Te Ua.
A member of the Ngatiawa and Taranaki tribes of Taranaki, who
had never distinguished himself in any way, until he adopted the
"role of prophet and announced himself as the Jehovah of the
Maoris. He invented the Pai Marire religion, which consisted of
chaunting a gibberish of broken English and bad Maori , and walking
round sacred poles (niu), occasionally uttering peculiar sounds
which they said was foreign language (Reo Pakeha) and was their day
of Pentecost. Te Ua revived the old practise of cutting off the
heads of persons slain in battle, preserving them and carrying them
about the country. The Paimarire religion subsequently merged into
Hauhau-ism, and Te Kootis formula. The two latter drew their ideas
largely from the old Testament, and induced their followers to
believe that the Europeans would be exterminated by their God. Some
of the most violent of these fanatics even went so far as to return
to cannibalism, and to preserving the heads, and carrying about the
hearts of their victims as offerings to Tu (the Maori god of
war).
James Mackay
Late Civil Commissioner N.Z.
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