to save the inhabitants from travelling war parties. Making taiaha and grinding greenstone patu require hard work. Such work had to be done to provide weapons for Fighting.
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Food was cultivated so that people could survive Fighting. Scraping dried kumara and drying fish was done to provide food for groups going to war. Korowai, paepaeroa and mahiti cloaks were made as clothing for the warriors so that they could stand suitably dressed in the front ranks. Men were raised to fight for the tribe. The making and carving of canoes was so as to have war canoes. Fishing was to sustain the tribe and to make warriors for fighting. In praying to the gods they asked that the tribe be given courage. There were special tohunga to counsel the tribe as to the right time to go to war. Meeting houses were built so that there was somewhere for the tribe to assemble to await the call to fight. The chief was the person who would call together the people to assemble for purposes of war. For all these reasons the Maori was not lazy. The Maori knew that their survival and their status in this world required bravery in battle.
During the thousand years before the arrival of the Christian religion in New Zealand, this was the Maori ‘farming.’ His blood was full of the seeds of this preparation to fight.
Ka moe te mata hi tuna; ka oho te mata hi taua.
The eye of the one fishing for eels may close, but the eye of the one who looks for war parties stays open.
We also know the proverb:
He toa taua, he kai na te patu.
A warrior is food for the club,
But we know, too, that by staying alert we can parry that club.
When the terrible World War burst upon us in Europe our young men did not
hesitate but became soldiers of the King, responding to that warrior seed stirring
in their blood.
What are the occupations that we are accused of being lazy at? It is said that Maori
are lazy when it comes to everyday work such as shopkeeping, farming, carpentry,
blacksmithing, gardening, captaining ships, being sailors, driving carts, keeping
hotels, tailoring, dishwashing, cooking, making butter, manufacturing, making
beer, making whisky, etc.
We Maori are not familiar with these occupations. These jobs are not done on Maori
marae; most are done in towns. He is a stranger to shopkeeping. He does not know
how to run a business or to keep accounts or do other work. He does not appreciate
as yet that to heap up money one has to work. His money keeps arriving from leases
and labouring jobs. The above occupations are Pakeha jobs. Maori say that these are
jobs for slaves. The job of the chief though is warfare; the clothing of the chief shows
that he is occupied with death. Therefore, in this time of peace when there is no
warfare, it is the chiefly class who are the most dispirited of us. He is like a seed
planted in barren land. Changing one’s customs may not bear fruit for a hundred
years. When the French overthrew the constitution of their realm it was a hundred
years before the new constitution bore fruit. In recent years China, Russia, and
Germany have overthrown their monarchies, and these powers are still going
through the pain of a woman giving birth to a new person.
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