Maori for cannibal

27 January 2009

Kaitangata I was Writer in Residence at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. Had a relationship that wasn't going all that well with a man from Kaitangata. Seemed like a good idea to go down there and meet some of his folks. Well. It was certainly fascinating. I have never felt so out of place. And yet. And yet. Kai (food) tangata (people) is Maori for cannibal. People are food, as it were. There was a custom for Maori warriors to eat the enemy they killed in battle. This was called long pig because it tastes like pork but the bones are longer. Kaitangata is famous for the mine disaster in 1879. 30 men and boys died. Otago Kaitangata is 6 k from the Clutha river and 15 minutes drive from Balclutha. As we drove south in the orange kombi (yes! he had done the Katmandu trail!) the country got harsher and tougher. I was looking about me at the visible signs of a country that I hadn't been in before. Erosion. Tussock. Hawks wheeling. He motored on looking neither to the left or right. He knew it all backwards. We stayed with his sister and brother-in-law. They made us really welcome. But he dumped me there and vanished. Don't know where. Do know why. So I just made the best of it. I have never drunk so many cups of tea. Local Customs For some reason people thought the rules that governed mines back in the old country didn't count here. They were sadly mistaken. Black damp, choke damp and fire damp were just as lethal in NZ. And a naked flame was just plain stupid. In many ways this was like Gallipoli was to Australia. But because it was NZ it went deep underground. And dwelt there. The town feels it and lives by it. The mine closed in recent years and they commuted to Balclutha and the abbatoirs and became freezing workers. It's tough on the killing floor, but at least it is not underground. His mother had begged him (her youngest) not to go down the mine. He was apprenticed to an electrician and went down the mine. His story of hearing an earthquake rolling in towards him through the walls of the earth was breath taking. Then he went to the university in Christchurch and learned Russian. Hoo Boy! The brother-in-law, one of nature's gentlemen, invited me to the pub. It seemed like a good idea. And I have been to pubs before. But this pub was one huge open space, as big as a rugby field. The barmen were working

ARTS AND CULTURE

Maori for cannibal

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