ANST-701 Lessons

Ready for another adventure, the students quickly take their seats in the Ancient Studies classroom. The professor waits patiently as they settle down, then whips out her wand with one hand and holds up a strange, carved figure in the other. With a quick flick of her wand, the figure begins to levitate and slowly make its way around the room for all of the students to examine more closely. Upon its return to the front of the class, the professor sets it down gently on the top of her desk and clears her throat.

Welcome, my dears, to our penultimate Ancient Studies class of the year and your Hogwarts career. I hope you have enjoyed our journey across Asia and Oceania so far, and that you have a bit more curiosity in store for our final two cultures. Today we will be discussing the people responsible for this fascinating carving - the Maori people of New Zealand, an area which they call Aotearoa, meaning “land of the long white cloud.”

History and Culture

For those of you who are not familiar with the location of New Zealand, it can be found just to the east of Australia. It is actually composed of two islands, descriptively named the North and South Islands.

In terms of ancient civilizations, the Maori do not actually qualify, as they arrived in New Zealand circa 1200 C.E. - a mere 800 or so years ago. That said, they were the first peoples to settle these islands and have a distinct culture that is absolutely imbued with magic. While not completely within the purview of Ancient Studies, they are nonetheless one of the most fascinating native civilizations in Oceania. As they are the native peoples of the island, they are the most ancient that anything could be - plus they are fascinating to discuss, as you shall soon see!

As the map demonstrates, the Maori are descended from the great Polynesian wayfinders. In fact, New Zealand was the last landing place for the wayfinders, as no further journeys were made after this time. Have a quick peek at the bottom right corner of the map. See the island called Rapa Nui? That is one of the places we shall discuss next week, but let’s come back to the Maori for now.

Before their contact with the Europeans, the Maori’s history can be divided into two very distinct time periods. During the first period, called the Archaic period (between 1280 and 1500 C.E.), the Maori people were quite peaceful. There was an abundance of food, shelter, and space for the tribes to thrive and grow. 

Unfortunately these idyllic conditions came to a rather abrupt end around 1500 C.E. You see, unaware of their actions, the Maori accidentally hunted several species, including a bird called a moa, to extinction. All of a sudden, it became more difficult to find the food that was so abundant a few short years before. Additionally, a major earthquake shook the ocean not too far away from the islands in 1480 C.E. It was responsible for tsunamis that decimated some of the coastal tribes and animal populations. To top it all off, the Little Ice Age, which began in  1300 C.E. and finally came to a close in 1870 C.E. began to have a drastic effect on this particular island around 1500 C.E. And this situation lasted well beyond first contact with the Europeans.

The result of these major changes to their environment marked significant alterations to their culture as well. The Classic Period (which lasted from 1500 to 1642 C.E.), whose end was marked by contact with the Europeans, was a much more aggressive time. Resources were far scarcer than they were initially used to and living conditions harsher. As such, wars, battles, and skirmishes broke out frequently. This period is most renowned for the fierce warrior culture that emerged, as well as for the incredibly beautiful and intricate carvings by master craftsmen, such as the one I showed you at the beginning of class. 

From the Classic Period all the way up to present day, the typical Maori village has always been focused around one central point: the marae, or “meeting place.” To an outsider, a marae simply looks like a number of carved buildings in an enclosure, but they are much, much more than that. To a village or tribe, their marae is their home. It is their place of belonging. It is where all great gatherings and events occur, and therefore it is sacred to them. Actually, sacred is not quite the correct word. The marae is considered “tapu”, that is, something that has a spiritual restriction and a set of rules on how to behave, such as what can be said and done while there, as well as who can visit there in the first place.

The concept of tapu (which is the origin for the word taboo) is integral to the understanding of both the Maori culture and their magical practices. It can be applied to places, such as the marae or the house of the chief, but also to people, animals, and more. If something was considered tapu, it either could not be touched in any way, or a very specific set of rules and rites were in place that were required to be followed without exception. For example, a Maori being tattooed was considered tapu by all except the one performing the work. They themselves could not speak, nor could they be spoken to our even touched during that time. 

So central to the culture was this concept of tapu that every ailment, misfortune, or problem was attributed to breaking it. Whether accidentally or with malice, if you became sick, were unsuccessful in a hunt, or fell off a cliff, you had most likely broken a tapu of some sort. It was the punishment either of the gods or the priests (called tohunga), and you probably deserved it. For those of you familiar with the concept of karma, tapu was quite similar. 

To this day, some aspects of tapu still exist, although it is certainly not as stringently followed as during the Classic Period. One specific example is connected to whale strandings. Whales are considered to be very sacred creatures by the Maori, as they are offspring of the ocean god Tangaroa. Sites where whales have been stranded and/or whale carcasses have been discovered are considered tapu out of respect to Tangaroa.

Now, you are not completely doomed or given up for lost if you happen to break a tapu. Thankfully, according to Maori culture, many tapu can be countered with noa, a concept similar to a blessing and an exceptional way to hide magical healing, something we will cover in more detail later in this class.

The Classic Period ended when the Maori made contact with the Europeans in 1870 C.E. Like many native populations from around the globe, once this happened, the Maori found their culture changed and their lands diminished. While the Maori culture still lives on today, their traditional way of life has been irrevocably altered. That said, the strength of their magic lives on.

Maori Magic

It should come as no surprise to you that the Maori people excel in astronomy. Quite honestly, how did you think they managed to navigate the largest ocean on the planet? Yes, they read the stars and the nuances of the moon with ease and were some of the greatest explorers in our history. However, it is not astronomy for which they are most well known these days, but for their charms.

To say that the Maori people are some of the most accomplished spell casters on the planet would be the understatement of the century. They are incredibly skilled and seem to have an almost innate sense of how magic flows through words and movements. While I am a rather decent spell caster myself, the beauty and deadly accuracy of Maori charms puts me to shame. 

The act of creating magic is called makutu by the Maori, and charms work was most often employed in both offensive and defensive magic. Yes, it was used to kill. In fact, during the largest battle in Maori history, the battle of Hingakaka (circa 1780 C.E.), at least half of the casualties are anecdotally said to have been killed by magical means. 

I do not wish to mislead you into believing that the Maori have only used magic for fighting since the end of their wayfinding days. That would be a grave error on my part, as the Maori are adept at healing magic as well. You should recall my brief mention of noa earlier in the class - the concept of magic being used as a blessing. In a practical sense, this type of magic refers to the use of herbology, potions, and simple charms for healing purposes. The Maori use noa to counteract the effects of breaking a tapu, usually through a ceremony of some sort during which the person in need of healing will ingest a potion or herb that will heal or aid in the healing of whatever ails them. Again, it is the tohunga, or priest, that performs these rituals and both prepares and administers the treatments.

The Tohunga

Both historically and in the present day, Maori children who show an aptitude for magic are trained as Tohunga. Many Maori families choose to train their children at home within their communities, however some do choose to send their children to wizarding schools elsewhere. Regardless of where they learn magic, these trained witches and wizards are all considered Tohunga by their people and are held in the greatest respect.

Over the years, stories of the powers that the Tohunga possess have been passed along as a mix of both history and legend. Take, for example, the story of Hupini, the chief Tohunga on the South Taranaki plains. While the dates are a bit vague, we do know he lived some time during the mid to late 1800s and belonged to the Whanganui tribe.

One of the most fascinating tales of Hupini concerns the life of a small child. This child, the grandson of the chief at the time, fell quickly and mysteriously ill one night. Hupini was called to examine the boy and diagnosed him as a victim of dark magic used by a relative who wished the chief ill. He advised employment of a ritual during which he would be able to both heal the boy and determine which relative had cursed him. The chief and his family willingly agreed.

During the ritual, Hupini administered medicine to the boy, and also entered into a dream like state for a time. At the conclusion of the ceremony, he announced the name of a relative from a neighbouring village that had caused the boy to become ill. The chief recalled that relative’s visit not long past. During the visit, the relative had offered the boy a drink from his water flask - no doubt delivering some sort of poison. 

Understandably, the chief was incensed at the attempt on his grandson’s life and asked Hupini to assist with punishing the perpetrator. Hupini agreed and suggested death as an appropriate punishment. The chief agreed. Hupini then cursed the relative aloud and assured the chief that the relative would indeed die that very day.

Within a few days of the ritual, the grandson showed great signs of improving, and word reached the chief that the relative in question had died a sudden, unexpected death. The chief praised Hupini’s skills at delivering such a swift punishment from such a distance, and the tohunga was more revered, and feared, than ever before.

Now, let’s have a look at this recounting and apply what we know of magical practice to discern what truly happened. There is no doubt that the boy was poisoned and that Hupini recognized the symptoms, created an antidote, and administered it to him during the ritual. It is also quite likely that Hupini was practicing some sort of legilimency, in order to sift through the memories and discern who had poisoned the boy.

What is unlikely, however, is Hupini’s perceived ability to kill the perpetrator with a curse from a distance of a village away. It’s simply not that easy. While this could potentially be accomplished with a blood curse, this would be very tricky to pull off, especially with the added complications of the perpetrator’s relation to the chief and his son as well as the fact that the effects happened instantaneously (I should also add that blood curses are very much out of my purview). Certainly then, this part of the story is just that. It is an exaggeration of the facts.

So what did happen to the relative? Well, there are certainly a few theories that would explain it. It could simply have been a coincidence - perhaps the relative was sloppy with their potion making and accidentally poisoned themselves. Hupini would have seen that the relative was dying while divining during the ritual and could easily have stated that his death was imminent. Other theories suggest that a member of the tribe - perhaps even Hupini himself - travelled quickly to the village of the relative and killed them. Regardless of what actually happened, the result was the same. The boy lived, and the perpetrator died, according to the wishes and prophecy of the chief and Hupini respectively. 

Before we end our lesson today, some of you may be wondering what effect the Statute of Secrecy has had on Maori magical practice. This is always a good question to ask, and the answer in this specific case is not much. You see, the Tohunga have always used magic as part of their rituals and ceremonies - these rituals and ceremonies have not changed much over the centuries. Like other civilizations, the Maori Muggles believe that some sort of divine intervention occurs whenever something inexplicably bad or good happens, and they see the Tohunga as the conduit through which the divine intercede. The Tohunga simply keep doing what they have always done, and the Muggles are none the wiser. If only keeping magic a secret in the rest of the world was so easy!

Conclusion

And that is all we have time for today. During our next lesson, we will focus on a few different islands throughout Oceania and the curious magical happenings that take place there. Until then, you will have a quiz on today’s materials. Please use any extra time you have to study for your finals - they will be here before you know it!

Image credits here, here, and here
Original lesson written by Professor Liria Morgan