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In Sterbende Welt the notion that the Maori waged war “fast ausschließlich, um Menschenfleisch
als Nahrung zu bekommen” (167) is also frequently emphasised, more so than the ritualistic act
of retribution. 259 Reischek notes, for example, that the flesh of enemies sometimes provided a war
party with nourishment on longer excursions, as an old woman who had to live off human flesh
for three weeks in her youth reports (128). He also states that a Maori chief would kill and eat one
of his own wives and child in order to have fresh human meat for entertaining visitors, and that a
group of Maori visiting another ‘pa’ would do the same to most of their hosts if it turned out they
had no human flesh to feast on (175f.). 260
With the renewed threat of war and suffering, religion and cannibalism took a more
sinister turn in the mid-1860s, as the peaceful teachings of ‘Pai Marire’ were distorted into the
creed of the ‘Hauhau’ by Te Ua Haumene’s would-be ‘apostels’, Matene Te Rangitauira,
Hepanaia Kapewhiti, Kereopa Te Rau and Patara Raukatauri, 261 to spell the end of the Pakeha. 262
Interestingly, while most Europeans, including many twentieth-century historians, labelled all
Maori ‘rebels’ unfairly as part of the so-called ‘Hauhau’ cult, Reischek was able to distinguish
between the two. As is always the case with subsequent generations, “die Jünger sind anders als
der Meister, und aus den großen Gedanken gebiert sich die gemeine Tat!” (149f.):
Hepanaia und den andern Jüngern war in erster Linie an der Vernichtung der Weißen gelegen; sie
stachelten den Blutdurst der Maori auf und feierten grauenvolle Triumphe über die Weißen.
arbeitsam als andere vernachlässigten ihre Kultivationen Streitigkeiten fingen an bis es zu offenen Gefechten
aufbrach, und als sie nicht genug Nahrung hatten. So assen sie die erschlagenen welche ihnen gut schmekten [sic]”.
(cited in: Kolig, Umstrittene Würde, 89). Furthermore, Reischek only gives Te Whitiora’s explanation in a later
paper, and emphasises Wahanui’s comments that “nur im Kampfe Getödtete oder solche, welche dem Stamme
keinen Nutzen brachten, gegessen wurden; gefangene Feinde, die dem Stamme nützlich waren, oder solche, welche
die Kunst des Schnitzens oder andere Arbeiten verstanden, wurden geschont!” (Reischek, “Ueber Neu-Seeland und
seine Bewohner”, 98).
259 When a typical Maori victory feast is described, however, there is a somewhat balanced portrayal of
bloodthirstiness and religious fervour: “Die Häuptlinge stachen ihren getöteten Gegnern die Augen aus und
verschluckten sie; sie tranken deren warmes Blut aus der Halsschlagader und schnitten ihnen das Herz heraus.
Dadurch vermeinten sie den in dem Feinde wohnenden Gott (Atua) auf sich übertragen zu können. Je mehr Feinde
also ein Häuptling erschlagen hatte, für desto unüberwindlicher hielt er sich” (171; cf. Reischek, “Kriegsführung der
Maori”, 287).
260 Cf. 81, 247.
261 Cowan, NZ Wars, II:18. While Reischek spells many Maori names incorrectly, surprisingly when he does get it
right, Priday spells ‘Patara’ consistently as ‘Pataia’ (YIM, 145f.).
262 “Hauhau, or Hauhauism as it was flippantly called, […] was a political element or another interpretation of Pai
Marire. Although the Pai Marire of Te Ua Haumene and that of Tawhiao [called Tariao, meaning ‘morning star’],
which came later [in 1875], both end with the word Hau, it is not the recital of that of Hauhauism. The new
interpretation was accredited to others. Hauhau means rebel. All Maori who advocated no sale or leasing of lands or
would not cede their sovereignty were all considered rebels. […] The Hauhauism as a cult was a group that
manipulated some verses and words of Pai Marire. There were groups who readily adopted the new version”
(Kirkwood, Tawhiao, 88f.; cf. 86-91; Lyndsay Head, “Te Ua Haumene ? – 1866: Taranaki leader, prophet, religious
founder” in: DNZB 1, 511-13).
287