Christmas spirit absent in Maori-Pakeha encounter

Maori never celebrated Christmas although their first exotic dinner was nearly a Christmas one.

On December 18, 1642 Abel Tasman sailed into the South Island's Golden Bay having travelled across the Pacific from the Dutch East India Company's home base in Java. From this strategic location the Dutch extended their knowledge of the vast, unknown ocean and explored the Pacific's farthest reaches.

Tasman's Australasian voyage commenced on August 14, 1642, and Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) was discovered on November 24. After mapping the coastline Tasman headed east on December 5 and eight days later he sighted "a large high-lying land", Aotearoa.

He tracked the South Island's west coast until, on December 17, he saw signs of habitation in the form of smoke rising from fires on the shore. He continued north until he entered Golden Bay and communication was established with the local iwi who, according to Maori tradition, were the Ngati Tumatakokiri.

Putatara, or Maori trumpets, were sounded on shore and the Dutch responded with their own trumpets from on board the ship. The parties retired to their respective abodes and in the morning the historical encounter continued. The Tumatakokiri sent double- hulled canoes out to assess the situation and, despite desperate attempts by the Dutch to distract them, the Maori crew were unflappable, scrutinising the foreign vessels and readying themselves for potential conflict.

Eventually, Tasman sent a vessel from one of his ships to pass a message to the other vessel and the Maoris pounced, killing three of the Dutch crew. They slaughtered the Europeans with stone weapons and dragged the dead bodies on board their own waka and quickly returned to shore. There is only one reason I can imagine that the enemy would go to the extra trouble of taking a body with them after the kill – and that reason is culinary.

Tasman and his crew headed off, somewhat bewildered, but quickly refocused on the exploratory task at hand. They travelled only slightly north and explored the coastline of the many islands in close proximity to D'Urville Island. On December 25, all the men gathered on Tasman's vessel, the Heemskerck, as guests of the Commander, two pigs were killed for the crew, and a tankard of wine given to every man "as it was the time of the fair" – the first Christmas celebrations on the coast of New Zealand.

Although in modern times we associate the Christmas festival with the birth of Jesus and it is a principal Christian celebration in our Western calendar of events, the actual spirit of Christmas derives from earlier pagan times. Saturnalia was a prominent winter festival in Roman society. Celebrations would begin on December 17 and last for a week. All business was postponed and it was a time of relaxation, feasting, and merry- making. Gifts were exchanged such as small dolls and candles and even the slaves were invited to feast. The actual date of December 25 was a primary one in most early calendars and was considered by many cultures as the date of the winter solstice.

Despite the Christian appropriation of the date to celebrate the birth of their leading prophet, the spirit of the original pre-Christian festival appears to live on.

It is interesting to note that Tasman and his crew celebrated the feast with no mention of religious observance.

In 1843, a time when the church had much greater influence on the general population, Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol. In it he reinforces the theme of festivity, charity and his spirit of Christmas is all about social justice and generosity. Even at this time there is little, or no, reference to the modern Christian spirit. In New Zealand, it seems we were no different. Early explorers of the South Island generally travelled during the summer months and kept detailed diaries.

One such explorer was Walter Mantell who, whilst tramping through Central Otago during the 1850s, made this brief note in his diary: "25 Dec. Thursday SW & Showers. Goose, roast pork, plum pudding, peas, carrots &c."

Once again the image is one of feasting as opposed to fasting or religious observance.

It seems that the early spirit of Christmas has passed through the generations and is alive and well here in New Zealand.

We make an extra effort to be together with family, often putting aside differences that get in the way the other 364 days of the year. We cook and eat special foods to the point of gluttony. We exchange gifts and coax each other to behave with a benevolence that we would not normally expect of ourselves at other times of the year.

In many families there is also religious observance, clearly connected to Christian beliefs, but it is that pagan festive spirit of Christmas that has endured across the centuries.

So this year, as you sit down to your turkey, ham and plum duff spare a thought for the Dutchmen who nearly provided New Zealand's first Christmas feast. Maybe the dinner conversation went like this: "Hey, this kai tastes a bit funny, Rangi. What's wrong with it?"

"Dunno, bro. It's very salty. Sort of tastes like liquorice."