Abstract
MAORI GAMES.—A valuable monograph by Mr. Elsdon Best on the games and pastimes of the Maori has been published under the direction of the Board of Ethnological Research of the Dominion Museum, N.Z., as Bulletin No. 8. Not only is the account of Maori games given by early travellers meagre, but, owing to the disapproval of these games by the missionaries, notwithstanding their harmless character, few of them survived until the beginning of the present century. Like other features of Maori life, the arts of amusement were attributed to a mythical originator. The practice of the arts of Ruhanui followed the rising of Whanui (the star Vega) when the main crops were lifted. The indulgence in games thus depended to some' extent on the leisure afforded by seasonal occupations, but they were also played at night. The recreations may be classified into (1) children's games played at all times; (2) games played at night or at free times when members of two or more families met in a house or on the village plaza; (3) at large meetings such as ceremonial feasts, harvest festivals, etc., when members of one or more sub-tribes gathered together, contests of skill or strength forming a special feature of the occasion; or (4) specially arranged contests between members of different village communities, in wrestling, canoe rowing, dart throwing, posture dancing, and the like. Kite-flying contests were also held. Certain of the games, such as the duels and combats in the school for arms for men, and the posture dances for women, were looked upon not merely as recreation but also as a training for the arts of life, the grace of action, for example, to be acquired through the dance being regarded as an essential in a girl's deportment. The monograph includes in its scope a careful and detailed study of the songs and musical instruments. The Maori did not use stringed instruments, but only wind and percussion.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Research Items. Nature 119, 795–797 (1927). https://doi.org/10.1038/119795a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/119795a0