tohungan.

1831 G. Bennett in London Med. Gaz. 12 Nov. 182/1 This species of Asplenium is a sacred plant among the New Zealanders..; it is used by the Tohunga, or Priest, when praying over a sick person.

1843 E. Dieffenbach Trav. N.Z. II. i. iv. 60 If a chief or his wife falls sick, the most influential tohunga..attends.

1872 A. Domett Ranolf & Amohia v. x But he whose grief was most sincere..Was Kangapo the Tóhunga—a Priest And fell Magician famous far and near.

1893 Westm. Gaz. 13 Feb. 10/1 His secret longings and natural tendencies are towards the tohungas, the only visible monuments of his old priestly régime.

1904 Daily Chron. 23 July 4/6 The methods of the ‘tohungas’, or Maori native doctors of New Zealand, are remarkable.

1928 W. Baucke Where White Man Treads (ed. 2) 211 Each tohunga diagnoses after his own skill, and in the ripeness of his wisdom applies what his atua has revealed to him.

1938 R. Finlayson Brown Man's Burden 42 She was a witch all right—like her father the tohunga.

1943 N. Marsh Colour Scheme ii. 37 I am a rangitira. My father attended an ancient school of learning. He was a tohunga.

1955 W. J. Phillipps Maori Carving Illustr. 4 Some [carvings] were carried out under the instruction of the old tohunga.

1976 Art N.Z. Dec. 34/1 The art of kite making and flying played an important role in the lifestyles of the ancient Maoris. Their manufacture was a sacred and time-consuming affair, for, according to tradition, only a tohunga (priest) of some standing in the tribe could prepare them.