Chapter VII. Customs Relating to the Dead.

A View of the Reinga.

The Customs relating to the Dead varied in almost every part of the island, as did also the ideas entertained of their state after death.

The interment of the dead was considered as a duty of the highest importance, especially that of the chiefs; as for poor slaves, little thought was bestowed upon them; they were buried or not, according to circumstances. If the corpse laid in a spot where it was not offensive to the living, there it was left; if otherwise, a hole was dug, and it was thrown into it. But when a chief died, the mournful event was immediately page 98 made known; a loud howl or wail brought all the neighbours together, who joined in the doleful cry. Since the introduction of fire arms, the custom of firing off guns has been adopted, as a powerful aid to the human voice, in testifying sorrow for the dead. A native has no idea of silent grief. The greater the noise, the greater the sorrow; and the longer it is kept up, the greater the honor paid. Every friend or relative shows his respect for the dead, by the number of guns discharged; this is called he maimai, aroha.

One of the first things was to make the kaheru, or spade, which was required for the digging of the grave; when such was needed, this was rendered sacred by the karakias which were repeated.^{* *} Whilst it was being made, and until the interment, the body laid in state, dressed out in the finest mats, and ornamented with feathers; the mere, the gun, and spear being placed by its side. The grave was then dug in the house of the deceased, in which the body was placed in a sitting posture, the limbs being retained in that position by bandages. The body still being dressed in the best garments, adorned with the family ornaments of green-stone and shark's teeth; it was then wrapped up in a fine sleeping mat, the grave was covered over with planks and a little soil. It is still usual to inter the property of the chief with him, especially all things which have touched his person during his illness, such as garments, &c.

In some parts, it was customary for the widow to spread her mat over her husband's grave, and constantly sleep upon it; but in former times, one or more of the chief's wives would strangle themselves to accompany and wait upon their lord in the other world; for this purpose, also, several slaves were killed, that the chief might not be without attendants. Sometimes, the chief wife would have her husband's head cut off, and dried, and then always sleep with it by her side.

In other places, the body was put into a kind of frame, formed by two pieces of an old canoe, standing about six feet high, and forming a hollow place, in which the corpse was seated on a grating, to allow the flesh, as it decomposed, to fall through. After a certain time, the skeleton was removed, and the bones were scraped; this was the Ngapuhi custom. In the south, where the body was interred, the first rukutanga tupapaku, or digging up of the corpse, took place about four weeks after the nehunga, or burial, when a feast was made by the relations and friends of the dead; on this occasion, the tohunga extracted two or more of the molar teeth of the corpse, which he tied to a small stick or fern stalk, and then laid upon the food, which was prepared for the oven; this was called te umu o te pera, or the oven of the putrified flesh.^* The first was tapued for the tohunga; the second oven was for the guests. While the teeth laid on the food, a long karakia was repeated over them; afterwards the ornaments of the corpse, which had been buried with it, consisting of shark's teeth or green-stone, were removed, and worn by the relatives, for the ceremony appears to have been chiefly intended to wakanoa, or take off the tapu from the body, so that the ornaments might be again used, which otherwise they could not have been. When the ceremony was over, the two teeth were bored, and worn as ear ornaments by the nearest relative; the body was then again wrapped up in a fine mat, and reinterred.

When a person died, food was placed by his side, and some also with him in the grave, as it was supposed the spirit of the deceased fed on the spirit of the food given it.

At Taranaki, the child of a chief was buried in the whare tapu, i.e. its father's house, in the middle of which a grave was dug, and covered over with boards, on which the family slept. The child had a taro placed in each hand, so that if he descended into the reinga, he might have food. When the relatives thought that the body was sufficiently decomposed, they dug it up, and scraped the bones, which were afterwards placed in an ornamented basket, and suspended from the ridgepole of the mahau, or verandah, and from time to time the priest karakied over them, to assist the soul in ascending through the different heavens. If it did not reach the eighth heaven, its abode was not very comfortable. The tenth was regarded as the chief residence of the gods. Every time a prayer was uttered over the bones, it was supposed to aid the soul in its ascent. When asked why they placed the taro in the hands, if they thought the soul ascended to heaven, the reply was, they were not sure whether it ascended or descended; they knew the body descended, and they thought it probable the soul did the same; therefore, they put a seed taro in the grave, that, should such be the case, they might be right both ways.

Many, however, of the Taranaki natives had no faith either in the ascending or descending of spirits:^* they thought that the dead always remained near their bodies. That the wahi tapu (sacred places), which are generally small groves, adjoining their pas, in which they were interred, were also filled with their spirits; but if a person died a violent death, he wandered about until the priest, by his spells, brought his spirit within the sacred enclosure.

When a chief was killed in battle, and eaten, his spirit was supposed to enter the stones of the oven, with which his body had been cooked, which retained their heat so long as it remained in them. His friends repeated their most powerful spells to draw out his spirit from the stones, and bring it within the wahi tapu.

One sign of grief was cutting the forehead and face with a piece of obsidian, until the whole person was covered with blood; this was always done by the wives of the dead. The tohunga, also, cut off the hair of the relatives, and cast it into the fire; and they eat fern root in the morning. Kainga i te ata te aruhi.

When any friends arrive at a pa, it is customary for them to cry over all those who have died since they were last there. They weave a chaplet of green branches, or of a beautiful lycopodium; ^* one of the elder females of the party, who acts as chief mourner on the occasion, has a chaplet of dog's hair round her temples, sometimes it is very tastefully made, of a kind of black sea-weed; they then present themselves before the house of the dead, and begin the cry in a low plaintive tone; the lady, who leads the ceremonies, throwing about her arms, and slowly raising her head and eyes to heaven, then casting them down again, and crossing her arms on her breast. Until a person is accustomed to these scenes, he can scarcely refrain from weeping too, it appears so very natural, and the wail seems to come from the very bottom of the soul. The virtues of the dead are repeated, and the following wail is used on such occasions: for a male—He— — —taku makawe hi. Alas, the covering or glory of my head, alas. For a female—Haere e hine e wai i te ara o tupuna, kia karanga nui mai kei o kui ha, kei o matua, hei karanga mai ki a koe. Go, O lady, pursue the path of your ancestors; call loudly to your female and male ancestors, they summon you.^†

The tangi, or wail, was not confined to the dead; whenever friends met, the tangi was raised, they cried over each other. This ancient custom probably arose from the insecurity of life in former days; those who had escaped from their constant fights, when they met, cried over each other as though they had been dead: even we sometimes cry for joy, at seeing any dear friend, relative, or child, who has had any great deliverance from danger; the custom naturally becomes general amongst a savage and warlike race, like that of the Maori.

When the dead were buried, the following pihi was used, by the side of a running stream, in which a staff was stuck.

To ko kai i te po,	Place a staff for the po or night,
Te po nui,	The great po,
Te po roa,	The long po,
Te po uri uri,	The dark po,
Te po tango tango,	The gloomy po,
Te po wawa,	The intense po,
Te po te kitea,	The unseen po,
Te po te waia,	The unsearchable po.
Tena toko ka tu,	Behold the staff stands,
Ko toko o	The staff of
Tane rua nuku.	Tane rua nuku.

This was followed by one for the living. Another staff was then stuck in the water, and the priest said:—

Toko kai te ao,	Place a staff for the day,
Te ao nui, te ao roa,	The great day, the long day,
Te ao marama,	The bright day,
Te ao whekere,	The gloomy day.
Tena toko katu,	Behold the staff stands,
Ko toko Ikurangi,	The staff of the end of heaven,
Ko toko te wai ao,	The staff of flowing light,
Ko toko te ao marama,	The staff of the bright world,
Oti mai ki te ao.	This is all for the day.

The prevailing idea of the abode of spirits was, that they went to the Reinga, which is another name for Po or Hades; the word Reinga literally means, the leaping place. The spirits were supposed to travel to the North Cape, or land's end, and there passing along a long narrow ledge of rock, they leaped down upon a flat stone, and thence slinging page 104 themselves into the water by some long sea-weed, they entered Po, the Reinga being the passage to it.^*

It was supposed that there were several compartments in Hades, the lowest being the worst, having no light or food, and there the spirits were thought gradually to pine away, and to be finally annihilated. Spirits were thought to require food, and to feed upon flies and filth; but they had also the spirit of the kumara and taro. Before a soul enters the Reinga, he has to pass a river called Waioratane, the keeper of which places a plank for him to go over; sometimes he will not do so, but drives him back to the upper regions, with friendly violence, in order that he may take care of the family he has left behind; so, likewise, if he has not partaken of the food of the Reinga, he may return again to the earth. If a person has recovered from a dangerous disease, or from anything which threatened his life, he is said to have reached Waioratane and returned.

Another man went down, and there married a lady, with whom he returned to his own place. After some time she persuaded him to go back with her to the Reinga, so they went to the jumping place; when they got there, she told him to go first, but giving the lady the precedence, he bid her take the first jump; after some dispute, she at last did so; her timid partner, changing his mind, then returned home, and left his wife in the Reinga!

The Carving on a Tomb.