reply to post by spellbound
StopComplaining
It is good that you love the country and the people of New Zealand, but for you to down right call my people and our beliefs ''witchcraft'' is a
bit extreme. Just because a certain race of people have a different religious view of life to you or the majority of people on Earth, doesn't make
them witches.
Spellbound
No need to worry, as the story goes, if a Taniwha is unable to do its task of helping dead bodies/spirits pass to the afterworld, it will often
journey back to its cave or resting place and lay dormant until it feels the need to wake up again.
Taniwha are said to be the protectors of the Maori people, every Maori tribe has its own Taniwha. I have been told many times while staying at my
Marae (meeting house) that when our ancestors made the large voyage from Hawaiki (our home land, thought by some to be Atlantis, but many scientists
think that Hawaiki is infact the real island of Hawaii) they were accompained by many Taniwha's who would protect the large fleet of ships from any
large waves or other sea monsters.
When the Maori settled in New Zealand, different tribes migrated to different areas, the tribes Taniwha would seek a suitable place of accomidation,
such as a lake or cave, and watch over its tribe. Maori people would often have to bring offerings or gifts to their Taniwha in order to keep it
pleased, such gifts included food or precious stones found. Failure to do so would result in the Taniwha killing or kidnapping one of the tribe
members or it would simply abandon the tribe, leaving it vulnerable to an enemy tribe and its Taniwha.
There is a place called the Green Lake or Lake Rotokakahi in Rotorua, which is the town I come from. The Green is considered Tapu (sacred), making it
off bounds to anyone that does not come from the tribe that owns the lake. The reason for this Tapu is that their is supposedly meant to be a Taniwha
who lives in the lake, so you'll often see that most Maori people who are fimiliar with this lake will keep their distance, including me. There is a
small island which is located somewhat in the middle of the lake, it has been the burial site for the tribes Maori chiefs for many centuries, the
Taniwha is said to have been tasked with watching over the burial site and making sure no one disrupts it. During the burial of the tribes old Maori
chief a few years back, some people claimed to have seen the Rotokakahi Taniwha watching the burial from afar.
So as you can see, Maori people have a strong belief that Taniwha's do exist, I am definetly one of those believers. Im not sure weither there is a
Taniwha in the Rotokakahi Lake, but I don't plan on jumping in and finding out for myself.
Oh yeh one more thing, for the person who said that the Maori might be the master race, im not sure if this is true...
I wouldn't consider the killing and cannibalizing of an entire race of human (The Mori Ori) as an attribute of a master race. But who knows, maybe we
are I dont know.
Jordan The Maori
