LAND UNDER MAORI
MANAGEMENT

Difficult country on Patemaru Station, farmed by the East Coast Commission, now to be transferred to Maori Committee of Management. (John Ashton Photograph)

A country of narrow, high mountain ridges, covered with bush fern and scrub, deeply and irregularly cut by streams, the district from the Wairoa northwards was first settled by the Ngati Kahungunu and Ngati Porou. It was not country that attracted many pakeha settlers in the early nineteenth century. This was not only accounted for by the difficulties of the ground, but also by the frequency and vigour of the Maori land claims and disputes in the area, as well as the bands of Te Kooti and others. Even in 1868, so Lambert tells us, the area back of Wairoa properly cleared and laid down in English grasses was inconsiderable. Further north along the East Coast there was a certain amount of farming.

After the Maori Wars, the state of the inhabitants was critical; great debts had accumulated and poverty and undernourishment were rife. The wheat and flax industry and the shipping industry started by Ngati Kahungunu and Ngati Porou had collapsed; the plantations were neglected. Worse still, reconstruction of these means of livelihood was retarded by the onset of a world-wide depression, during which the newly acquired pakeha skills could not avail the Maori people.

Among the many schemes of land development that sprang up about this time was the East Coast (later: New Zealand) Native Land Settlement Company which was incorporated in 1881. This venture was an unusual and ingenious one. Promoted equally by European settlers and Maori leaders, chief of whom was Wiremu Pere, it was a genuine profit-sharing enterprise, with the Maori owners holding two-thirds of the shares of the company. These shares had been exchanged for 200,000 acres of tribal lands in the Wairoa, Gisborne and Tolaga Bay districts, so that in effect the Maoris contributed land to the company and the Europeans cash. Unfortunately, there was

much less of the latter commodity than the former.

Even so, Wi Pere should have credit for working out a far-sighted arrangement for retaining the tribal lands which were in great danger of being lost outright through the difficulties of the times. Known also as William Halbert, Wiremu Pere was a chief of Rongo Whakaata and Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki. For long he was the Member of Parliament for Eastern Maori, and he also became a Member of the Legislative Council. He was known as a formidable leader and a very determined person, one of the ablest of Maori politicians.

What was Wi Pere's ultimate aim in promoting this company? Guy Scholefield's National Biography gives some information supplied by the late Sir Apirana Ngata, and part of this is that Wi Pere wished to neutralize the free trade in native lands by developing and managing them in the interests of the native owners. Wi Pere undoubtedly wished to preserve these lands to the Maori owners, and under very difficult circumstances. At that time there was free trade in Maori land. The formation of the company seemed to afford a rare opportunity to provide the money necessary to develop the land without the Maori birthright being lost. As all relevant documents are lost, we can only guess at the details of the arrangement. The company intended to develop the land and then liquidate. The Europeans would take one-third of ultimate profits, and the Maori shareholders the rest. It also looks as if some understanding existed that the Maori owners could redeem their lands fully developed as long as the Europeans received their share of the proceeds. In other words, Wi Pere probably dreamed of buying out the European shareholders and then farming the land for his own people.

However this may be, the Settlement Company went the way of so many development companies of the time; it fell a victim of the slump. We Pere went as far as London to seek finance to keep it alive, but in vain. In 1890, with some of the land already partly developed and stocked, the Bank of New Zealand, as mortgagee, foreclosed on its mortgage, which amounted to £135,000.

Wiremu Pere as he is portrayed in the ‘Parliamentary Shield’ showing all Members of Parliament for the years 1903–1905. This shield may be seen at Parliament Buildings, Wellington. Mr Pere was M.P. for Eastern Maori from 1884–1886 and 1894–1905 and M.L.C. from 1907–1912. He died in 1915.

In the following sixteen years, the sheep and cattle continued to graze the fertile slopes without being greatly added to. The land was fiercely fought over by lawyers, businessmen, financiers and politicians. Following the foreclosure, Wi Pere looked for some means of stopping the bank from selling all the land, and in this way disinheriting his people. After two years, during which some sales took place, he succeeded by a legal action, in preserving

One of the original shares of the East Coat Native Land and Settlement Company, to be seen at the East Coast Commission building in Gisborne.

what was left. The remaining lands were transferred in 1892 to Wi Pere and Sir James Carroll as trustees for the owners, encumbered with the remaining debt of £53,000.

This arrangement, again, was not a success. Between the trustees, the bank and a vast number of lawyers and hangers on, no effective development of the land occurred, but vast legal and interest charges accrued, and a few years later the debt had once again risen to £138,000. After more legal exchanges, August 1902, was made a final date for sale of the remaining 170,000 acres to the Bank of New Zealand. If this sale had gone through, all the land later farmed by the East Coast Commission would have been lost forever to the Maori people. It was at this stage that Sir James Carroll, then Native Minister, and Wi Pere, M.P. for Eastern Maori, succeeded in getting the Government to intervene.

Bank and trustees at last came to an agreement, and two days before the date fixed for the auction, Parliament passed a Bill postponing the sales until August, 1904.

During the parliamentary debate preceding the passing of the East Coast Maori Trust Lands Act, 1902, speakers from both sides of the House sympathised with its main purpose, which was to prevent the land passing away finally from the beneficiaries. Some opposition members expressed great regret that so much money had been frittered away by what some called “milking the cow” and others plainly “chicanery”. However this be, clearly the tide had turned and the colony had begun to see the importance of preserving to the Maoris the rest of their ancestral lands.

Although formally the 1902 Act merely postponed liquidation for two years, in essence it did far more. The Government had expressed its firm resolve to prevent the land from being lost to the Maori owners. During the debate both parties acknowledged a duty to protect the land. Even though some people have found weaknesses in the Carroll and Wi Pere trusteeship, these leaders certainly served the Maori people well by showing the country, through this melancholy example, how Maori lands were being lost by their owners almost unknowingly and without real recompense. They thus paved the way for laws to be introduced, only a few years afterwards, to protect the land remaining to the Maori people.

The Act of 1902 set up a board of control to raise finance to meet the mortgages. Through some concessions by the Bank of New Zealand, the sale of some further blocks and some successful farming, the bank's mortgage was finally paid off in 1905. A year later the Carroll and Wi Pere Trust was dissolved, and a commissioner substituted with full powers to farm, borrow and determine interests of beneficiaries. Successive East Coast Commissioners were:

• J. A. Harding, 1907.
• T. A. Coleman, 1907–1920.
• T. A. Coleman jun., 1920–1921.
• Chief Judge W. E. Rawson, 1921–1933.
• Chief Judge R. N. Jones, 1933–1934.
• J. S. Jessop, 1934–1951.
• F. N. Bull (Deputy Commissioner), 1951-

During the early years of commmission control the blocks most suitable for farming were leased to Europeans. Then, in later years, as the term of leases expired, heavy costs for the purchase of stock and compensation for improvements had to be met. The policy was changed under the commissionership of Chief Judge Rawson. Instead of renewing the leases, the commissioner began to farm the land himself on an ever-increasing scale. The commission's executive officer at the time of the change-over was Mr (now Judge) J. Harvey.

Hardest of all was the preservation of those lands which were in a really critical financial state when the commission took over. To prevent these from being lost to the Maori people altogether, a system was started by which the better-placed ‘creditor’ blocks lent money to the less fortunate ones.

Mr J. S. Jessop, commissioner from 1934, built the Trust into a huge, tightly interwoven farming enterprise. During his administration, first emphasis was placed on the full development and bold and aggressive management of the stations. The fullest use was made of the advantages of bulk buying and selling, and stock transactions between the different stations became a highly organized business, highly profitable to the blocks. The system of mutual money-lending between the stations has saved considerable sums in interest charges. The East Coast Commission lands very soon became by far the most powerful farming combination on the East Coast, especially while the link with the Mangatu lands lasted. Together, the 24 trust estates contained 16 sheep and cattle stations, all fully stocked and equipped as going concerns in an advanced state of development. Last year these stations carried 100,000 sheep and 15,000 head of cattle.

In spite of the rapid pace of development, Mr Jessop's administration saw the most decisive landmark in the history of the trust, when in 1939 the last of the old principal debt was paid off. In 1945 the more recent mortgages followed, leaving the trust as a whole debt-free except for occasional seasonal overdrafts.

During the early salvaging period no distribution to beneficiaries occurred on any scale. Moderate distributions started in 1924. Right through the twenties and thirties distribution continued to take second place to land development and debt repayment. Very useful educational grants were, however, paid out through an ‘education committee’ on which the blocks were represented. With the help of this committee the commissioner granted annual bursaries to children of beneficiaries attending secondary schools, training colleges and universities. He also made grants to churches and to needy beneficiaries. To those whose interests warranted this, he granted housing assistance. With the wool boom in the late forties very substantial sums were for the first time paid out to the owners.

These were now very different from those who had first entered into a contract with the pakeha seventy years before. With the greater hope and prosperity brought by the present century their number had grown to no less than 8,000. In education, they were reaching equality with the European. Many had experience of running farms and stations on modern lines. In all aspects of life, they were anxious to run their own business and impatient of guardianship in any form. Nor did they regard a small interest in one of the East Coast trust blocks as a trivial matter; they had not lost their keen traditional sense of the great importance of the ownership of land. Naturally enough, many began to ask when their land, whose immense wealth had now become obvious, would be handed back to them.

(to be continued in next issue)

EAST COAST MAORI
TRUST LANDS
30th JUNE 1953

Maoritanga

by The Very Rev. J. G. Laughton

The keynote to Maoritanga is the fact that the Maori race has distinct racial personality, and what we have come to term Maoritanga is the expression of that distinctive racial personality in language, poetry and art, customs and usage, rite and ceremony, work and play. Maoritanga, secondly, is the recognition of that distinctive racial personality and the accompanying pride of race, and the corresponding demand that the sacred rights of that racial personality shall be recognised and safeguarded. In the third place, Maoritanga is the action taken to secure provision and satisfaction for that racial personality.

There is, of course, nothing singular in the nationalism of the Maori, which is the expression of this entity which we have come to call Maoritanga. Indeed, the intensification of the pressures on life of modern circumstances seems to have deepened this national spirit everywhere. It is certainly not confined, as is sometimes assumed, to the coloured people of the world. A visitor to Scotland or Wales today will find this spirit as active and vocal as we have it here today in the demand for the recognition and protection of our Maoritanga.

Let us look at some of these components of the Maori heritage which are the substance of Maoritanga. First of all language. Language can never be a coincidence. Each race has developed an expression which in beauty and in adequacy to frame its thought processes is the expression of its own very being. The form of a language is one of the indications of the racial spirit which gave it birth, and the limitation or the adequacy of a language as a full vehicle of thought is an immediate indication of the racial capacity of the people whose utterance it is.

The Maori language as it was before the advent of the white man was a very full and adequate expression of thought in the world in which it was situated. The Maori language is widely appreciated because of its beauty of expression, flowing so naturally as it does in similes and metaphors and figures of speech, but not only is it beautiful in thought pictures but it is beautiful in euphony. We were particularly impressed in our work on the revision of the Maori Bible with the fact that wherever a transliterated personal or place name had a harsh sound, Maori people had uniformly rejected that form and adopted one that was musical and pleasant to the ear.

Literary appreciation is a widespread Maori endowment, and even older Maori people who have had very little European education have a keen sense of quality in the use of their own language. Literary taste in the keen appreciation of beautiful words is common to a high percentage of the Maori people. The Maori is famed as an orator. That accomplishment issues from the fact that the art of speech and the adequate mastery of speech is a recognised and valued attainment of the Maori people. An ancient literary practice which has we fear, fallen into disuse, was the game of finding how many synonyms could be stated for a given word.

All these things denote the fact that language in its comprehensiveness and fullness and beauty is one of the treasured possessions of the Maori race and the cornerstone of Maoritanga. A decadent people are likely to have a decadent language. A people who are vital and full of progress are sure to esteem and develop the language which supplies the tool-kit of thought, which conveys what is their individual racial personality in the words and expressions which have been evolved to give utterance to their particular thought and aspiration as no other words can do.

We are well aware of the fact that there are some things which we can say in Maori much more effectively than they can be said in English. These, of course, are Maori matters and require Maori language for their description. It has been well said that the language is the shrine of a people's soul, and however much need there may be, as is true of the present Maori situation, that a people should have a competent knowledge of another language, should they lose their own tongue they have lost the most sacred inward shrine of their being. Maoritanga is the realisation of these things and the valuing of the most sacred heritage of the Maori person and race, his language, and the Maori certainly has in his language a treasure of which he may well be proud.

I recall the present Bishop of Aotearoa quoting some lines from a Maori song in welcoming the Rev T. G. Niles at Turangawaewae Pa, Ngaruawahia, last year, and then stating: “that is as fine poetry as anything in Shakespeare if it could be adequately translated”, and there is no doubt whatever that both in its prose and in its poetry the Maori language has attained expression of a very high and beautiful order. Part of the action of Maoritanga undoubtedly is the realisation and revaluation of the things that are distinctively Maori, and outstanding in that category is the language, which is the very breath of the Maori soul.

Allied to language as an elementary fact of the racial entity designated Maoritanga is the art of the race, evidenced generally in carving, weaving and reed work. Just like language, this is an emanation of the mind, an expression of the inner self. It is surely notable that the Maori people, who had never had the fortune to dwell in a country where metal could be developed and who were therefore limited to stone tools—wherewith tree felling, canoe fashioning and house building had to be carried out with great labour—were not content to create things of mere utility, but in those untoward circumstances lavished art on carved prows and stern posts of the ocean canoe and on the door posts of the tribal houses, and developed the arts of weaving and beautiful reed work.

This art and the appreciation of it is surely inherently an article of Maoritanga. These are the accomplishments which are indigenous to the race, and which are the utterance of its very self. And if perchance we encounter at times some members of the race living in very unaesthetic circumstances, it should be manifest that this is not a feature of the true-to-type Maori life that spontaneously gave birth to carving and art in spite of great handicaps, but that it is the degeneration consequent on the inpact of pakeha civilisation on the life of the Maori.

And because the Maori has innate within him an appreciation of art and beauty, true Maoridom must always regret any members of the race finding need, or voluntarily choosing to live in slum conditions and the spirit of Maoridom should lead every informed member of the race to labour with devotion for the full recovery of the artistic temperament hereditary to the race.

The third feature of Maoritanga which requires emphasis is the fact that the Maori is a social being, that his life is community life, that he is gregarious, that grouping is to him the very blood of life. Because the Maori is a community being, isolation is to him most forlorn and totally frustrating. For the same reason he is a team worker. All the work and undertakings of a Maori community were done by the team effort called “ohu”. Realising that Maori life is community life it should be easy to understand the spontaneous and abundant nature of Maori hospitality. True-to-type Maoris do not live entirely for themselves, nor yet even in a primary way to promote the advantage of their individual family, but to seek for the welfare of the whole tribe; and because a communal person loves to have others about him, and because as true community people Maoris delight in giving service to the community, hospitality is to the Maori an exaltation and a delight. He has no regrets if he spends on his guests the abundance which we would think should be retained for the more assured sustenance of his immediate dependants.

All those who become intimately acquainted with Maori life are impressed with the delicate etiquette of true Maori deportment. That, of course, is a characteristic of people whose values and outlook are those of community. The untutored Pakeha is apt to transgress much Maori etiquette simply because he is an individualist and is not trained as the Maori to think in terms of community rather than of self. But the Maori sense of community is more than the embracing of the living and immediate community. It is community with the long and storied past as well as with the present environment. At every great gathering of the Maori people the songs of the long past are sung and genealogies that relate to far away generations and inter-relate living people with ancestors of the dim and distant past are recited. It is not merely that the Maori has a better historic sense than the average Pakeha. His community life stretches back over the centuries and unites him with the whole cavalcade of his race. Try to make him a Pakeha and a mere individualist and you have stripped him, like some plant, of every leaf and flower-bud and left him with a gaunt and naked stem. Because Maori life is community life the village courtyard, the marae, is its true centre. Because European life is based on the family unit, the hearth is the centre of life. Because Maori life and all its outlook and values is a community entity, the marae is its centre. There the people meet and find their deepest satisfaction in being together. As they say, “Ko te kite atu, Ko te kite mai”: just to see one another, just to be together, just to have the joy of propinquity.

Of course, in pre-European times, before the pressures of our civilization dispersed the Maori people from the communal basis of life to the extent that they have been dispersed, the whole life of the people was centred on the marae, and the marae and its tribal house were the parliament of the people as well as the vessels of community life. For the most part the Maori today can only resort on occasion to the gathering on the marae and find there the satisfaction of his essentially communal being. On the marae still the Maori people take counsel together to grapple with the problems which beset them and to legislate for themselves. There are still many Maoris more ready to contribute liberally to the construction of the tribal house than to spend money on improving their individual living conditions.

The oratory of the Maori stems from the fact that he is a man of community, and the man whose setting is communal and who wishes to count in any way in the life of a community must be vocal and develop the powers of impressive speech. The Maori marae, the Maori language and Maori oratory are an inseparable trinity and lie very close to the heart of Maoridom. As long as the true community spirit and life of the Maori is retained, the Maori marae will have its place; and the only language possible to the marae is the Maori speech, because the marae is the central setting of true Maori life and the Maori language is the utterance of that life. The Maori hui on the Maori marae is the saviour of the Maori language because it is unthinkable to run a true Maori meeting otherwise than in the Maori setting and in the Maori tongue. Seeing that the European is so largely an individualist and the Maori so essentially a person of community, it should be axiomatic that the Maori has a different sense of values from the Pakeha. What the Pakeha impatiently calls the Maori's waste of time and money is to the Maori satisfaction and true value because through it he has satisfied himself with the pleasures of community, delighting himself in the abundance of company and the multitude of guests, having gotten therefrom what to him is the best return for the expenditure of his time and money.

Perhaps the totally different rhythm of Maori life from that of the Pakeha arises in its essence from the same essential difference of emphasis in the two races. It is not only that the Maori has a different time sense from the Pakeha but the whole rhythm of characteristerically Maori life is different from that of the characteristically Pakeha life. You can arrange a function to be just right from the Pakeha standpoint; but if the arrangements are to be operated in a Maori community they are likely to be quite out of tune and unsuitable. The way of going about things, the order in which they are done, the etiquette that is attendant thereupon, the manner that is fitting all these are part of Maoridom, as much part of the Maori as the hue of his skin, the raven locks of his hair, and the brown of his eyes. To force the Maori into a pattern which utterly disregards these factors of his being is to bind frustration upon him like bands of iron.

The fourth and very central feature of Maoritanga is the religious nature of the Maori. The whole of ancient Maori life turned upon the poles of religion. Nothing was undertaken without resort to appropriate karakie and religious observances. The crops were sown and planted with due regard to the dieties; they were gathered again with the same religious expression. Nothing was undertaken without resort to the “tuahu”, the shrine of the tribe. The sense of the divine remains instinctive to the Maori mind. Subjected as they are to the competition of sects and creeds, it is not to be wondered that the Maori people have an infinite number of religious affiliations; but there are certainly few Maoris with no religios affiliations. Just as surely as the Maori needs bright hues for the satisfaction of his sense of colour, so does he need not only the aid of God but the constant realization of the underlying presence of God as a primary fact of life. He is destroyed with loneliness if he has to live in isolation from men, and he is likewise lonely if he is cut off from the fellowship of the Supreme Being.

The community life of the Maori is built round the concept of the divine. It can truly be said of the ancient Maori that he lived and moved and had his being in his gods. All his activity was god orientated, and that remains his hereditary psychology. The strongest force in Maori life was the law of tapu. The sanctions and regulations of society were built upon it and tapu, of course, was the effluence of the gods. It is an impoverishing thing for a Pakeha to be without God; it is a devastating thing for a Maori. The retention of vital religion is as necessary to the survival of Maoritanga as is the Maori language, the Maori arts and crafts, and the Maori sense of community.

(to be continued next issue)

Wallace Tako and his sheep.
(Photo: John Ashton)

Ngati Porou Farmer SAW THE WORLD

by MEL TAYLOR

From the remote lands of the Ngati Porou tribe, dominated by majestic Mt. Hikurangi, to the gay capitals of Europe and America, and to the teeming cities of the East was the recent thrill-packed journey of Mr Warihi Tako, East Coast sheep farmer.

Mr Tako is well known to the “Ngatis” as “the Lion Man” or “Maori Millionaire.” He comes from Waiomatatini—the settlement famed as the home of the late Sir Apirana Ngata. Reputed to be New Zealand's wealthiest Maori, he is sheepfarming in a big way.

The round-the-world trip whetted his travel appetite. When he arrived home he felt that he might make a trip to Australia about next Eastertime. Also, he had a hankering to go big game hunting in India.

It is 46 years now since, as a seventeen year-old lad, Mr Tako started breaking in virgin land. It was hard work. There followed long years of toil, working his way up to his present status in a class with the country's most substantial sheep men.

One of the Lion Man's best known characteristics is the fact that he does not like to spruce up—even on trips to Gisborne.

Formal education finished for him at standard two. “For the rest,” he says, “I let nature take its course.”

During both world wars Mr Tako helped finance entertainments for many Maori servicemen. As another social service he helps with the expenses for Maori meetings.

While in Dublin on his recent trip he bought a 900-guinea racehorse. He hadn't intended buying that horse—he just saw it at the Dublin Horse Show, thought it looked a good yearling, and bought it.

Also, while overseas he bought some watches. He found the idea of having to set his watch to different times in various parts of the world too confusing. So, as well as his New Zealand watch, he bought one in London and one in Switzerland, hoping that one at least would give him the right time, but when he arrived in Auckland all three were wrong.

Mr Tako had had the travel urge for a long time. Finally he decided to go overseas at Coronation time, leaving Wellington last May. He flew to Sydney, where he stayed a week and then to Singapore for another week. Then, with stops at Ceylon, Bombay, Karachi

Drafting at Wallace Tako's station near Ruatoria.

For the Coronation procession he had a third-storey window seat. When he could not actually see the procession he could watch it on television. The millions of people milling around London that day made an impressive contrast in Mr Tako's mind to the isolated East Coast settlements.

Just before the Coronation procession arrived it was announced that the New Zealander, Edmund Hillary, had climbed Mt. Everest. At this, the people nearby patted the Maori visitor on the head.

In the days following the Coronation he went to garden parties at Buckingham Palace and to the races at Ascot. New Zealand House arranged for these visits.

He spent about a month in London doing the sights. During that time he spent a memorable day with Lord and Lady Bledisloe. A Scottish tour followed, inlcuding visits to Edinburgh and Aberdeen. After that he returned to London before flying to Paris for four days.

At New Zealand House in Paris, the Charge D'Affaires, Miss Jean McKenzie, showed him the teko teko which once belonged to Titokowaru, famous Maori fighting chief. Miss McKenzie got the carvings and some historical papers from a French museum and intended sending them back to New Zealand.

From Paris he entrained for Berne, Switzerland. After that there was a whirl of Continental travel, including Zurich (three days), Hanover, Berlin, Brussels and Rotterdam. Then back to England and over to Ireland, where he went on tour before returning to England. From London he flew to New York (four days), Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Coming home he flew to Honolulu, where he stayed a week with a well-known Maori minister, the Rev Manu Bennett.

While in France and America Mr Tako was often asked how it was that in New Zealand a native had been able to prosper as he had. His reply was “the Treaty of Waitangi”, under which the Maori people were guaranteed the right to their lands.

KEEP THEM
AT SCHOOL

Last March the Department of Maori Affairs started its “Keep them at School” campaign in Maori communities. All Tribal Committees and Executives were told, through the Welfare Officers, that the Government would in future subsidize moneys for educational purposes. Students' clothes, books and equipment, travelling expenses and part of the school board charges have all become eligible for subsidies under the Maori Social and Economic Advancement Act.

Previously the government had encouraged scholarship funds only on a national basis, such as the Ngarimu Scholarship which may be held by any Maori in the country. This ensured that the money went to the ablest, wherever they might live.

The Maoris are, however, in rather special circumstances. As matters stand, every Maori boy or girl who reaches school certificate standard represents an important gain in the struggle for progress. Better education means better jobs, better homes and often also better lives. Now there is no doubt that lack of money often abruptly ends the education of a very promising boy or girl. It may be fees, or books, or clothing that have to be bought at a moment when the money is just not available. What then?

Maori leaders have long felt that the only answer to that question lies in local help given by the tribal organizations. It had often been said that if tribal organizations had the means to help children and parents over such difficult moments, far more Maori students would get a good secondary and even a university education. For this reason the Government was asked to subsidize moneys raised by tribal committees and executives for educational purposes.

This was not an easy decision to make. Where public money is spent, there should be safeguards against abuse—not only by strong, monied groups but also by individual families on behalf of their own children. The Government nevertheless decided to give the scheme a chance. The first year's programme is a cautious one, the amount of subsidy allocated to this scheme being limited to £2,000. If the scheme proves a practical one, this amount may be increased later. The £2,000 is to be

allocated to Maori Land Court Districts on a population basis.

To the committees and executives this is an important new responsibility. It is now for them to see that as many children as possible stay at school. All their influence must be exerted to see that boys and girls do not leave school until their education is properly finished. That is the most important thing. But there is also the practical side to attend to: the department has stipulated that all money raised by the local organizations for this scheme must come from voluntary and combined efforts of the people themselves. Money-raising functions have to be held. Once the funds are collected all the wisdom and experience of local leaders will be needed to distribute the grants to the most deserving cases and in prudent amounts.

WHIRIWHIRIA E NGA MAORI KATOA
(THE CHOICE OF THE MAORI)

Sells so fast because it's always FRESH!

KINDERGARTEN
FOR OPARURE

by Rora Paki

Children playing with toys of proven educational value at the Oparure kindergarten
sponsored by the Maori Women's Welfare League. (Photo: Desgranges).

It all began at the conference of Maori Women's Welfare Leagues, held at Auckland in 1952, through an address by the Senior Inspector of Maori Schools, Mr W. Parsonage. After giving much good, sound advice, which must have touched every mother's heart, Mr Parsonage said: “We cannot teach children who are absent, we are not clever enough for that. This is something you mothers can do—get your children to school every school day and keep them healthy so that they miss as few days as possible. Self help is a great thing. We have not got a Maori kindergarten on record. Review the situation in your own districts.”

This was where our little “kindy” had its origin. The delegates came home weary but happy, to sort out their notes, and in doing so, live again the hours at conference. So it was, that our little branch heard about the idea of a “kindy”, at the very first meeting after conference, amid much laughter and joking.

“Fancy us attempting to start a Kindy!” More laughter and speculation, while the delegates put forward all the pros and cons. Impossible!

The poor delegate could not even raise a seconder, and so the whole idea was dropped. But later, when the opportunity arose, it was again put before the little branch, and again brought forth much laughter and speculation.

At last the delegate, like the importunate widow of the parable, prevailed, and it was decided that the “Kindy” should operate every Wednesday until interest could be aroused and then it could operate on Fridays, and so allow mothers to go to town unencumbered, for the weekend shopping. A sum of money was allotted to the “teacher” for the purchase of any necessities such as a first-aid kit, comprising bandages, scissors, burn salve, mercurochrome, acriflavin, cotton wool, lint, peroxide, and optulle dressings and several types of sticking plaster, etc., a huge coloured ball, the envy of all the primary children, and some pretty coloured stickers—not much to start a “kindy” with, but it was enough.

Then the news was spread around the district,

and a rosy future was predicted as, one by one, parents of all potential pupils were duly contacted, with usually the same response: “Oh yes! It's a jolly good idea, but I'm sure my Petsy and Swanee will be far too shy to attend.”

But “teacher” not to be easily daunted, contrived a way of overcoming this difficulty. Had she not nine children of her own? Had she not noticed, when passing in her dilapidated old truck— “Bluebird” —how the tiny tots waved and screeched with glee? To be sure! Here was the solution to all the shyness! Here was adventure, as she sallied forth in “Bluebird” with her own lusty five-year old son and his two sturdy pals from neighbours on either side of her, who were given leave to sing and yell as much as they wished, as they rattled down the road to the first port of call.

There, two little ones were all combed and ready, as mother had been warned by phone. The three little leaders do their part gallantly as they issue loud invitations to “Come for a ride!” whereat the newcomers are promptly deposited onto “Bluebird” with “teacher” taking no apparent notice. So they rattle on to the next port of call, to repeat the process, then the return journey, and a call at the school for isn't the head teacher always helpful? A quick explanation and request for help and guidance gladly given, an appeal for any “discarded blackboards” and odd coloured chalks for a start, and on the way again.

Home reached, happy games of ball, ring-a-ring-a-rosy, etc., then hand-washing drill, then sitting up around the table to sing “grace” and enjoy lunch with lots of happy chatter. Then a huge pile of old “Exporters” and “Agriculture” magazines were produced, and three pairs of scissors, and so followed a happy hour of cutting out, with now and again loud demands of “this is my chooky” or “this is my tractor”. Then the books were packed up and all cuttings put into a box for later use, and out they ran for a game of ball and races.

Then the coloured chalk is produced and the pieces of blackboard, and “teacher” draws a lovely fat cat, and little eyes goggle at such a clever “teacher”. Then all are encoureged to “try their hand,” and incidentally, many cats were to find their way onto doors and walls at home, as mother was confronted with a decisive “I can make a cat”. Then a walk down to the calf-pen to see the young ‘mooloos” and a sing-song round the piano until the arrival of the “primaries” announced that it was “home time”. And so a quick face and hand wash and scrambling onto “Bluebird” with the group increased by all the nearby “primaries” screeching and yelling as the “school bus” delivers its cargo, after which “teacher” dashes home to prepare a late tea and gather up all the bits and pieces, smiling happily at the success of her first “kindy” day.

There have been many such happy days, all much alike. With a roll of ten, our little “Kindy” has a bright future. They are all a bright little band and how they love “kindy”. It's well worth all the effort, and our league members are very keen on the projector. When crutching time came along the men's smoko and dinner were delivered to the shed by “teacher” on “Bluebird”, all complete with “Kindy”. This is enough fun to make any little heart flutter.

Trips to the creek to see the frogs go “plock plock” and to be allowed to drop pebbles into the water are such fun. Everyone is made to feel “wanted” and kept occupied at the usual routine, with a rest period, which was kindly advised by an ex-kindergarten teacher who was visiting our head master and came along to visit us.

Three of our group have come of age, and gone off to primary school and there are still some more to join in and there are lots of difficulties, but we are not going to worry—we have a “kindy” and we did it all ourselves and we're happy!

Little lives can be moulded and prepared for their part in the great game of life. When the time comes, we may apply for departmental aid, but we will have the satisfaction of knowing that we helped ourselves, and we did all the spade work on our own initiative. We are treating each child according to its own nature; some are bright, others gentle, sensitive reticent or shy. There is also Sammy, the saddest case of all—for he is deaf and dumb. But he is not unhappy—far from it. He claims “teacher's” special attention, and gets it, too, and the others are taught to love and consider him always. His only remark is “goo goo!” for everything, but does he love “kindy”? I'll say he does! So come along you league women! Open up your hearts and say “Let's have a kindergarten!”

Na Eruera Nepia tenei korero he mea tango
mai i te pukapuka a Kawana Kerei—Nga Mahi
a Nga Tupuna.

Ka kimi a Mani i ona matna

Ko wai koutou kahore ano kia rongo ki nga kupu mo te tangata nei mo Maui? Nana nei hoki i here te ra, kia ata haere ai, ia ra, ia ra; nana ano hoki i huhuti ake te ika e kiia nei e tatou ko Te Ika A Maui; a, nana i whai ahi ai tatou, he mea tiki nana i tona tipuna, i a Mahuika, te ahi pumau mo ake tonu atu.

Na, ko Maui te tamaiti whakamutunga a Makea Tutara raua ko tona hoa wahine ko Taranga. Tokorima ona tuakana, a, kotahi o ratou he wahine. I te whanautanga o Maui, kihai i pirangi tona whaea ki a ia. Te ahua nei i pohehe a Taranga i whanau mate mai tana tamaiti. Katahi ka whiua e ia tana potiki ki te moana. Engari ka pa te aroha ki te hunga o te moana, a hopukina ana e ratou ka paea e nga tai ki te one. I konei ka kitea e tona tipuna e Tama-nui-ki-te-rangi, ka haria e ia ki tona whare. Nana i whakatipu te tamaiti nei, a, nana hoki i ako ki te waiata, ki te haka, ki te whakapapa, me etahi atu akoranga.

Ka pakeke haere a Maui, ka tae mai ki a ia te hiahia kia kite i ona tuakana, a, i ona matua hoki. Na tona tipuna whangai i whakaatu ki a ia ki wai ona tuakana. Na, i tetahi po, ka whakakite a ia ki ona tuakana, a, ka patai, “Ko wai o koutou matua, a, kei hea e noho ana?” Ka ki mai ratou kahore ratou e mohio.

Ka mea atu a ia ki a ratou, “Maku e kimi”. Ka kata mai ona tuakana ki a ia. Auatu, i tetahi po, ka whai a Maui i ona tuakana ki te wharenui. He haka, he waiata hoki nga mahi i taua po. I reira ka kite a ia i a Taranga. Mohio tonu a ia ko tona whaea tenei, engari kahore te wahine nei i aro mai ki a ia.

Ka huna a Maui i muri tata tonu i ona tuakana. No te tataunga o Taranga i ana tamariki, tokorima ke ratou, kahore i tokowha. Kat-

ahi ano a ia ka kite i a Maui. Ka patai a ia, “Ko wai koe” Ka tu a Maui, ka whakamarama ki a Taranga. Timataia e ia tana korero mai rano i te wa i whanau ai a ia, a, tae noa ki te kitenga a tona tipuna a Tama-nui-ki-te-rangi i a ia.

Ka tuohu te matenga o Taraanga, notemea he tika nga korero a te tamaiti nei. Ka tangi a ia, ka mutu ka ki a ia, “He tika, ko koe toku whakamutunga. Ko te ingoa mou, ko Mauitikitiki-a-Taranga”. Hopukina mai e ia tona potiki kia moe i tona taha.

Te ohonga ake o Maui i te awatea, kua ngaro ke tona whaea. Penei tonu ia ra, ia ra. Po iho ano ka tae mai a Taranga, a, ao ake te ra, ka haere. Ko Maui kei te whiriwhiri me pehea ra e kitea ai e ia te kainga o tona whaea i te awatea. Na, i tetahi po, ka takoto nohopuku a ia i te taha o tona whaea. Whanga rawa a ia kia moe katoa a Taranga ratou ko ona tuakana, a, ka matika a ia. Ka whakapurupurua e Maui nga matata o te whare, te matapihi te tatau, kia kore ai e uru mai te maramatanga, ina whiti te ra. Hunaia ano hoki e ia nga kakahu o Taranga.

Haere, haere, a, whiti noa te ra. Ka oho ake a Taranga, ka titiro. Ha, e pouri tonu ana. Ka whakarongo a ia, ka rongo i nga tutu o te ao marama, i te tangi o te manu, me etahi atu. Ka whakatika a ia, ka kimi i ona kakahu. Kore rawa i kitea. Ka huakina e ia te tatau, ka oma. Ko Maui kei muri tonu e konihi haere ana. Ka tae a Taranga ki tetahi pu wiwi, ka tangohia e ia. Na, he rua i raro i taua pu. Te hekenga atu o Taranga ki roto i taua rua, ngaro tonu atu.

Te hokinga mai o Maui ki ona tuakana ka ki atu a ia ki a ratou e haere ana a ia ki te rapu i te kainga o ona matua. Ka whakaahua a ia ia i a ia ki te ahua o te kereru, a, ka whakamiharo ona tuakana ki a ia. Ka rere a Maui, ka tae ki te pupu wiwi ra, ka tangohia e ia, a, ka heke a ia ki roto i te rua.

Ka roa e rere ana a ia, ka kite i tetahi whenua hou, atahua hoki. I konei ka kite ia i te rangapu tangata, i raro i nga rakau manapau, e noho ana, a, e takoto ana hoki. Ko tona whaea tana i whai ai, a, kitea ana e ia. Na reira ka tau a ia ki runga i te rakau i runga ake i a Taranga. He tane tona hoa. Mohio tonu a Maui ko tona matua tane tenei.

Katahi a Maui katango i tetahi o nga hua o te rakau nei, ka tukuna e ia kia taka ki runga i tona matua tane. Kahore te tangata ra i korikori. Engari no te takanga mai ano o tetahi hua, ka titiro ake a ia, ka kite i te manu. Ka timata ona hoa ki te haepa kohatu ki te manu ra. Kore rawa i pa. No te roanga, ka whakataka a Maui i a ia, ano nei kua mamae. Engari tau ana ia ki te whenua, tu mai ana, ehara i te manu, engari he tangata. Ka titiro a Taranga, engari kahore i tino mohio ko wai o ana tamariki tenei. Ka patapatai ia i a Maui, a, tae mai ana ki ona whakaaro, e, ko Mauitikitiki-a-Taranga tenei.

Ka mutu nga whakamarama ki tona matua tane, ka haria a Maui ki te wai o tona papa, kia tohia, kia pai ai hoki tana noho i te whenua tapu nei. I muri mai i tenei, ka hoki ia ki ona tuakana a, whakaaturia ana e ia nga mea katoa.

Ka koa nga ngakau o te katoa, notemea kua kitea e Maui o ratou matua, me to raua kainga noho hoki.

A Polynesian Queen whose
DREAM CAME TRUE

by KAATA

In the words of Crown Prince Tungi, Premier, and heir to the Sovereign, Queen Salote, the visit of Her Britannic Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to the Pacific kingdom of Tonga, was “a dream come true”. It would not be out of place to say that the visit of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to that engaging coral strand was for the 50,000 subjects who give their allegiance to two Queens the most notable event in their history.

An interlude in the Commonwealth tour, Queen Elizabeth's visit was, in a sense, a return of compliments. Queen Salote represented her Pacific realm at Queen Elizabeth's Coronation in June last year, and London's rain on that historic day, and Queen Salote's imperturbable smile which challenged the cold and discomfort, won her an immediate place in the hearts of millions of Englishmen.

Tonga returned similar recognition and affection when Queen Elizabeth landed at Nukualofa wharf on December 19 last—amid a shower of rain! It was a tropical shower and soon passed, but eyes opened wide and broad smiles appeared as the coincidence became so obvious to those who gathered to watch first the meeting and then the progress to the malae of the two Sovereigns.

In some contrast to the reaction of the Fijians to whom strict silence while in the presence of a superior is the greatest sign of respect, the Tongans showed a more responsive Polynesian strain in their welcome to the Queen beyond the seas. They cheered vociferously on the slightest provocation, but in their enthusiasm never allowed their emotions to gain control—except when tears came to the eyes of some old folk as they watched their own Queen walk

Typical thatch buildings on Queen Salote's estate form background to traditional entertainment (NPS Photograph).

It had been Queen Salote's intention that Queen Elizabeth's visit to one of the smallest British protectorates should as far as possible give her guests an opportunity to relax, and in spite of the damp heat, that intention was largely fulfilled. The Queen and the Duke, it can be said, enjoyed extremely and even looked forward to the air of the improbable which surrounded the programme for their entertainment.

On their first night in Nukualofa—Queen Salote's wooden Palace was given over entirely to her guests—the Royal party watched and enthused over a series of hula dances given in their honour at the residence of the British agent and consul, Mr J. E. Windrum. Here Her Majesty bestowed on Queen Salote the Grand Cross of the Victorian Order.

The failure of the electric lighting system at this party amused the Royal guests, and the fact that the Minister of Police, who lived next door, felt sufficiently satisfied about his security arrangements to give a party of his own, was rather typical of life in the Friendly Isles.

And at some time during that night, under a lovely tropical moon, as near full as it could be, Queen Salote's silver band marched through Nukualofa and played ‘Rule Britannia’ until nigh on the point of exhaustion. Only the reappearance of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke prevented more repetition and the cheers from the crowd of waiting people drowned and submerged the by now really plaintive music.

Queen Elizabeth and the Duke might well have likened their visit to the kingdom of Tonga to a modern fairy tale—just as many actually did. They slept in a palace which had been built by New Zealand contractors, and they saw in the grounds a tortoise authentically said to have been brought to Tonga by Captain Cook. In any event it looked its age, and it and its keepers were much photographed by the visiting Queen.

Moonlight bathed the island and clad the sea in shimmering silver, and around the palace, which has as its only normal protection a coral wall 3ft. high, a night vigil was mounted by voluntary guards, who sat in groups of four over little flickering camp fires.

At dawn, four nose flautists—amid other noises of the morning—began their gentle wailing. To play a primitive flute with the nose is a fast-dying art in Tonga, and Queen Salote's secretary, who is also keeper of the records, had the utmost difficulty in finding three other enthusiasts to join him.

The visiting Queen watched a programme of posture and action dances of exceptional vigour, quality and grace. These followed more the Fijian style with the exception of one importation from Samoa, in which women and young maidens sat on the ground and moved from position to position with hand actions and song. But the beaters found a hollow log drum in-

sufficient to express adequately their enthusiasm in rhythm and quickly requisitioned an old rusty, empty oil drum. (See our photograph.)

The Duke was quick to notice the improvement in the volume of noise and delightedly pointed out the instrument to Queen Elizabeth. Queen Salote merely smiled and gestured as though to agree with everyone that the substitution was acceptable. Then to the feast, where 3000 guests sat cross-legged in rows 150 yards long and faced 2000 roast sucking-pigs, chickens, lobsters, yams, and other Tongan foodstuffs, with coconut milk to wash them down. It was a novel experience for Queen Elizabeth and the Duke who sat on cushions, but, unlike the other guests, they used knives and forks, and drank from glasses. Thus did a peaceful people entertain the crowned head of the Commonwealth.

The modern kingdom of Tonga came into existence in 1845 with the consolidation of the widespread island group by King George Tubou I, whose far-sighted work, particularly in regard to land titles and security of tenure, was even further improved upon by his successor, King George Tubou II. The latter died in 1918, and at the age of 18 Queen Salote came to the Tongan throne.

Queen Salote was born on March 13, 1900, and was married at the age of 17 to Prince Tungi, who later became premier. He died in 1942 and the premiership is now held by the Queen's eldest son, who has also been given the mane of Tungi.

Early in her reign Queen Salote strove to unify her kingdom of about 150 islands and coral islets scattered over 270 square miles of Pacific Ocean. One of her main endeavours has been to combine two rival religious bodies whose disputes drove a wedge among her people. Her efforts have been largely successful, and today she is the head of the Wesleyan Free Church of Tonga.

QUEEN SALOTE
(Press Feature Service, Sydney)

It was on December 3, 1945, that the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the kingdom was worthily celebrated, and Queen Salote's first official act that day was to grant clemency to seven prisoners. To five she granted free pardons, while the other two had sentences of life imprisonment reduced to 10-year terms. On that day, too, she was made a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire. During the celebrations the guns of the battery presented to Tonga by the British Government in honour of the centennial fired their first salute. The same guns boomed when Queen Elizabeth II of England set foot on Tongan soil for the first time.

Capital of the Tongan kingdom is Nukualofa, which is on the main island of Tongatabu. At the head of the State is Queen Salote with her Privy Councillors and the Cabinet. The law-making body is the Legislative Assembly, which comprises the Privy Councillors, seven nobles elected by their peers, and seven representatives elected by the people. The casual eye will see in the Tongan Government the semblance of a working democracy, but it is still very much a Royal Family affair with wholehearted faith and belief in an adherence to the word of the Queen.

Every male Tongan of 21 years of age who pays taxes and can read and write is qualified to vote at the three-yearly elections. Parliament meets each year, usually in the cooler June month and its session lasts about 30 days. Every Tongan-born subject, on reaching the age of 16, is entitled to an allotment of 8 ¼ acres of land mainly because of the insistence of King George Tubou I and of his successors that the land is the inheritance and the birth-right of the people. A much bigger increase in population would, without doubt, compel a review of these existing land laws.

With the advent of Wesleyan missionaries in 1826 came the first school in Tonga. Indeed, missionaries have played a vital part in Tonga's government for many years. Education is compulsory for all Tongan children and is free in State schools. There are at present 70 Government and 60 mission primary schools, at which more than 10,000 pupils attend. There are also Government and mission secondary schools in the education system.

All Tongans receive free medical attention and throughout the island kingdom district nurses and temporary medical practitioners care for the population's health.

There are no railways in Tonga, but there are about 60 miles of coral road in Tongatabu, and 18 miles in Vavau suitable for most traffic. Queen Salote has the most modern car in the kingdom, and it was purchased specially for the visit of Queen Elizabeth. Crown Prince Tungi and his brother Prince Tuipelehake ride in a modern car of the same make as many of London's taxicabs.

Tonga, unlike New Zealand, has a written Constitution. Unique in this is the declaration: The Sabbath Day shall be sacred in Tonga for ever, and it shall not be lawful to do work or play games or trade on the Sabbath. And any agreement made or document witnessed on this day shall be counted void and shall not be recognised by the Government. The law in this respect is strictly observed.

To the visitor the most unusual sight in Nukualofa is a grassed area not far from the Royal Palace. This is the site of the tombs of the two former rulers—King George I and King George II. Both tombs are of white marble with typically ornate Victorian decoration. But around them is a nine-hole golf course! Probably nowhere else in the world will be found a similar setting. Prince Tungi is credited with the innovation, and is said to have played the first ball over the course.

By and large the Friendly Isles—justifiably named by Captain Cook—have not been touched by the assault of influences from the western world. Clocks are but ornaments; the kingdom is unspoiled by the frenzy of modern exertion; it basks in a wonderful climate, it enjoys prosperity, and above all is ruled by a gracious, erect and dignified Queen who in her relationship with her people is more like a mother to them all than a monarch.

She is well-loved, approachable and sincere. She belongs to her people. She is Tonga.

The Queen entertains Lord and Lady Freyberg at a feast during their visit to Tonga in 1948. (NPS Photograph)

Three Tongan girls (NPS Photograph)

Heir to the throne is Crown Prince Tungi—named Taufaahau at birth in 1918—who has the blood of three lines of Tongan kings in his veins. So has Queen Salote herself. In the days when fables began Tongan legend says a god came down to earth by a tree so tall that it pierced the heavens. He came to visit his earthly bride. The son she bore was the first of the Tui Tonga—the Sacred Kings of Tonga. They reigned for 38 generations until 1865, but for long centuries the actual cares of government were in other hands.

Of the earlier generations of Tongan Sacred Kings little is known, but they have left impressive memorials of themselves in eastern Tongatabu. Tradition tells of a king who, fearing assassination, sat with his back to a stone, while with a long staff he kept a space cleared about him. The ‘Leaning-against Stone’ still stands, and nearby is the famous but mysterious trilithon named Haamonga which, tradition again says, was set up by a king who declared he would make posterity wonder at their purpose and plan. He has had his desire.

Not far away are the tombs of the early kings, huge mounds faced with terraces of stones, beautifully worked and set accurately in place.

As the centuries unfolded the 1300's saw a Tongan king conquer part of Samoa and later be driven out. In the fifteenth century a Tongan king was murdered and his son embarked on a wide ocean search for the assassins, at last capturing and slaying them. Wearied of strife he kept for himself the honours and pleasures of supreme kingship, but entrusted the cares of State to a junior branch of his house, the Haa (clan) Takalaua. Henceforth there were two kings—the Sacred King (Tui Tonga) and the Ruling King (Tui Haa Takalaua), whose daughter was married to the Sacred King to bear him a successor.

The Sacred and the Ruling kings were in time overshadowed by a new power arising in western Tongatabu: the head of the house of Heart-of-Upolu, Tui Kanokupolu. So high became the prestige of these western chiefs that their daughters replaced the daughters of the Ruling kings as principal wives and mothers of Sacred Kings, and by the end of the eighteenth century the Tui Kanokupolu were effective rulers of the entire Tongan group.

In remarkable fashion and through all these changes the royal sanctity of the Sacred King was unimpaired and scrupulously observed by rulers and people.

The spread of Christian missions, however, gradually diminished the declining influence of the Sacred Kings of Tonga, and when in 1865 the Sacred King died no successor was installed,

(Continued on page 64)

MEMORIAL TO THE LATE
SIR PETER BUCK

The memorial to the late Sir Peter Buck (Te Rangihiroa) at Okoki Pa near Urenui, Taranaki, will be unveiled about the end of July. The ashes will be ceremonially conveyed from Wellington to Taranaki. In keeping with Maori custom, calls are likely to be made en route at Otaki and at Putiki, Wanganui.

In commenting on the memorial itself, the Minister of Maori Affairs, the Hon. E. B. Corbett, stated that it was as striking and original in its conception as was the career of the man whose memory it perpetuates. It is composed of three elements—a vault to contain the ashes, a platform joining the vault and the memorial feature, and the memorial feature itself, the main axis of which points to the northwest, in the direction of the sea and ‘Te Rerenga Wairua’, the traditional departing place of the spirits. Deriving its inspiration from the canoe prow, and symbolising the forward vision of Sir Peter and of the race from which he sprang, the memorial feature cantilevers forward to a height of about 45 feet above the fround and about 20 feet above the level of the raised hill fortification upon which the memorial will rest. It is the site of an old fighting pa, with level ground behind, and overlooks land falling steeply to the Mangatiti stream. The hill is covered in native bush. The memorial feature is pierced by an elongated opening, the design of which is derived from Maori carving. A memorial plaque will be placed on the forward slopes of the hill feature directly beneath the memorial.

The structure is being built of reinforced concrete, faced with coloured plaster. In the use of colours, reliance has been placed to a considerable extent on the colours used in traditional Maori decoration. The rib supporting the memorial feature will be white, the enclosed panel terracotta and the platform and vault a slate grey. Against the background of bush, the white and terracotta colours should make a striking display and should be clearly visible from the main New Plymouth-Auckland road, which runs at right angles to the axis of the memorial, one third of a mile away.

The celebrations will take place at Waitara and Urenui. The estimated cost of the memorial is £2,200 and by the end of May approximately £1,860 in promises and cash had been contributed by the Maori people as the result of an appeal made last year. It would be to the credit of the Maori people if the whole of ‘the £2,200 was met before the memorial is actually unveiled. All contributions should be sent to the Maori Trustee, Wellington, who is acting as banker.

It is hoped to discuss at this hui, the creation of an educational fund to honour the memories of both Sir Peter Buck and Sir Apirana Ngata.

Prayers are read at the unveiling of the Sir Peter Buck Memorial Cairn at Urenui Domain last August.
(Crago Studios Photograph.)

LOYAL ADDRESS TRANSLATED

After Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had read her address to her Maori people at Arawa Park, Rotorua, the Rt. Rev. W. N. Panapa, Bishop of Aotearoa, read a translation of this address into the Maori language. This translation, prepared by Mr. Kepa Ehau, is a fine piece of Maori oratory and is here presented in its entirely, together with some previously unpublished photographs of the great occassion. The Queen's address in English appeared in the last issue of Te Ao Hou.

STIMULATING
CONFERENCE

The Dominion Conference of Maori Women's Welfare Leagues held at the Maori Community Centre, Auckland, on April 6 to 8, was a great social success and an equally great stimulus to the 250 women who attended. Throughout their presence in Auckland, these delegates discussed either in conference or privately the problems facing women in Maori communities. The discussions went on day and night, in the Centre, and in the Auckland Hotel lobbies and bedrooms. The delegates have now returned to their leagues and we hope they will be able to bring new ideas and new energies to their work. For that is the purpose of these meetings. It is doubtful whether the leagues would be as alive and strong as they are today without the strengthening of the leadership that takes place at these conferences. Nobody, observing these women in Auckland, could call their trip a pleasure jaunt, although it was certainly extremely pleasant. Te Ao How will give a full report on the conference in the next issue, and publish the entry that won the competition for the best annual report.

Great event of the social evening held on April 7 was the presentation by Mr Tumakai Katipa of the Te Puea Trophy to the Waikata North District Council, the 1951 winner of the competition for the best annual report. The trophy consists of two carved arms shaped to represent mamaku fronds, embracing a plate glass panel on which a symbolic design of Taniwharau has been blasted, showing pakeha culture and Maoritanga in unison. A mamaku bud in front represents the youth of today. A parchment record of trophy winners is kept in a drawer in the rounded carved base. Glass design and sand blasting were done by Mr Peter Luckie, the carving by Mr Waka Graham.

Two delegates.

Canterbury gives a number.

Conference Pietures by Vogue Photography. Auckland

Conference in session.

The Very Reverend J. G. Laughton, at the unveiling ceremony of the memorial to the late Sir Apirana Ngata, at Tikitiki in 1952, reads from one of the first copies of the new Maori Bible translation. (National Publicity Studios Photograph).

RACE RELATIONSHIPS

By The Rev. Dan Kaa

PROGRAMME FOR TEMPERANCE

Government policy on drink was discussed at great length. Generally, the Maori Section was in agreement with existing legislation. Throughout the discussion and in the final resolutions not one person proposed the restoring of the old discriminatory restrictions. There were only two points on which the legislation was challenged. First the section desired to have women (both Maori and pakeha) barred from drinking in hotels. Secondly, objections were made to a provision in the Maori Social and Economic Advancement Amendment Act, 1951, by which tribal committees may give special exemptions from the prohibition of drink on maraes. ‘Every occasion may be made into a special one,’ so ran the complaint.

Members still considered the drink situation serious, and were anxious for strict enforcement of existing laws, particularly by the police.

Newspaper comment on the conference did not show clearly the conference's attitude to the voluntary Maori bodies that have for some years now devoted much energy to fighting drink abuses in their communities. Most of those present knew the work of these tribal bodies intimately, and the debate indicated that their effectiveness varied widely from place to place, as is only to be expected of voluntary local

initiative. Much time was taken up with discussing the problems of the wardens, who, also voluntarily, face the most painful and delicate situations in their localities when they deal with drunkenness cases. Nobody at the conference expressed any doubt that the local Maori leaders are well able to bear the brunt of this social work; it was however, felt that they needed more support from outside to help change the general attitude towards drink. That support should come, it was suggested, from the churches, from the schools and from all other opinion-forming bodies.

It was resolved to send a message to all tribal executives, embodying the Maori section's views. In this message it was clearly stated that the solution to the problem was not seen in the reimposition of restrictions, but rather in ‘a movement from within the race itself by spiritual uplift and personal discipline’. Tribal executives were urged to enforce the regulations where private homes on the papakainga are being used as a source of supply of liquor while any function is taking place on the marae. The movement in some tribal executive areas to secure voluntary prohibition orders against habitual drunkards was noticed with ‘great pleasure’ and described as ‘a great improvement in the home and family life of those concerned’. All districts were urged to take action in this way. The Maori Section also felt there should be as far as possible a relationship of friendly co-operation between tribal executives and the police.

Maoris and Sport

By PAUL POTIKI

— RUGBY —

Scott or nepia — who was the greatest fullback?

I suppose racial loyalty will prompt most Maoris to award the honour to Nepia. I would be inclined myself, if such an award were necessary or even desirable, but is it not invidious to draw comparisons when on the one hand we are depending on overseas commentators for our facts, and on the other hand

George Nepia —Crown Studios

we are drawing on hearsay—or a memory which may be enhanced by time?

The main point, however, and one which many protagonists conveniently overlook is that the structure of the game has changed. The requirements of the position in 1924 were not the same as those in 1954. Nepia developed strength where it was needed in his day. Scott has developed his play to suit the needs of the present.

If any comparison is to be drawn between Scott and Nepia, it can be only on points which have been applicable during the era of each player.

In my view these are few, because of the structural changes since the 2–3–2 scrum was abolished.

For instance, I have no doubt that Nepia was the better tackler. Scott can tackle well, but he lacks the ferocity of the famous Nepia dive tackle. Also Nepia, alone of all fullbacks, had the superb gift of crowding several runners to the touch-line and of then bundling the lot into touch with one pounce.

Nepia was also incomparable at stopping footrushes and clearing to touch. Who can forget, who saw him launch that tigerish pounce which scattered men apart, and which ended with him in the clear, shaping for one of his prodigious linekicks?

Scott plays in an era when these traits are not so essential. The cover defence usually intercepts backs who break through in midfield. Breaks which pass the cover defence are usually made at the end of the chain, and the fullback has only one man to contend with. The axis of attack tends more toward the touch today, whereas in Nepia's time breaks were made straight down the middle, with support on either side. If he had to, I think Scott could have developed the Nepia tactics of moving runners into their supports, but the need rarely arises.

On the other hand, I see no reason why Nepia could not have developed the will-o-the wisp elusiveness of Scott had he needed to, and had he not favoured his famous and spectacular explosions methods. Under present conditions of bigger, and I feel, faster, forwards, I suspect that Nepia, too, would have seen the advantage of being elusive rather than explosive.

I have said that I think Nepia may have been the better man. I arrive at this opinion on two points only. First, he played behind teams which were primarily attacking units. As so often happens, good attackers are not always good defenders — even the great Nicholls and Cooke had weaknesses on defence. Nepia built a reputation based on the prime attribute of fullbacks—defence. Scott has played most of his football behind teams selected for solidarity, behind backs who could exploit our supremacy in the forwards, but who would yield ground dearly. I think Scott's has been the easier task.

Secondly, I have no doubt that Nepia was the better line kicker, the greater saver of the men in front. Too often have I seen Scott miss the line through trying for too much length. In the first half of the test against

KEEP THEM AT SCHOOL
(Continued from page 16)

to be given, saying simply that it should be based on the needs of the child and the financial capacity of the parents. A committee, will, however, find it needs something more definite than that.

For instance, how much assistance should be given for clothing for one child about to go to high school? At the meeting, some parents said it would be £50, others £60. The committee would probably need a standard figure for such cases. It could not give more to one child than to another. It might decide to grant, say, £25 or £30 to all worthy applicants, leaving the parents to find the rest. Mr Mason Durie thought parents should generally be expected to find a proportion of the cost, and the committee should not relieve them altogether of responsibility. He also thought the fixing of the scale of assistance should be done by tribal executives, not committees. It would be wrong for one committee to grant £30, and for the committee next door to grant £50 in a similar case.

It was a most instructive evening. It looks very much as if in this area the “Keep Them at School” campaign is to be rather successful. If all committees approach the new scheme with the same seriousness and skill as the Aorangi committee, its future will be bright. The meeting ended with a supper which was equally praiseworthy.

Ten Rules:

The department has laid down ten rules that must be followed for all educational grants to be subsidized. These rules are given below for the information of tribal committee members and the people generally:

Rule 1. The only moneys eligible for subsidy under this scheme are those raised by the

people themselves by means of combined efforts and through such funds-raising functions as bazaars, “bring and buy” stalls, social functions such as concerts and dances, and any other public function where the object is clearly stated and the community invited to help.

Rule 2. Direct contributions or donations by individual parents do not qualify for subsidy. (NOTE: Individuals, if they so wish, can make contributions anonymously at functions.)

Rule 3. Donations by or contributions from local bodies or friendly societies, Maori trust boards, incorporated committees, rents, royalties or purchase money or family farming ventures do not qualify for subsidy.

Rule 4. No money shall be ear-marked beforehand for any special child, but all applications should be considered, on receipt, on the basis of need and merit.

Rule 5. No financial assistance should be granted unless it can be proved to the satisfaction of the tribal committee or executive that financial hardship would result if some assistance were not given.

Rule 6. The amount of assistance granted in each case is to be determined by the tribal committee or executive concerned, and should be based on the needs of the child and the financial capacity of the parents.

Rule 7. Where a child is already in receipt of financial assistance from any other source whatever (scholarships included), no assistance may be granted from this fund, unless it can be shown to the satisfaction of the tribal committee or executive that the parents are unable to meet part or the whole of the balance of the charges.

Rule 8. Financial assistance can be granted at any stage of education—primary, secondary, university or post-graduate.

Rule 9. Financial assistance can be granted only to a Maori as defined in the Maori Social and Economic Advancement Act, 1945.

Rule 10. All applications for subsidy are to be submitted through the normal channels, and are subject to the approval of the Minister of Maori Affairs.

The late Sir Apirana's dream of a fund to help Maori veterans and their descendants has come true at last.

MAORI SOLDIERS'
FUND

—brings relief to the old, opportunity to the young—

Women's World

MOTHER CRAFT

by Keritahu

By Mothercraft we simply mean the science of good mothering, or in other words, the intelligent and skilled care of infants and young children. The subject is of vital importance from a national point of view, because unless young women come to marriage and motherhood equipped with a knowledge of the essential needs of their families, they cannot be expected to rear healthy and happy children.

A knowledge of mothercraft does not come by instinct—it must be learnt like any other “craft”—and no girl or boy should regard their education as completed unless they have learnt something of the management of a home, and of the principles of child care.

The expectant mother: A mother's responsibility to her baby begins long before it is born, and therefore directly she knows she is going to have a baby, she should consult her doctor, who will supervise her health during pregnancy, or she should consult the public health nurse and attend an ante-natal clinic.

The object of this medical and nursing supervision, which is commonly known as ante-natal care, is to safeguard the health of the mother, in order to promote a normal confinement, and to ensure that the baby will be in good physical condition when born.

As the coming baby is nourished by his mother's blood, and is dependent on her for all he requires for growth and development, it is essential that particular attention be paid during pregnancy to many details which will influence the mother's health and that of her baby. The most important of these are as follows:—

Hygiene: Fresh air is a great purifier and cleanser, and if ventilation and cleanliness are atended to, health is safeguarded. Keep your house surroundings and your rooms scupulously clean and free from rubbish, which harbours dirt and makes cleaning difficult.

The bed and the bedding must be fresh and sweet, and blankets and covering ought to be washed regularly. It is also advisable to wash the cover of the mattress, have the stuffing put out in the sun, and the mattress remade.

The expectant mother must have plenty of cool fresh air day and night. Not only should the rooms be kept freely ventilated by having the windows wide open, but a current of air should be maintained across the bedroom by means of an open window and a chimney or a door, but the mother should keep out of draughts.

It is a very bad habit in some homes to have

the windows tightly closed while the family sleeps. Remember, a healthy mother means a healthy baby, and the following instructions show how an expectant mother may keep well.

Have a moderate amount of exercise, such as walking and gardening every day, and spend as much time as you can out in the sunshine.

Have a warm bath at least twice a week, and put on dry, clean clothing. Keep your clothing smelling sweet and fresh.

Medical Care: Report to doctor or public health nurse not later than the fifth month. Take a bottle with a specimen of urine, to be tested every visit to make sure there is nothing wrong.

It is advisable that every Maori mother should enter a maternity hospital for at least 7 days, not only to receive skilled attention, but also to have a good rest from the family at home. Besides, it is dangerous to have a baby at home without a doctor or a nurse. All mothers are encouraged to go into hospital.

At least 8 hours' sleep is needed every night. When sewing or reading, sit with feet up, as this tends to prevent varicose veins and sore feet.

Do not do any hard work or lift heavy weights, such as tubs of washing, water or milk buckets.

A dentist should be consulted early in pregnancy, so that decayed teeth may receive attention. The teeth should be well brushed after meals.

Diet while you are expecting your baby. The following rules should be observed:—

Have not more than 3 meals a day.

Do not overeat.

Drink 3 cups of milk every day—whole milk, skimmed milk, milk powder, milk and cocoa.

Eat ¼lb. liver once a week.

Eat ¼lb. fish once a week. Shell-fish is good for you.

Eat ¼lb. lean meat 5 times a week if fish is not easily obtained.

Eat one egg a day.

Eat a little cheese and butter each day.

Eat plenty of green vegetables—puha, watercress, cabbage, spinach, silver beet.

Some green vegetables should be eaten raw each day. Eat also potatoes, kumaras, pumpkin and other vegetables. Cook potatoes in their skins.

Eat raw fruit each day. The best fruits to eat are oranges, New Zealand grapefruit, black currants, tomatoes and lemons, and if possible an apple a day as well.

Do not take any strong drink or smoke, if you are to breast-feed your baby.

Drink plenty of water between meals—at least 6 cups a day. This keeps the bowels and kidneys in good working order.

Oatmeal, wholemeal bread and wholemeal

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FACE POWDER

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