Fighting rituals of the bloodthirsty Maori
From military stories, which, in fact, was not very interested in them, it is known that the Polynesians, and specifically the representatives of the Maori tribe, have established themselves as quite serious warriors. Under competent command, they showed the ability to withstand the excellently trained British regular army.
At the same time, the ritual side of the Maori martial art is highly mythologized. Military rituals are the norm for any army in the world, and below we will try to figure out where the truth is in the works of historians of European origin, and where is the lie.
A little romance...
Let's start with the most harmless and even romantic.
Some sources, in particular, in the movie "Queen of the River", contain references to the fact that the Maori leaders (and, possibly, other Polynesian peoples did) had sex with their wives before the battle (of which they often had several) .
At the "most crucial moment" the attack began, as shown in the mentioned film. Field commander Titokovaru, represented there in the form of Te Kai Po, most likely actually practiced such rituals, given his sexual preoccupation. Let's regard this only as greetings to Dmitry "Wagner" Utkin, who got himself "camping wives" in Chechnya.
Titokovar's intemperance ultimately led to the zugunder through the canifas-block (Taranaq war. How the natives defeated the British). It is clear that miracles do not happen, most likely, during the fighting, the scouts reported on the movement (often along numerous rivers) of enemy detachments, the settlement was preparing to repel the attack, and the “confidants” were standing near the leader’s hut.
As soon as characteristic sounds were heard from there, they, with gestures, presumably (the voice will surrender the defending settlement to the enemy immediately), transmitted signals about an attack on an unsuspecting enemy to the fighters, some of whom were even in the trees. Accordingly, a massive attack began, as a rule, from several flanks.
Most likely, the Maori really believed that the leader charged them with his masculine strength. The Polynesians of that time were characterized by an increased level of testosterone, which is now declining due to the transition to a diet that is genetically unusual for these peoples. In this regard, the sacralization of sex was characteristic, especially in military rituals.
...and a lot of dancing
Dancing is ritual symbol number two.
It's also a harmless enough topic, Haka. Dance before the fight. It was only during the Second World War that Europeans really developed a fear of khaka. The general order of the pre-battle dance "Haka" took shape around the beginning of the XNUMXth century.
Haka, during which participants bulge their eyes and stick their tongues out of their mouths (meaning "I'll eat you"), is used in the New Zealand Army during exhibition performances and before matches of the rugby team. During the Second World War, haka performed by a battalion of Maori volunteers as part of the British army inspired real horror on the enemy (Germans and Italians).
Haka is performed in the New Zealand Army on May 8 (Allied Victory Day) by all military personnel regardless of nationality, but on Volunteer Day it is performed only by Maori military personnel. Well, there is nothing to say about the All Blacks rugby team. Footage of the khaki, which was performed at the funeral of this rugby team forward John Loma, followed by the release of white doves from the stadium by his widow, went around the world.
Information about when exactly the haka arose is at the level of unconfirmed legends. It is likely that the haka before the battle was accompanied by defiant slogans, up to sophisticated insults. In Toa Frazier's half-Fijian, half-Maori film The Dead Lands (the only film made entirely in Maori), there is a moment when a teacher instructs a student to "speak properly" to an opponent during pre-fight haki.
The teacher, in order to provoke a fight, after performing khaki, shouts at the leader of the opposing tribe: "Your mother is a log in bed." Considering the off-scale sexual temperament of the Polynesian peoples, such a curse was much more effective for them than, for example, the Turkic “anan sikeim”.
Cannibals or not?
Well, then on the rise. Now let's move on to the most important and sensitive topic - cannibalism.
Information that the Maori allegedly ate people from hunger in the past is hardly true. Before the Anglo-Saxons brought wild boars and other mammals to New Zealand, they were almost non-existent.
The Maori protein diet was based mainly on fish, seafood (there is enough of the sea, rivers and lakes) and poultry, less often eggs. The food of mammals was unusual for the Maori, and the “transplantation” to pork, lamb and beef with the arrival of the British became one of the causes of metabolic disorders in this people, as well as in other Polynesians.
The myth of cannibalism among the Maori was replicated for the first time, most likely by Jules Verne in The Children of Captain Grant. Further, for strategic purposes, it was used as, in modern terms, "black PR" by Goebbels' subordinates during the Crete operation and the Allied military operations against the Nazi army in North Africa.
A battalion of Maori volunteers inspired superstitious fear even among the battered German paratroopers. And mainly because of the information disseminated by the Goebbels department that the Maori eat their dead opponents. Naturally, none of the Nazis wanted to surrender. On the battlefield, you are less likely, for obvious reasons, to have your body dragged off and eaten.
Where Goebbels rests
In captivity, for no less obvious reasons, you can do anything. Despite the fact that the Allies failed the Cretan operation, and the Maori volunteers suffered serious losses (mainly due to lack of discipline, they climbed hand-to-hand when it was not necessary), the memory of such propaganda remained and took root.
But one should not think that this propaganda had no basis at all. In contrast to primitive slogans like "Beat the Jewish political officer, the muzzle asks for a brick," this time the Goebbels did a good job with historical information.
In reality, only the fact of ritual cannibalism is documented (and the Maori do not deny this): the fighter bit off (there was nothing to cut, only shock types were used in battle weapons, made of wood and stone, and Maori did not know iron before the arrival of the British) a piece of flesh of a defeated enemy, so that his strength would be transferred to him.
These are far from all the stereotypes associated with the military traditions of the Maori and other Polynesian peoples. The main ones are listed above. But even this is enough to conclude what horror the natives of Oceania, who did not know how to melt iron and did not know writing, brought to that world, which is now customary in certain circles to be called the “collective West”.
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