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expect as the result of the influence with which their mind is instinctively filled by the powers of
Nature. What a noble material to work with for the purpose of leading them towards civilization!
(I:391)
Thus, they are both too primitive and rational to comprehend the worship of deities, yet their
superstitions are fixed firmly in the realm of the irrational, a concept which Dieffenbach at times
ridicules, but also justifies their belief in. After all, the Maori, in his view, have no firm religion
when viewed as “a definable system of certain dogmas and prescriptions”, as it is nothing more
than a belief in the “action and influence of spirits on the destiny of men, mixed up with fables
and traditions” (II:115).
An extension of this superstitious and religious conviction is the concept of ‘tapu’, which
has the double meaning of “religious worship and civil law” in Maori society, and although he
acknowledges the absurdity of certain usages of this custom, it presents itself as a “wholesome
restraint”, in which the “heavy penalties attached to the violation of its laws serv[e] in one tribe,
or in several not in actual hostility with each other, as moral and legal commandments” (II:100).
The result is that adultery and theft, much like polygamy, are uncommon among Maori, to the
point where he regards them as “a very honest people, far more so than the lower classes of the
European colonists” (II:105). 93 This high sense of justice is naturally continued among the
Christian converts. Moreover, there exists a deep respect for the possessions of those who have
passed away, which arises out of a “feeling deeply rooted in all the human family, and the more
so the higher they advance in civilization” (II:101). If someone breaks a ‘tapu’ restriction but the
crime remains unknown, it is believed they are punished by ‘atua’ “who inflicts disease upon the
criminal”, if not first of all discovered and punished by the respective parties (II:105). Even
Christian Maori still fear diseases resulting from witchcraft as a punishment for this transgression
(II:58). 94 The head of Maori is the most ‘tapu’ part of the body (II:104), in contrast to food which
is the opposite or ‘noa’. The only exception to this is kumara, which is likewise extremely ‘tapu’,
as are the women at work in these fields, since it is also believed to be the chosen food of
departed spirits at Cape Reinga (II:48f.), in which these spirits “live as men do on earth; but they
can leave it, and influence the actions and the fate of those who are alive, communicating with
them through the medium of the tohunga, who hears them” (II:67). These spirits often speak in
dreams, and “commands given in that way are implicitly obeyed, and often influence their most
93 Cf. II:37.
94 Cf. I:307.
88