HINETA WHIRIRANGI'S SONG

Translated by R. T. Kohere

Oh, my lov'd ones! weave into
The main strand—let it be secure,
Before pursuing Karika's band
Once trouble was afar, now it's upon me,
I minded not but Pawa neglected,
Hence Maroheia's bracing Ihutoto.
Oh, my lov'd ones! You've consumed my life!
Hasten on, while the tide's on the turn,
Off Ihiwa, amidst Tangaroa's fertile field,
Aboard the fishing canoes of your fathers,
Quickly, my son, take thy stand at the stern,
Leave me here to greet fleeting clouds,
That speed o'er Totara ridge,
For ’neath are my lov'd ones.
I dreamt of a night asleep was I,
With a little spirit child.
I'm an orphan, my lov'd ones, to be cleansed,
It is not a sneeze that can be repeated.

This is a well-known song of the Ngati-Porou tribe, composed by Hinetawhirirangi whose descendants are to be found at Te Araroa, which was called Kawakawa. The song is a lament over the tragic death of Hamaiwaho. After the fall of Whetumatarau pa in 1800, many of the Ngati-Porou were taken prisoners by the Ngapuhi under Pomare. Amongst the prisoners were the chieftainess Rangipaia and the chief Hamaiwaho. Near the Rurima islands north of Whale Island, Himaiwaho endeavoured to escape by jumping into the sea and swimming for one of the islets. He was drowned and his body washed up on one of the islets. Pawa mentioned in the song is the commander of the Horouta canoe which the Ngati-Porou claim to be the historical canoe in which their ancestors came to New Zealand. Pawa left his mark on the East Coast in Tawhiti-a-Pawa hill

 

 

between Tokomaru Bay and Waipiro and in Whai-a-Pawa or Pawa's stingaree which today is known as Matakaoa Point. On a calm day Pawa's stingaree, in the form of a grey rock, can be seen at the bottom of the sea.

Pawa was trying to capture the long-legged Rongokako. He set a trap on Tawhiti hill but the giant, with his tremendous strides, eluded it.

In his pursuit of the giant, Pawa left behind him his little daughter, Maroheia, at Matakaoa, and on his return he found her petrified and embracing Ihutoto rock. The spot is known today as Maroheia.

The Maori poetess draws a parallel between Maroheia and Hamaiwaho. One was found stranded on a rock, the other turned into the rock she hugs today.

The poetess blames Pawa for neglecting Maroheia and herself, for not minding her relative, Hamaiwhao, as she puts it,

‘I minded not and Pawa neglected,

Hence Maroheia's ‘bracing Ihutoto.”

Karika's band, band of death.

Tangaroa's field, the sea. Tangaroa is the Maori Neptune.

Ihiwa, a rock at East Cape.

Totara ridge, near Te Aroroa.

 

To be cleansed, anybody touching a dead person needs to be cleansed. To be an orphan is to love a dead parent, and so in a way the child is polluted.

first-hand experience of such difficulties. There has always been, and probably always will be, a stigma attached to a low standard of living, though nine times out of ten the causes lie beyond the control of the people concerned. For these reasons Maori women, especially in rural districts, wanted an organisation held together, not by racial bonds or even cultural background—that varies in the Maori population almost as much as in the European—but simply by the feeling, well, here we are, all in the same boat, what can we do about it?

I can remember that I first heard of the M.W.W.L. with some surprise, because it seemed to shoot into prominence without any warning. It was suddenly laid before us, tailored to fit the occasion, apparently ready-made, for us to step into. But in actual fact that was not the case at all. The M.W.W.L. is the last link, and 1 may say the most important one, in a chain of events stretching back to 1936. In that year the Maori Health League was formed in Rotorua under District Nurse Cameron, and carried out valuable work in that area. The next step was in 1945, when the Maori Welfare Division appointed women's welfare committees as sister organisations to the tribal committees. The Health Leagues and the welfare committees joined forces under a central committee at Rotorua, but could not agree on constitutional and administrative matters. So the Health League remained a separate entity and branches formed by Welfare Officers combined under a revived constitution in September, 1951. This organisation, entitled the Maori Women's Welfare League, held its first annual conference in the Maori Community Centre at Auckland.

The League took for its motto ‘Tatau Tatau’, which, translated, reads, ‘let us be united’. It is a motto peculiarly suited to the main aims of the League: to promote fellowship and understanding between Maori and Maori and Maori and European; to take an active interest in all matters concerning the health and general well-being of Maori women and children; to preserve, revive, and maintain the teaching of Maori arts and crafts and to perpetuate the Maori culture. In 1951 the League had a total membership of 2503. This has steadily increased, till in April of this year it stood at 3758, an increase of 1255 in two and a half years. This encouraging response indicates how great was the need for such an organisation. (It should be noted here that the League is by no means exclusively Maori.) The League is organised on three levels; first, the League

(Continued on page 55)

Ki te iwi Maori nui tonu o Aotearoa, Te Waipounamu me Wharekauri. Ki nga matua me nga whaea o te Rangatahi e hoa ma, kia koutou ano hoki e tama ma e hine ma e rapu nei i te matauranga me nga maramatanga o enei ra, tena koutou. I te mea e hangai ana enei korero kia koutou, ka mahara ahau, he mea pai pea kia tukua atu ki te ‘Ao Hou’ kia marama ai te katoa ki te mahi a tenei Tari e kiia nei ko te ‘Tari Arataki Ki Nga Mahi’. Tenei ake nga whakamarama. Tamariki ma, ko koutou te iwi Maori mo nga ra kei te haere mai, ma koutou e arahi te iwi. Na reira, Maranga, Whitiki, Whakatangata kia kaha. He ao whakataetae tenei. Ma te matauranga, ma te manawanui, ma te whakapono me te mahi, ka pumau ai te ora mo te tangata, mo te iwi ano hoki, ora tinana ora Wairua. Ma te ora o nga taha e rua ka kore ai e titaha te haere, ka paoho ai ano hoki te reo koa te reo hari ki o tatou marae. Tiakina te tinana kawea te matauranga, kia u ki te mahi, ahakoa he aha taua mahi, mahi matauranga, mahi a-ringaringa ranei. E penei ana tetahi korero:—‘Ka kitea e te Rewera he mahi ma nga ringaringa mangere.’ E penei ana ano tetahi:—‘He mea mate te whakapono ki te kahore he mahi.’ He nui tonu nga Maori na te u ki a ratou mahi, kua tu rangatira i naianei.

E toru pea nga patai e puta ake i enei mata korero, Tuatahi. He aha enei mahi? Tuarua, Kei hea enei mahi? Tuatoru, Me pehea e taea atu ai? Ehara i te mea e kuare ana tatou ki nga mahi huhua e watea mai ana ma a tatou tamariki, engari pea te huarahi e taea atu ai aua mahi, kahore e tino marama ana ki etahi, ina hoki ra, e kuare tonu ana etahi pakeha ki nga huarahi mahi ma a ratou na tamariki. Na runga i tenei ahua, ka whakaturia e te Kawanatanga i te tau 1943 tetahi Tari Apiti i raro te Tari o nga Kura (Education Department) a huaina ana ko te Tari Arataki Ki Nga Mahi (Vocational Guidance), Kei nga taone nunui anake enei Tari i nainaei, kei Akarana, Poneke, Christchurch me Dunedin. Ko te Minita o tenei Tari ko te Hon. Mrs Hilda

 

To the Maori people of both Islands and of the Chatham Islands, to the fathers and mothers of the younger generation and to the young men and women in pursuit of present-day education and understanding, greetings.

I thought it most valuable that all, but particularly the younger generation, should know of the work done by the Vocational Guidance Service. For they are the Maori people of the future and will be their leaders. Therefore they will need education, strong resolve, by faith and endurance, both in body and spirit. With the help of these their path will not deviate and happy and glad tidings will reach our maraes.

What type of work is there for them to do? Where is it available? How does one go about getting it? I do not think people are ignorant of the vocations available to our children but some do not quite know the ways of entering them. Even many pakehas are not sure what their children should do for a living. This was the reason why the Government, in 1943, established an office under the Education Department called the Vocational Guidance Service. This Division has offices only at the larger cities, that is at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. The Minister in Charge is the Hon. Mrs Hilda Ross. The object of this Division is to assist and guide young boys and girls leaving high schools and colleges,

 

 

Ross, Ko te mahi a enei Tari he awhina he tohutohu hoki i nga tamariki e puta mai ana i nga Kura Teitei me nga Kareti kia whiwhi ai ki nga mahi e tika ana ma tena ma tena o ratou, nga mea tane me nga mea wahine, kia kaua ai hoki e maumauria te matauranga kua riro mai nei i a ratou. He mea pouri te matakitaki i a tatou tamariki i puta mai i nga kura nunui e pakarukaru kohatu ana i nga rori, me etahi atu mahi e tika noa iho ana ma nga mea kahore i tae ki te taumata o te matauranga. I penei ai pea he kore kai tohutohu atu i nga huarahi e taea ai nga mahi e hangai ana ma ratou. Na reira, kei te ahua ano o te matauranga te ahua o te mahi ma tena ma tena, engari he mahi ma te katoa. Ko etahi kahore i tino pai ki nga mahi Tari tuhituhi ranei, engari mo nga mahi a-ringaringa. Ae ra he ao whakataetae tenei. Ko te nuinga o nga mahi totika o nga mahi pumau hoki, me whakataetae rawa ka riro mai, ara ma te manawanui ma te kaha. Kia mahara hoki e whakataetae ana koutou ki nga toa o te pakeha, engari ahakoa pena, kaua e ngakau kore, kia u kia kaha. I tae mai tetahi tamaiti Maori ki au, ko tana korero tenei, ‘He aha te painga o te kura tonu ki te kore e homai e te pakeha he mahi?’ Ko taku whakautu tenei ki a ia, ‘Tena koa whakatutukitia to kura ka hoki mai ano, hei reira taua mohio ai,’ Ka hoki te tamaiti ra ki te kura. Kotahi tau i muri mai ka riro mai tana tiwhiketi (School Certificate). Ka toru tau taua tamaiti i naianei e mahi ana ki tetahi o nga Tari a te Kawanatanga i Akarana nei, a kei te piki haere tonu, na reira kaua e maumauria te taima i te kura, mauria kia tutuki. Ko nga tamariki katoa e tae mai ana ki tenei Tari me tetahi mauranga a-ringaringa, ara nga tiwhiketi o te kura e tika ana, e kore ia e haere kau noa atu, engari ka whiwhi ia ki tana mahi e hiahia ai.

Kua pau te tekau tau oku ki tenei mahi. Kua kite katoa ahau i nga uauatanga ki a taua ki te Maori. Tae noa mai ki tenei ra, kei te ahua whiriwhiri tonu te rangatira mahi ina tonoa atu he mahi ma nga Maori. E penei mai ana te korero e kore te Maori e u ki te mahi, e kore e roa kua hoha, kua whakarere kino i te mahi. E hoa ma e ahua tika tonu ana enei korero mo etahi o tatou. I etahi wa e tae mai ana nga rangatira mahi ki te korero mai ki au, kua ngaro a ratou kai mahi, e kore e mohiotia kei hea e haere ana. E hoa ma ka kino tera mahi. No te Maori kotahi te he, ka raru katoa tatou. Whakama noa mai te Maori tika i te mahi a te Maori he, kua kore ano hoki e tukua atu he Maori ki reira mahi ai. Otira kua ahua ngohengohe mai te ahua o te rangatira mahi inaianei, kua ahua nui haere hoki nga Maori e u ana ki a ratou mahi, ma tenei ahua anake

 

 

to obtain work for which they are best fitted so that their education is not wasted.

It is very disappointing to see our young people leaving secondary schools to find work on the roads so that their education is of no further use to them. Their reason for doing so may be the absence of someone to guide them into callings for which they are most fitted. Mental capacity decides the most suitable job for each person. Some are not fitted for office work but can make a good living doing manual labour. For those who wish to follow some highly skilled calling, it is quite true that this is a competitive world. There is keen competition in most vocations and success is obtainable only through hard work and firm resolve.

Competition has to be faced with the best pakehas offering, but this is no reason to be discouraged. Be strong and put your best foot forward. A young Maori came to me and said, ‘What is the use of further education if the pakeha is not going to employ me?’ My reply to him was: ‘Finish your schooling first and then come and see me.’ He went back to school. The following year he passed his school certificate. He has been working in a Government Department in Auckland for three years now and is progressing. So don't waste your opportunities at school but carry on until the end. All those children who come to this office with school certificate or similar qualifications will not go away emptyhanded, but can get the work they want.

I have had ten years of experience. I have seen all the difficulties that beset us. Up to this day some employers hold the view that Maoris do not persevere in their work, and too often leave.

I am afraid this is sometimes true. I have had employers come to me and report that their employees are absent and their whereabouts unknown. My friends, this is a bad state of affairs. Although one Maori is at fault everyone suffers. When a more capable Maori is sent as a replacement, he may find it hard to be accepted. However, employers are becoming more lenient, as more Maoris are sticking to their jobs. It is only by encouraging this steadiness that we can establish our people in good responsible positions.

Many Maori children come to these offices seeking employment. Those who have foresight come before they have left school, so that they have work waiting for them when they finish their education. This is the best time to start looking for employment, as it saves valuable time later. I do not say that Government agencies should choose the jobs for each child, but our task is to point out the sort of

 

 

ka kore rawa ai tera ahua o te pakeha ki a tatou.

He nui rawa atu nga tamariki Maori e haere ana enei Tari ki te rapu mahi ma ratou. Ko nga mea whai-whakaaro, ahakoa kei te kura tonu e haere mai ana ki te uiui mo nga mahi e hiahia ana ratou.

Mo te puta rawa mai i te kura e tatari atu ana te mahi. Ko te wa tika ano tera hei timatanga ki te rapu mahi kia kore ai e whainga nui a te wa e mutu mai ai te kura. Ehara i te mea ma enei tari e whiriwhiri he mahi ma tetahi tamaiti, heoi ano ta matou he whakaatu kia ratou i nga ahua mahi katoa, me te matauranga e taea atu ai tera mahi tera mahi, engari kei nga mahita ano hoki tetahi wahi nui ko ratou e mohio ana ki te ahua o ia tamaiti o ia tamaiti i te kura. Ehara i te mea e warewaretia ana nga matua, he wahi tino nui ano kei a koutou, kaua e waiho ma nga kura anake e ako nga tamariki ki nga mea katoa. Ko te kura tuatahi o te tamaiti ko tona kainga. Ko te whaea tona mahita tuatahi, na reira kaua e ngakau kore, kaua e hoha e hoha ki te ako i a tatou tamariki kia tutuki tika ai hoki ki te matauranga o te pakeha. Mehemea he take ta nga matua e hiahia ana ki te korero ki a matou mo a ratou tamariki, kaua e hopohopo ki te haere mai kia whiriwhiri tahi ai tatou i nga mahi e tika ana ma a tatou tamariki. He maha tonu hoki nga matua kahore e mohio ana ki nga huarahi awhina a te Kawanatanga mo a tatou tamariki kia tutuki ai i nga kura teitei tae noa atu ki nga whare Wananga (Universities). Kahore ano hoki he aha o te tuhi mai mehemea e kore e taea te haere mai. Otira kia mahara ano hoki tatou, kei te tamaiti ano te kupu whakamutunga, kei kore e hiahiatia e ia te mahi ka mahue.

 

 

work offering and the skill required for each job. The school teachers also help as they know the capabilities each child has shown at school. Parents, too, have a big part to play. They should not leave it to the schools to teach the children everything. The home gives the child's first schooling; the mother is its first teacher. For this reason do not be backward or apathetic about teaching children what they need to enable them to absorb more readily the knowledge of the pakeha.

If parents have some matters which they wish to discuss with Vocational Guidance officers about their children, they should not be afraid to come to see us. Together we can decide what is best. There are still a number of parents who do not know the methods by which the Government can help their children finish their secondary education or win University Entrance. If parents do not come to us, we cannot help them; but it must always be remembered that the child has the final word. If the job is not to his liking, he will leave it.

 

 

(2) Maihi Tari:—

Kanui ano hoki a tatou tamariki kei nga Tari e mahi ana i naianei, Ko te whakamatautauranga e tika ana mo tenei mahi ko te (School Certificate) ano. Engari tera ano etahi ahua mahi Tari e taea atu e te toru ki te wha tau i te Kura Teitei ahakoa kore e pahi ki te School Certificate. He kotiro te iwi nui kei tenei mahi, engari kei te ahua ano ra o te tamaiti, kia pai te tu, kia mohio ki te mau kakahu, kia pai te reo ki te korero, kia u hoki ki te mahi.

Ma nga kotiro, e rua nga ahua mahi Tari.

(1)	Office Assistant: Ko nga mea enei e tika ana kia pahi ki te School Certificate kia timata tonu atu ai i te utu nui. Ko nga mea enei kahore i ako ki te Shorthand me te typing.
(2)	Shorthand Typist: Tera ano nga whakamatautauranga e tika ana mo tenei karangatanga. Timata atu i te Chamber of Commerce, Junior Government, Senior Government, Intermediate, tae noa atu ki te runga rawa ara Special.

(3) Mahi Naahi:

Kua puta nga korero whakamihi a te pakeha mo te pai me te mohio o a tatou kotiro Maori ki tenei mahi. Ko nga pakeha nei he turoro no nga Hohipera. Kei te piki haere tonu te kaute o nga naahi Maori i naianei. Kahore e kiia ana me pahi rawa ki tetahi whakamatautau ka whiwhi ki tenei mahi, engari ma te whakaaro noa ake e mohio, ki te tutuki tika te kotiro i te kura, ka mama te riro mai o nga tiwhiketi o tera mahi. Kia tekau ma waru nga tau ka timata ki taua mahi.

Tera ano ia tetahi mahi ma nga mea e hiahia ana ki te timata i te tekau ma ono tau. Ko te ingoa o tera he Nurse Aid ara he kura te nuinga o te mahi, mo te tae rawa atu ai ki te 18 tau, kua pai te, haere atu ki nga Hohipera tuturu.

(4) Mahi Kamura, Motoka me etahi atu mahi a-ringaringa:

Ko te nuinga o enei mahi, kia rua tau ki nga Kura Teitei ka taea atu, engari kaua e nuku atu nga tau o te Tamaiti i te 18. Mehemea me haere atu ia i tona kainga ki taua mahi, ka awhinatia te utu o tona noho e te Kawanatanga e £65 i te tau. Engari ko te Ture mo ratou me haere ki nga Kura po e rua taima i te wiki, kia tere ai te pahi ki nga Whakamatautau me nga Tiwhiketi o te mahi.

(5) Nga Mahi Tereina:

Tera pea e kite ana koutou i te nui o a tatou tamariki Maori e mahi ana i runga i nga tereina me nga Teihana. Ko te nuinga o nga mea kei Akarana nei e mahi ana, i haere atu i tenei Tari. Ko etahi kei nga Tari, ko etahi

 

 

• Senior Government, Advanced. Special, and the top, which is Reporters.

Nursing:

Because of the good work Maori girls have done in this sphere they have been praised highly by hospital patients. The number of Maori nurses is still increasing. It is not necessary to pass any particular examination to enter this type of work, but a little thought will show that the better you are at school the easier it is to pass the necessary examinations in nursing. You may start this type of work on reaching the age of 18.

At 16 years of age you may become a nursing aid. A two-year training course follows, after which trainees are ready to go out to hospitals.

Carpenters, Motor Mechanics and other Trades:

Most of these jobs require only two years at high school, but the entry age should not be more than 18. If an apprentice has to live away from home to learn his trade, he is paid up to £65 a year by the Government. Apprentices must attend night school at least twice a week so they can pass the required trade examinations.

New Zealand Railways:

Perhaps you have noticed the number of Maori youths working on the trains and in the railway stations. Most of those in the Auckland area have been employed through this office. Some are in the offices, some are porters, some are guards, and others drive engines. This type of work appeals to young Maoris and they are very adaptable to it. Those working in the offices require three to your years' secondary education, though not necessarily with school certificate. Other branches require a minimum qualification of Standard 6. It is probably for this reason that so many take us railway work.

 

 

he Poata, he Kaari, he kai taraiwa hoki i nga Iniana. He mahi ngahau enei ki te tamariki Maori, he pai hoki ratou mo enei mahi. He mahi mama enei ki te riro mai, ko nga mea anake e mahi ana i nga Tari, kia toru ki te wha tau ki nga Kura Teitei ka ahei, ahakoa kahore i paahi ki te School Certificate. Ko etahi mai o nga mahi ka uru noa atu i te St. VI i nga Primary Schools. Na tera ahua pea i nui ai ratou ki reira.

Kaati nga mahi hei whakaatu ake i tenei wa. Otira mehemea e hiahia ana etahi kia mohio ki te ahuatanga o nga mahi huahua ma a taton tamariki, kua whakaaturia atu i mua ake nei, me haere mai me tuhi mai ranei.

Engari kia mahara ano, ehara i te mea ma te matauranga anake e riro mai ai nga mahi pumau, engari ma te ahua tonu o te tu, o te haere, o te korero, ma te tau hoki ki te mau kakahu. Tetahi o nga patai tuatahi a nga rangatira mahi ina korerotia atu i te waea he Maori e hiahia ana ki te mahi:—‘Pehea tona ahua ki te titiro atu?’ ‘What does he look like?’ Sometimes it is a pleasure to reply to such a question, sometimes it can be very awkward. Invariably the employer would say: ‘Send him up, and let us have a look at him or her.’ Ko te wahi tenei ma nga matua, ara ma nga whaea.

He nui rawa atu nga Maori kei Akarana nei e mahi ana ki nga Tari pakeha, engari ko te nuinga kei nga Tari Kawanatanga, haunga ia era e mahi mai ra i Poneke me etahi atu o nga taone nuuni o te motu. I korero ake ai ahau mo Akarana, he rereke no naianei i te wa i timata ai ahau. I te tau 1943 he ruarua rawa atu nga Maori e mahi Tari ana i tua atu i nga mea e mahi ana i te Tari Maori. I naianei he Maori kei roto i te nuinga o nga Tari Kawanatanga, me nga Toa nunui o Akarana. Ko etahi na o ratou mahita kura tonu i whiwhi ai, engari ko te nuinga i haere atu i tenei Tari.

Ko nga tamariki whai whakaaro kanui te u ki a ratou mahi, ko etahi e kore e roa kua timata te hianga, ka whakarere kino i nga mahi. He korero tuturu tenei naku ki a ratou i mua atu i te haerenga ki nga mahi, ‘E hoha koe ki to mahi, korerotia mai, maku koe e ata whakamutu pai, e rapu hoki he mahi hou mau. Kanui te kaha o etahi pakeha ki te titiro i te ahua o to mahi. Mehemea he pai koe ki te mahi, kua pai katoa te iwi Maori, mehemea he kino, kua kino katoa te iwi Maori, ko to taua rereke tenei i te pakeha. Ahakoa whakarere kino te pakeha i tana mahi, kahore ia e arai ana i etahi atu pakeha ki taua mahi. Na reira, e tamariki ma kia mahara, e whiwhi koe ki te mahi, kei runga te iwi Maori katoa i a koe e waha ana.

(Continued on page 58)

 

When I first started at Vocational Guidance in 1943, very few Maoris were working in offices apart from those of the Maori Affairs Department. Nowadays there are Maoris in most government departments, in private offices, and in the big stores. In some cases school teachers were responsible for their employment, but mostly the recruitment was done through Vocational Guidance and the Maori Affairs Department.

Some young people, those who look ahead, are stayers in their jobs, while others soon tire of their work and leave without giving proper notice. One of my regular warnings to people seeking employment is, ‘If you should tire of the work, let me know, and I will arrange for the proper termination of your job and find you other employment.’ The younger generation should remember that the fate of the Maori people rests on their shoulders.

‘MAN OF TWO WORLDS’

Review by KAATA

To join those who have already tested the fertility of the Maori historical field is yet another European—J. F. Cody, with his Man of Two Worlds, a biography of Sir Maui Pomare.

The author must be given credit for his sympathetic and understanding treatment and, indeed, his appreciation of a very great man who, as a humanitarian first and foremost, found a satisfactory way of bending politics to form the mould of a more or less permanent foundation for health measures for the Maori.

Sir Maui differed from his Maori colleagues in parliament in that he chose an independent course rather than hoist his colours to the Liberal mast, and his political life was not without disharmony. In the final analysis it becomes perfectly plain that politics to him was only a means to an end—and the end was his ardent determination to arrest the decline of his race.

It is undeniable that Sir Maui's efforts as the first Maori health officer and later as Minister of Health, as a member of the remarkable Young Maori Party, and as a Doctor of Medicine, won for him a very special place in both the Maori and European circles of his day; but in the opinion of this reviewer the author has not done full justice to a unique episode in the political as well as the national pattern of New Zealand life.

Readers will remain indebted to the author for the hitherto unpublished account of the first missionary effort of the Te Aute schoolboys to carry the new gospel of healthy living into the homes of the Maori people. This section of the biography amounts to a contribution by the late Rev. Reweti Kohere, himself an author

and a contemporary of the Maori ‘greats’, and one of the participants in that memorable schoolboy trek which in effect marked the turning point for the Maori race. For that reason the incident will be regarded with some significance, if not with reverence.

It is a pity that Man of Two Worlds had not been more carefully read in the proof stages. Then blunders such as an index reference to a former Prime Minister as ‘Sir Gordon Coates’ might have been avoided. However, production errors notwithstanding, this biography of Sir Maui is worth reading even if it does not add a great deal of new material to that which is already widely known. Like the book on another great Maori, the late Sir Apirana Ngata, much of the contents of Man of Two Worlds comprises quotations from speeches. Were ot not for these, in both cases the figures concerned might well have eluded their biographers.

Man of Two Worlds is published by A. H. & A. W. Reed of Wellington (15/-).

TANIKO WEAVING

Here for the first time is a popular handbook on taniko. It is written in a simple, direct way with clear diagrams showing each step to be mastered. Some traditional designs are included, and there are complete instructions for weaving and finishing a taniko belt, so prized by Maori and pakeha alike.

This is a book that should find its way into every school in New Zealand, and it should be most useful to women who have no opportunity to learn from an expert in the traditional way. If it has a fault it is that the author contents himself with teaching the methods and gives very few suggestions for extending its decorative possibilities. There must be many decorative uses for taniko which have not been explored and many more articles that could be made with it. The author expresses the hope ‘that this simple introduction to the art will encourage many more to adopt it …’ There is no doubt whatever that Taniko Weaving will do just that, and we should be grateful to Mr Mead for this detailed, reliable and practical handwood.

Taniko Weaving is published by A. H. and A. W. Reed, of Wellington. (6/-.)

* * *

Captain Brian Matauru Poananga, Adjutant of the 1st Northland Regiment, topped the list of New Zealand candidates in passing the entrance examination for the Military Staff College, Camberley, England.

Captain Poananga, who is 30, is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, and served for a time with J. Force. Last year he returned to New Zealand from a tour of duty with K. Force, in which he held a staff appointment with the 1st British Commonwealth Division.

* * *

The Maori baritone singer, Mr S. Tawera, of Wellington, competed with success in the vocal section of the Wellington Competitions Society's festival in September.

The only Maori taking part in the festival, Mr Tawera said afterwards, ‘If my people would only come forward to take part in festivals like this a lot of them would go a long way.’

HATO HOHEPA

St. joseph's maori girls' college was founded in 1867 by Euphrasie Barbier, Mother Mary of the Heart of Jesus. She left behind her a book of instructions to her Sisters on the training of youth. Her programme of study (according to the 1950 school magazine) included not only a sound knowledge of the three R's and the ordinary subjects, but also languages, music and singing—especially choir work—cooking, laundry work, nursing and needle work. Artistic training was not neglected.

These instructions have been the basis of the school's 87 years of teaching. I was fortunate enough to be allowed to listen to the choir, and it was a wonderful experience. As I write this, I still remember the fullness and melody of those well-trained voices regrettably hidden from a wider public.

The new block of classrooms and dormitories completed earlier this year makes the school second to none in amenities, and the cooking and sewing rooms are real models. Few house-wives would be shamed by the perfect, almost

staggering, neatness in which the whole institution is kept by the girls. Among the craft work I saw, I was interested in the adaptation of traditional Maori craft features to modern conditions. Examples were a lovely little carpet woven with Maori scroll designs and a large sewing box on legs whose sides consisted of tukutuku work. Such features will undoubtedly give atmosphere to homes.

St. Joseph's college plans its courses for girls who will ultimately settle down and set up home for themselves. The home crafts are emphasised; all Fourth and Fifth Form girls are given a complete course in mothercraft by the district health nurse. The Red Cross Association gives courses in first aid, home nursing and hygiene. At the same time it is considered that for future mothers nothing but the best will do educationally, and a high proportion of pupils obtain school certificates. With a roll of 140, the college offers an academic and a commercial course.

Over the last ten years a lively old girls' association has been built up with branches in every big centre. Branches have their own monthly meetings and functions, and a reunion is held at college once a year.

TE WHAITI NUI A TOI

The very rev. j. g. laughton, as Superintendent of the Presbyterian Maori Missions, is the spiritual father of the Te Whaiti Nui a Toi Farm and Training School. With only 26

boarders, hidden in the midst of the Urewera and started only in 1937, this small college is yet important in the history of Maori education for its bold and effective planning.

Mr Laughton believes that the Maori people are at present in a period between the break-down of tribal discipline and the arrival of family discipline. In this period there is an urgent need for real character training for Maori boys. He also believes that education in backblock areas has to be very practical to fit the situation confronting us; a lot of young people are not really fitted for advanced education and are made into better citizens by good practical training, with a core of normal education and skills.

In 1937, Te Whaiti Nui a Toi consisted of 440 acres of undeveloped Crown land. The mission bought it and built on it, teaches the boys in the morning and dedicates the after-noons to farming and land development. Core subjects are taught and formal instruction lasts about 15–16 hours per week. Arts and crafts are emphasised and much Maori carving is done, some very interesting in quality. The practical and theoretical aspects of agriculture and horticulture are always taught together; for example, at dipping times lessons and practical activity occur simultaneously, with lessons often in the open. Even arithmetic and simple book keeping are integrated with the practical farming activities, such as the books of the poultry farm. Milk testing is done at the school laboratory. Experiments in manuring are made in the school vegetable gardens, proving for instance the effect of the trace element molybdenum. Since 19–18 Te Whaiti Nui a Toi has been a registered post-primary boarding school. The boys' ages vary from 13 to 17, the majority being 15 or 16. At the beginning of this year, about 300 acres of the land had been developed and dairy and run cattle and sheep were carried.

At present the school faces the decision of whether or not to start offering school certificate courses. It is to be hoped this will ultimately be done.

I visited the school on the first day after the annual holidays, and while I was inside talking a truckload of boys arrived. An hour or so afterwards we went to see the cowshed, and there were the new arrivals, including some “new chums”, calmly and quite independently occupied about the shed, as though they had never been away. Nothing could show more clearly what the school meant to the boys and that they had absorbed a new way of life.

TE AUTE

Of the 135 pupils enrolled at Te Aute College this year, 58 take the agriculture course. Four of these specialize in agriculture in the sixth form in preparation for going to Massey College. One has the impression that this number would be much higher if a greater proportion of the pupils could be sure of a farm on family land.

Te Aute is half agricultural, half academic. When I asked Mr R. G. Webb, the headmaster, why he had chosen the agricultural course, he pointed out that right through New Zealand there was a crying need for colleges with good and complete agriculture courses and that Te Aute was fortunate in having all the necessary facilities: a 680 acre training farm such as few secondary schools could have, with a dairy herd, pigs, sheep and run cattle, and managers with a good practical and theoretical knowledge of farming. School ceritficate and advanced courses are given in agriculture and animal husbandry. Every week eight boys are given practical work on the farm, while the others continue ordinary school work. One night every week the agriculture instructor, Mr Miller,

(Continued on page 50)

ARTHUR ADLAM—FRIEND OF TE RANGIHIROA.

Arthur Adlam was suffering from his old war wound, and his doctor had forbidden him to go to the Okoki burial ground. But his thoughts were very much with the old school comrade with whom he had shared youthful memories, and who later became a world-famous figure.

When Te Ao Hou visited Mr Adlam in his friendly home near Waitara he was able to throw interesting light on the date of Sir Peter's birth—a debated point. Mr Adlam was born in 1879, and at school had always understood that Sir Peter was two years older. That would make the year of Sir Peter's birth 1877, which agrees with the school register, though not with what Te Rangihiroa himself said in later life.

Mr Adlam was in grave danger of being killed at birth by relatives of his Maori mother, who were incensed that she should have married a European. An old aunt took the baby in her arms saying, “Ataatua” (“beautiful”). The word saved his life and gave rise to the name Arthur.

When he was seriously wounded in the first World War, Arthur Adlam found that his doctor was Peter Buck. For old times sake, his food-chart included a daily pint of Guinness stout.

helped to inspire progress; that he fought epidemics, and land sales, when they badly needed being fought, and that the great Maori population increase is due, to some extent, to his work for health. They knew that he left the country and became professor at Yale and the Director of the Bishop Museum at Honolulu, dancing his favourite haka to learned audiences wherever he travelled in many countries. They knew the story of those glorious days— “Kua po, kua po, kua awatea”— “It is night, it is night, it is dawn.” Then they had heard of the evening of his life, so painful through illness, but made wonderfully peaceful because he was so confident that “the dawn had broken” for his people, that his people were flourishing.

The burial of Sir Peter Buck on August 5 to 8 has ended an epoch of great leaders. The four-day ceremony, in which the symbolically carved bier slowly proceeded, as is the tradition for burials of great chiefs, from one historic meeting house to another, ended in the solemn interment service at Okoki, and caused all to consider just where these leaders had left the Maori people. How do the three thousand Maoris who witnessed this last farewell, and the many others scattered throughout New Zealand, really face the future? This was an occasion for the drawing of new inspiration, an occasion for taking stock.

At Otaki, in the Rangiatea Church with its strong Maori architecture, a young clergyman greeted Te Rangihiroa's ashes with a stirring oration in both Maori and English. Here, near the start of the journey was an interesting instance of the blend between Maori tradition and the new world visualised as an ideal by Buck and others and striven for now by many Maoris. Here he was conducting a service in Maori but the year before he had won a New Zealand wide contest in oratory sponsored

by the Chambers of Commerce; it was the first time that a Maori had won it and he won it, as much as possible, in the accepted European oratorical manner, but towards the end his emotions had become too strong and he had concluded his speech with a Maori haka. That this was acceptable as a winning entry to the three judges, who included a professor of English and a newspaper editor, is an interesting commentary on racial understanding in New Zealand.

The Reverend Taepa's main theme at Rangiatea Church concerned a puzzle that existed in the minds of many Maoris; why did Buck leave them? Was not his place among his own people?

Like other Maori leaders, Sir Peter Buck was interested in the survival of Maori culture, but with him the study of all the details of that culture became an obsession. He never ceased collecting material on how to make objects such as fishing tackle and sleeping mats. By 1927 he had published a mass of articles and a book on this subject and he had also become aware of the impossibility of assessing the achievement of Maori culture without studying Polynesian culture as a whole and seeing what was common Polynesian knowledge, and where the New Zealand Maori had made his distinctive contribution.

When he was offered a position as ethnologist with a five-year Polynesian research group from the Bernice Bishop Museum, Honolulu, he decided to accept, and the rest of his days were given up to a study of Polynesian culture as a whole. He was especially interested in the development of the material culture, to see what techniques the Maoris had invented themselves and what could be deduced about the great migrations.

During his visit to New Zealand in 1949, Te Rangihiroa was not at all estranged from his people in spirit. Men who stayed with him at the meeting house Mahi Tamariki at Urenui, his birthplace, say he spent the night alone and in the morning was found deep in thought, crying.

The Rev. Taepa summed all this up in his

oration by answering those who had objected to Buck's going abroad. “Did he desert us when his heart was stirred by recollections of our past: when his ears were ringing with echoes from the dead?”

The procession moved on from Otaki and on that Thursday night the ashes rested on the porch of the old meeting house at Putiki, built over eighty years ago by the great leader Te Kooti.

On Friday, the ashes reached Manukorihi, the central pa of the Taranaki tribes, and by this time the followers had increased to a crowd of several hundreds. The dairy season had begun just a week earlier and many had to compromise between their work and the gatherings. If both suffered some what neither suffered [ unclear: ] cially. Was this the balance between

modern life and Maori culture that Sir Peter Buck. Sir Apirana Ngata and the others tried to establish; the new net they took to sea?

That night guests and casket shared the fine carved meeting house and talk and song continued until four o'clock in the morning. An unprecedented and dramatic incident was the playing of tape recordings carrying the voices of Sir Peter Buck. Sir Apirana Ngata. Bishop Bennett and Princess Te Puea. When these ‘voices from the grave’ were heard by the people wrapped in their blankets in the meeting house they were overcome with silent emotion.

On Saturday Te Rangihiroa came home at last to the small earth-floor meeting house at Urenui, where he used to sleep and play as a child, and where he learned his first lessons in Maori history and tradition. It looked much the same as it did in 1880, when Sir Peter was born, and there were still many

THE REV. N. H. PAPAKAKURA—A ‘VARSITY
ROOM-MATE.

An old varsity room-mate, who has very close memories of Sir Peter Buck, is the Rev. N. H. Papakakura, whose home is now in New Plymouth.

He remembers particularly the work of the Maori mission committee formed in Otago, with representatives of each denomination, whose members travelled through the South Island. Buck was a member, and often helped Papakakura, then studying for the ministry, with his English and increased his knowledge of Europeans. “I knew I was just from the wilds,” said Papakakura.

Buck was a man of prayer, says Mr Papakakura. Through the week he worked at his studies all day and late at nights, until one or two in the morning, and always prayed before going to bed. He confined athletics to the week-ends, but still won the Otago University long jump with 24 feet.

Peter Buck coached a haka party at Otago University and acted as its leader, being very popular in the many homes to which the party was invited.

Though praising Buck's ability at teh haka, Mr Papakakura was more reserved about his singing; perhaps because Mr Papakakura himself was a professional singer of repute, who toured the United States for two years with a well-known company.

links with the past in people and settings. But when Sir Peter Buck was a child anti-British feeling about the Maori wars was still intense and the people were landless through confiscations. Later, land was restored to them and many of the hosts at Te Rangihiroa's funeral feast now have flourishing dairy farms.

The plan for the burial ceremonies on the Sunday was elaborate. Off the burial ground, the most interesting event was perhaps the dancing at Manukorihi Pa (Waitara). Apart from the group of older people, who had also performed at the Royal Visit at Rotorua, members of several youth clubs performed. One group in particular made a great impression on a very critical collection of chiefs from all over New Zealand, all watching to detect the bad as well as the good. It is high praise when such chiefs speak about a tribal group other than their own as “very good”, or “these are the ones who practised.”

I had seen this particular group being trained. The teacher was a welfare officer who had travelled 45 miles to be present. The pupils, about 60, were boys and girls from the local farms and factories. The rehearsal lasted from eight until midnight without interruption.

Many believe that at all Maori burials there are omens. Rain and storms are frequently accepted as such. There was no rain on this occasion, but two unusual incidents startled the gathering. First, the man who challenged the Governor-General broke his taiaha, and later it was placed in the vault beside the ashes. Then the door of the vault could not be opened when the casket of ashes was carried down to it by a solemn procession headed by

(Continued on page 43)

Ki te reo o matou tupuna, ko Te Rangihiroa kua hokimai inaianei ki tona u-kai-po.

Ko Te Rangihiroa kua noho tahi i tenei wa ki ona matua me ona hoa i roto i te wharekura i Matangi-reia i te Rangi Tua-ngahuru-marua o ona tupuna onamata. I a ia ka noho tahi ki a Timi Kara, ki a Maui Pomare, ki a Apirana Ngata me nga kai-arahi o te Iwi i ona ra he roa nga korero e korero ai a Te Rangihiroa. I roto i te wharerunanga o Io, i te marae o Te Rauroha; ara i roto i Whakamoe-ariki i Tikitiki-o-rangi he maha nga po e kore e moea i te korerotanga i tuhia ai e ia ki nga tuhi ataahua hei mea whakahirahira i roto i nga korero nunui o nga iwi o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa.

Kua tohungia tenei ra hei ra i whakatapua hei ra whai tikanga hoki i roto o nga tau whakamiharo, i nga tau whai hua, i nga tau whai kororia o Ta Te Rangihiroa. Na tenei ra i kawe mai ki te tuunga waewae o nga tupuna i Okoki nei nga tangata nunui o te Motu, a he honore nui he tohu whakatiketike hoki te taenga mai ki waenganui i a tatou o Te Kawana-Tianara ki te hura i te tohu i peka ke nei tona ahua me ona tohu whakamaharatanga e tu nei i tenei waahi ka tokoto nei nga pungarehu o tenei tangata rongonui. Kei te hoki i tenei wa nei o matou whakaaro mo Te Rangihiroa i tapae ake ai, i roto i nga honore huhua, i te taonga kanapanapa ara i te uru ona hei tangata tuturu i raro i nga ture o Amerika, puritia ana e ia a tae noa te mutunga ko tona piripono ki raro i te Karauna o Ingarangi. No reira ra matou e ora nei o matou ngakau ki te Kawana-Tianara mona i homai nei i te tohu whakanui ki te Iwi Maori me to ratou aitua nui a takoto nei, i a ia kua taemai nei i tenei ra hei mangai mo Kuini Irihapeti te Tuarua, te kuini manaaki e whakamoemititia nei.

Ko nga whanaunga o Te Rangihiroa o roto i a Ngati Mutunga kua mama nga whakaaro kei te ora hoki nga ngakau ki tenei whakaminenga i hui mai nei i te mea ka riro mai ki o ratou ringa nga parapara tapu o tenei o ratou i whakawhiwhia nei ki nga honore maha a i whakanuia hoki e nga iwi nunui o te ao.

I taurite ra ki ona ahuatanga i a Te Rangihiroa e ora ana i te mea kua hui mai nei nga mangai o nga iwi e rua ki tona toma ki te ata whakatakoto i ona pungarehu ki te taha i ona ake iwi o Ngati Mutunga i runga o Okoki

 

In the words of our ancestors our kinsman, Te Rangihiroa, has returned to his u kai po, the breast which sustained and comforted him in the fretful night hours of his infancy.

Te Rangihiroa is gathered to his fathers and with his comrades in Matangi-reia, the Temple of Fragrant Breezes, in the Twelfth Heaven of his Polynesian Valhalla. In the company of Timi Kara, Maui Pomare, Apirana Ngata and other contemporary leaders of the Race, Te Rangihiroa will have a long tale to tell. In the guest-house of Io, the Supreme Being, on the marae, the couryard of Te Rauroha, the Limitless Bounds of Space; in Whakamoe-ariki, the Sleeping-place of High Chiefs, in Tikitiki-o-rangi, the Topmost Heaven, many a night will pass unheeded as the story is told of a full rich life, which painted in brilliant colours and added lustre to the story of the peoples of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa—the Great Ocean of Kiwa.

This day marks a solemn and memorable occasion in the remarkable, eventful, and brilliant career of Sir Peter Buck. It has brought to the historic soil of Okoki the great ones of the land, and it is a great honour and the highest form of tribute to have His Excellency the Governor-General with us to unveil the unique and symbolic memorial which will mark the last resting-place of the ashes of a great man. We recall at this moment the fact that Te Rangihiroa could have had, among other honours, the glittering prize of United States citizenship, but he chose to remain to the end a loyal subject of the British Crown. We are, therefore, most grateful to His Excellency for honouring the Maori people and their illustrious dead by his presence here today as the representative of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second.

The Ngati Mutunga kinsmen of Te Rangihiroa are comforted and acknowledge with a thankful heart the gathering here at this hour to receive the mortal remains of one of their own who was showered with honours and received the plaudits of the great peoples of the world. It is in keeping with the life of Te Rangihiroa that representatives of both races should be gathered by his tomb to reverently place his ashes alongside his Ngati Mutunga tribespeople on Okoki—a place for ever hallowed in the stirring history of the Tokomaru

 

 

nei … he waahi hoki tenei kua whakatapuria i roto i nga korero nunui o Tokomaru me Tainui.

I te mea kua riro nei tenei tangata nui kua puare he whawharua e kore nei e mama te whakaki e matou.

Ko nga whanaunga o Te Rangihiroa o roto i a Ngati Mutunga e ora ana nga ngakau i a ratou ka hui tahi ki nga iwi maha ki te whakaputa i te mihi mo te mahi rangatira i tutuki nei i te Honore Kopata, Minita mo nga Mea Maori, i te whakahokinga mai ki Aotearoa a tae rawa mai ki Okoki nei nga pungarehu o Te Rangihiroa; a ma roto i a ia, i te Minita, a matou whakamihi ki te Kawanatanga mo te katoa o nga whakaritenga nana i whakatutuki.

He puna no te ngakau harinui he mea hoki e mama ai te pouritanga nui ki a Ngati Mutunga i te mea kua hui mai tenei whakaminenga ki te mihi ki tona aitua, a kei runga i te ngakau humarie te whakamihi atu mo nga whakanui mona i aroha nuitia nei e matou.

Mo te taha ki a Tainui me ona iwi kua taemai ra nga kaumatua me nga whanaunga o Kingi Koroki ki konei ki te tuku i nga pepeha e rite ana mo tenei aitu a ki nga hapu o roto i Taranaki me nga iwi o te waka o Aotea, koinei nei nga iwi i panui ai a Te Rangihiroa ki te ao katoa, i runga i tona ngakau hari, he iwi tuturu nona.

Kei te whakakotahi atu hoki a Tainui ki o ratou whanaunga o Ngati Mutunga ki te whakaputa i te kupu mihi mo te whakahokinga mai i nga pungarehu o Te Rangihiroa.

Kei te tukua atu a matou mihi ki te Kawana-Tianara Ta Wiropi Nori, ki te Honore Kopata, ki te Pihopa o Aotearoa, Ki nga Mema o te Paremata, ki nga tangata whakahaere tikanga nunui, o te matauranga hohonu, o te akoranga hohonu, o te whakairo korero a-tuhituhi o tenei motu whiti atu ki nga whenua o tawahi, na ratou i roto i nga ra ka pahemo ake nei a taemai hoki ki tenei ra i whakaputa nga kupu mihi nunui mo Ta Te Rangihiroa. Kei te tuku atu hoki matou i te mihi ki nga tangata whakaaro rangatira, ngakau aroha hoki i manaaki ai i a Te Rangihiroa i roto i nga tau i hua mai ai i roto i tona hinengaro etehi o ana mahi nunui i a ia e noho ana he tino manuhiri ki roto i tera iwi mana nui ki Amerika.

Nga tangata katoa i mohio i noho tahi hoki i a Ta Te Rangihiroa i pupu ake he ngakau whakamiharo mona me te whakaae he tangata nui a ia. Ratou katoa i riro i runga i te ngakau hari mo tona manahau me nga mahi whakamiharo i tutuki i a ia, a ko matou o te whakatupuranga tamariki iho i tino whakaaro nui a i aroha tuturu hoki ki a ia, e kore nei e taea e au te korero i tenei ra.

Kei te maumahara hoki matou i tenei haora nei mo tona hoa wahine mo Reiri Pakaa a ki

 

 

and Tainui peoples.

The passing of this great man has left a gap which we shall not easily fill.

The Ngati Mutunga kinsmen of Te Rangihiroa gratefully join the several tribes in expressing their gratitude for the part played by the Honourable Mr Corbett, Minister of Maori Affairs, in bringing back to Aotearoa and to Okoki the ashes of Te Rangihiroa; and, through him, we thank the Government for all it has done.

It is a source of pride and much comfort to Ngati Mutunga to share with all those gathered here their bereavement, and to acknowledge in all humility the high tribute paid to one they loved most dearly.

On behalf of the Tainui and associated tribes, the elders and members of the family of King Koroki are here to extend their condolences to the tribes of Taranaki and the people of the Aotea Canoe whom Te Rangihiroa was proud to proclaim to all the world as his own people. They also join their Ngati Mutunga kinsmen in expressing gratitude for the return of Te Rangihiroa's ashes.

Our thanks are given to His Excellency the Governor-General, Sir Willoughby Norrie, the Honourable Mr Corbett, His Lordship the Bishop of Aotearoa, Members of Parliament, leading men of affairs, of science, of scholarship, and of letters of this country and from overseas who have at various times and today paid tribute to the memory of Sir Peter Buck. We render thanks, too, to those fine and generous-hearted people who befriended Te Rangihiroa during some of the most creative years of his life whilst he was an honoured guest of that mighty nation, the United States of America.

All who came in contact with Sir Peter conceived an admiration for him as a great man. All felt the utmost pride in his inspiring character and wonderful achievements, and we of the younger generation had a presonal regard and affection for him which I must say is beyond my power to express today.

We remember, too, at this hour Lady Buck, and we feel that the manner in which the last tributes and rites have been rendered to her husband's memory will comfort her—she who shared life's joys and sorrows with Peter through the years. To Margaret we say, Aroha nui.

Te Rangihiroa's ashes are being laid to rest with befitting ritual and ceremony with the sun past its meridian and on its way to sink beyond the Tides of Kupe, off Okoki, just as he wished it to be. And I will conclude, in the time-honoured manner of our people, with some lines of a famous lament:—

My ornamental greenstone pendant,

 

 

te whakaaro iho ko nga ahuatanga o te whakanui me nga whakahaere tapu mo tona hoa tane e whakatutukiria nei ka meinga hei mea e mama ai te pouritanga nui i a ia—ko ia nei hoki ra te mea i whai waahi i roto i nga koanga ngakau me nga wa i pouri ai raua ko Pita i roto i nga tau maha. No reira ki a Makareti ka tuku atu matou i te aroha nui.

Ko nga pungarehu o Te Rangihiroa ka tukua ki te waahi e takoto ai i te wa kua titaha nei te ra i tona poutu-marotanga, a taro ake nei whakangaro atu ai ki tua o nga Tai a Kupe i waho o Okoki, ka rite pu ai ki tana i hiahia ai. No reira hei mutunga iho, i runga ano i nga tikanga nunui o mua mai a nga tupuna, ka whakahuatia ake enei kupu no roto i tetehi o nga tino tangi apakura:—

Taku tiki pounamu
Ko te huanga anake;
Taku koko tangiwai
Ka motu i te taringa;
Taku rake tihau-ora
Nau i tamoe.
Moe mai, e Pa, i runga o Aotea
Utaina atu koe
Ki te waka rangaranga.
Ngaro noa ra te rau o Te Rokuowhiti,
I tokotokona ai e koe ki mamao.
Kia tika, e Pa, i te harakeke tapu
I te Uru-o-te-ahu,
I runga o Taniko.
Ki to tupuna ra,
Kia tungia koe te whare o Uenuku;
Kia horahia iho ki te takapau kura
Ki te pu tahi
Kia Rehua na ii.

 

Alas, we but saw thee as in a dream;
My treasured eardrop of translucent jade
Cruelly torn from off my ear;
My grove of shady sheltering trees
Death hath ruthlessly trampled underfoot.
Sleep on, O Sir, on Aotea;
From here thou art being borne afar off
On a forlorn and drifting canoe.
The shimmering blade of Te Rokuowhiti
No more will flash afar.
Proceed, O Sir, and pluck the sacred leaf
That grows on Te Uruoteahu,
High up there on Taniko.
Go thence to meet your ancestor,
Until you stand in the house of Uenuku.
They will spread for you the sacred red cloak,
And you will abide there with the exalted ones
In the far-flung realms of Rehua.

Addresing His Lordship the Bishop of Aotearoa:—

E te Pihopa me o minita, tenei ra ka tukua atu nga pungarehu o Te Rangihiroa, i puta mai nei i te ahi-parapara tapu, ki o koutou ringa. Ki te reo o nga tupuna ma koutou hei whakatakoto ‘Ki te urunga te taka; ki te moenga te whakaarahia.’

(To you, O Bishop, and your clergy, we now reverently commit the ashes of Te Rangihiroa, brought forth from the sacred and purificatory ritual fires. In the words of our ancestors you are to place them on ‘The pillow which will not fall; and on the couch from which there is no rising.’)

 

Continued from page 40)

the Bishop of Aotearoa and the Governor-General. It seemed that some temporary trouble was experienced with the keys.

The Government had given help and encouragement to the ceremony and speakers expressed gratitude to the Minister of Maori Affairs, the Hon E. B. Corbett, who had carried the ashes from Honolulu and had stayed with them throughout the four days of the journey to Okoki. On each marae he made his ceremonial oration, stressing always that contemplation of the life of this great man would give the younger generation an objective in their own lives and a beacon to lead them on to further progress. The Governor-General, in his speech at Okoki, forcibly reminded the people of what many are now realising only too well: that with the deaths of Sir Peter Buck and Sir Apirana Ngata an epoch had ended. Using well-known words the Governor-General asked the challenging question: “The old net is cast aside, but where is the new net?”

Three years had elapsed between Te Rangihiroa's death and the final burial of his ashes. In the incidents with the challenger's taiaha and with the door of the vault many read a symbolising of the reluctance with which all saw the last of the great leaders of an age of leaders take his journey over the ocean of Kiwa to Hawaiki.

That the student of the Polynesian voyagers was commemmorated by a giant bow of a canoe seemed very appropriate. It stands in a lonely piece of native forest, at one with the monuments of nature. The work of man and nature is happily merged, and it is fitting that Buck wanted, with all his heart, to be in this place, where his ancestors lived and died.

The burial had brought three thousand Maoris together. His people, through the four days, felt as one with the great man who was dead, and shared the inspiration of this deep love for Maori culture which Te Rangihiroa represented.

THE LATE DICK TAIAROA

On the 9th April one of Maoridom's most notable rugby players passed away at his home in Taumutu.

Although Mr Dick Taiaroa had hung up his boots long before most of our readers were born, his name has lingered long on the lips of the enthusiasts. With his very famous brother Jack, and his great team mate and close relative, the late Tom Ellison, Dick Taiaroa contributed some of the most gloried pages in our early football history.

At the time of his passing Dick Taiaroa was 87 years of age. He had seen rugby develop from its crude infancy in the ′80s to the highly polished, overspecialised game it is today. In the early days of that development he played no small part.

Dick Taiaroa was born at the ‘Kaik’ at Otakou Heads. His father, Hori Kerei Taiaroa, was a member of Parliament and later a Legislative Councillor.

The family, while Dick was still a boy, moved from Otakou to Taumutu in Canterbury, where later Dick Taiaroa was to become a successful farmer. From Taumutu he was sent to the Christchurch Boys' High School as one of its first pupils and it was there that his career as a footballer began. It was in Wellington, however, where he trained as a surveyor, that he first attracted notice. He played at different periods for two of the three clubs then in existence, Athletic and Wellington. His kinsman, Tom Ellison—thought by many to be the greatest footballer of all time—played for the third club, Poneke.

Tales, some apocryphal, surround the name of Taiaroa and one which concerns Jack may bear retelling here.

The Taiaroas played in the days when there was no international body for the drafting of rules and New Zealand, being so far from the centre of the game, knew little of the finer interpretations.

It seems that the five-yard rule for the lineout did not then exist, and provided the ball was thrown or bounced in from touch some-where near where it went out it was considered to be in play.

The New Zealanders playing against Stoddart's visiting English team knew nothing of this ruling, and early in one game, near their goal line, they were astonished to see an English player grab the ball, bounce it a foot or two in from touch, recover it and walk across in the corner for an unimpeded try. Taiaroa was most upset at what he looked upon as an underhand trick.

A little later in the game a similar opportunity presented itself to Taiaroa, and nothing loath he seized it and scored an identical and gleeful try. Legend has it that he was heard to say, ‘My word, that rule is a good one—it will do me—this is the best game I've ever played!’

Dick Taiaroa was a member of the famous native touring team which visited England in 1888. In fourteen months in Australia, New Zealand and Britain, this team played 107 matches and lost only 23 of them. Compare this with the so-called strenuous itinerary of the 1953 team, which played about 30 games.

In addition to playing for the native team, Dick Taiaroa represented Wellington in 1886 and 1887.

He also represented his race at two Coronations—those of Edward VII and George V. He served in the South African War with the Mounted Rifles.

In the 1949 King's Birthday honours he was awarded the O.B.E.

The passing of Dick Taiaroa removed from the rugby scene one of its most colourful characters; but though he is gone his name will remain long in the annals of the sport which he decorated so well.

WOMEN IN SPORT

The national hockey tournament, national basketball tournament, and national indoor basketball tournament have all been held recently, and in each sport Maori girls were prominent.

At Nelson the hockey was most exciting, and Janie Maxwell of Auckland won a place in the North Island team and was Captain of the ‘Rest’ in the match against the New Zealand side. She is a splendid athlete and it will not be long before she wins a Dominion blazer. If a touring side were being chosen this year she would seem to be assured of a place.

Another young player to do well—although her side was not very successful—was Janie Kenny of Wellington. Janie is still a student at the Wellington Technical College, and needs to make only slight progress to go a long way in the game. Like Miss Maxwell, she is a most accomplished indoor basketball player, although a little young and inexperienced to win a place in the very strong Wellington side.

The outdoor basketball tournament at Hastings did not attract so many Maoris, but I did hear that Harriett Tomlins was one of Wellington's most reliable and consistent players. Harriett is a real trier, and, perhaps because the tournament was played in her home town, she seemed to put something more than her best foot forward.

There is little doubt that indoor basketball is the most spectacular sport played by New Zealand women. The North Island tournament played at Hamilton and the national tournament in Wellington both saw some thrilling games, and in the two strongest sides Maoris were well represented.

Wellington have two Maoris, Rangi Wallace and Mahi Potiki, and Auckland have six. Rangi is about the fastest guard in New Zealand and Mahi, who is nearing the veteran class—having first appeared for Wellington in 1942—is a most experienced and resourceful player.

In the Auckland side Janie Maxwell and May Smith are two of the stars. May Smith is exceptional. She is no youngster—her daughter was in the Auckland second team—yet she was the most prolific scorer in the tournament. May is a master of the hook shot—a shot which is almost impossible to guard—and the ease with which she very casually flicks the ball through the hoop is a constant source of amazement, even to those who see her often.

Both May and Janie Maxwell won places in the North team for the inter-island match, and May particularly played an astute game. She shot some good goals, but more important still was her feeding play to the centres. North won easily, and I would suggest that had they played to the left-hand court—and May Smith—instead of to Dawn Ashton on the right, the score would have been larger.

Not only are our girls doing so well in sport, but also it is most gratifying to find that they are both popular and respected. These girls who play in the big games are well in the public eye, and one can be proud of them both on and off the court.

Our congratulations and good wishes to them all.

RUGBY

There is no doubt that the Maori All Blacks were the major sporting attraction for Maoris last winter, and it is only proper that Te Ao Hou should mention something of their performances.

All in all both phases of the tour—six games in New Zealand and eight in Fiji—were highly successful, and my hearty congratulations are extended to the players and management.

Fiji in a remarkably short time has built up

an impressive record in international rugby, and I would very much like to see them offered a tour of the British isles and France. If such a tour could be arranged, Fiji would do well to consider ‘borrowing’ a manager-cum-coach from New Zealand. The ideal man would be Charlie Saxton of Otago, who did so much to weld the 1945 Kiwis into a devastating attacking machine.

Although we Maoris are proud of our team which beat Fiji and beat all provincial sides but Auckland in its North Island tour, it is well not to allow enthusiasm to cloud our judgment.

Wet weather in Fiji suited the Maoris, and the only test played on dry ground was won by the home team.

There has been a suggestion that the Maoris should tour Britain in the next year or two. The last such tour was in 1926, in which only two tests were played—against Wales and France.

This tour today was little publicised. Few people realise that it was an unqualified success, even though the team included very few players of international reputation.

My friend Winston ‘Scotty’ McCarthy, in a recent broadcast, said that the 1924 Invincibles and the 1945 Kiwis were the only New Zealand teams to beat Cardiff on Cardiff Arms Park.

I would draw his attention to the fact that the 1926 Maori team did so to the tune of 18–6.

This side also beat Wales in a thrilling encounter.

The thing which pleased me above all else in the 1954 Maori tour was the way our team came from well behind at Auckland to almost beat the New Zealand XV. It is a most depressing thing to be down 18–0 in the first half, and the way our team fought back shows the changing face of Maori football.

I would not give too much credence to the querulous press report which suggested that the referee favoured the Maoris, although I suspect that the New Zealand pack may have let up a little.

* * *

The distinction of being the only Maori member of a 113-strong contingent of the New Zealand Boys' Brigade which left New Zealand in June to attend the international camp of the Boys' Brigade, near London, in August, belonged to a 17-year-old Maori schoolboy, Warren Te Waka, of Palmerston North. Warren was chosen to lead and train the contingent's haka party.

From this glance at the organisation of the M.W.W.L., we can see just how closely the League follows the pattern of European Women's societies, which stand alongside the League with similar aims, doing similar work. Because of this, members and intending members of the League (and I do hope this article will encourage any women readers who have not joined the League to do so immediately), may be interested to read a little about European women's organisations in this country.

As far back as 1875 New Zealand has had voluntary organisations with aims similar to those of the M.W.W.L. Some of those arose as attempts to deal with particular problems of women and children at particular times. When the undesirable circumstances disappeared or were improved those organisations ceased to exist. Their primary function was to meet an emergency. But there were other organisations formed to deal with conditions and problems common to all women at all times, and those organisations were of a more permanent nature, many of them still functioning today. To mention a few of the best known, there are the Y.W.C.A. founded in New Zealand as far back as 1878, the W.C.T.U. founded in 1884, and the Plunket Society, perhaps the largest and most active voluntary organisation in New Zealand, founded in 1907. The Plunket Society has become such an important factor in the lives of most young New Zealand mothers that one is apt to forget that it is one of these voluntary organisations. Although Moari as well as European women benefit from the services of these organisations, none of them could be said to be similar in activity to the M.W.W.L., except in the widest possible sense.

In Auckland, in 1893, the Society for the Protection of Women and Children was founded, and soon established branches in the four main centres. The aims of this society, which are comparable to those of the M.W.W.L., are to give advice and guidance on marital problems, to protect the interests of women and children, and to give limited finacial relief in marital discord. And like all organisations, including the M.W.W.L., that work in the field of social welfare, the Protective Societies operate on two levels: they serve their own localised areas through the local branches, and they endeavour to influence the development of social services as a whole. It is on this second level that the activities of the Protective Societies and the M.W.W.L., most closely approach each other.

Two other organisations very similar in their activities to the M.W.W.L., are the Women's Institute, founded in Wellington in 1895, and

the Women's Division of the Federated Farmers of New Zealand, founded in 1925. Both have as a general aim the improvement of the position of women and children on farms, an aim shared by all rural branches of the M.W.W.L., It is only to be expected that these sister organisations have similar problems which they try to solve in similar ways. But there is a certain difference. Just what this difference is, how it gives the M.W.W.L. its unique character, and how it wholly determines the nature and scope of the League's work, we shall discuss at length in the latter part of this article.

There is one other most important detail which should be mentioned in any comparison of the M.W.W.L, and European organisations; that is the fact that the League, like European organisations, does not stand alone, but has affiliations. In the first place it is affiliated to the National Council of Women, described as ‘a national co-ordinating organisation’, which represents 121 organised women's societies and is affiliated with 375 other organisations whose aims are to promote sympathy of thought and purpose among the women of New Zealand, to co-ordinate, both nationally and locally, organisations in harmony with their purposes, and to act as a link with women in other countries. In the second place, the

League is affiliated to the New Zealand National Branch of the Pan-Pacific Women's Association, which aims among other things to arouse and foster interest in Pacific problems among New Zealand women, and to initiate organised study.

Through these two affiliations the League has gained the encouraging moral support and valuable backing of two large and well-known organisations to any innovations it may wish to bring about in Maori Welfare work, or to any general recommendations it decides to place before the government.

It is abvious that the importance of these affiliations cannot be overestimated: but the affiliation should not be a one-sided affair. Both parties should benefit. The M.W.W.L. can offer to the Pan-Pacific Women's Association first hand information regarding the problems and progress of Maori welfare work, and may even submit case-studies of individuals or groups who have struggled with and finally solved some difficult problem in their living. (I believe this has been done already.) The case studies may prove to be relevant to conditions in other parts of the Pacific, and could serve as examples of obstacles overcome. But perhaps the best indication of the League's willingness to pull its weight in this affilation is the decision of the last annual conference to nominate a delegate to the conference of the Pan-Pacific Women's Association, to be held in Manila in January of next year. Each delegate of course, is financed by her own organisation.

After this brief comparison of the M.W.W.L. with similar bodies we can deal with the question, what is the main difference between the M.W.W.L. and European women's organisations?

The answer seems obvious: the M.W.W.L. is an organisation run by Maoris for the benefit of Maoris. But this is too simple, and when loked at more closely does not really account for the difference at all. The real answer can only be found by facing up to the position of the Maori in our society.

In spite of what may be thought privately or said publicly, the Maori is in a different position from the Pakeha, no matter on what level of living you consider him—socially, economically, or educationally. And I think that statements like this should be made without any attempts to ‘cover up’ in case some one should suspect that a ‘colour bar’, or ‘racial discrimination’, or ‘anti-Pakeha feeling’ is implied. Any attention paid to those terms is in direct opposition to the best welfare work. The real difference between the European organisations and the M.W.W.L. lies in the position of the Maori in our society, a position giving rise to peculiar problems requiring extraordinary methods of solution. This seems to be the critical part of the League's work. Anything that can be done to make the Maoris' half-way position between two cultures a better one (not necessarily an easier one), whether it entails accentuating the difference between Maori and Pakeha in some cases, or minimising it in others, will give direction to all the ambitions and activities of the M.W.W.L.

When I was preparing this article, some one asked me why are the Maori WOMEN in the vanguard of welfare work? Does this imply that the status of women in the Maori community at large has changed, giving them more say in all matters Maori? Frankly, I do not know. But I would suggest that nearly all the disadvantages of the Maoris' position are felt most acutely in the home, so that it is the women, not the men, who have to cope with them daily, understand them more fully, and are most strongly moved to do something about them. If the explanation is more complex than this, if the Maori women today really have more vigour and initiative than the men, well, good luck to them!

3 matinee jackets.

2 pairs of gloves for cold weather.

In warmer weather care should be taken to reduce the weight of baby's clothing. Less woollen stuff should be worn as baby overheats the same as an adult, and often breaks out in a heat rash usualy caused by too much woollen clothing.

The use of plastic or water-proof pilchers should be condemned, as these are apt to cause an irritation of the buttocks.

Baby's Room and Cot

Baby should always sleep in a cot by himself—never in his Mother's bed—preferably in a room by himself. If a separate room is not possible for baby he must sleep in the far corner of his parent's room, so that a current of air can pass between his cot and his mother's bed. The room should be well ventilated. Baby's cot should be screened at the head to keep draughts off him, but not covered up so much that no air is admitted. Covering up baby's face while he is asleep is dangerous when the covering is of heavy materials. A mosquito net is best.

The cot should be of the open wire or wicker kind. These can be easily cleaned and conveniently carried. No drapings or frills should be used, as they harbour dust and exclude the air.

The canvas folding type of cot is frequently seen, but it is less satisfactory than the wire or wicker one. The cot should be made up with a firm horse-hair mattress, chaff mattress, and pillow; enveloping and cuddling blankets, bed blanket, small mackintosh sheet, and quilt. Soft blankets are much warmer than those that are thick and felted. In cold weather a hot water bag may be used, protected with a flannel cover, and filled with water at a temperature of 108 degrees F., placed between the mattresses (not next to baby), the stoppered end towards the foot of the cot.

Baby's clothes and equipment should be kept separate from those of the rest of the house-hold. The task will be a lot easier if he has a rom to himself, if possible. If father is handy, he can make the screen and chest of drawers for baby's clothes, the low stool for bathing and mothering, and toilet tray, the tin with a lid to cover, one other for soiled napkins and clothes.

The new born baby requires special care. For the first week he should be kept indoors, and if the weather is cold a fire may be necessary; after that he must be kept in the open air and sunshine as much as possible. If it is

fine and warm, place the cot in the garden in the shade of the hedge or a tree, or on the verandah protected by a dark screen from the glare of the sun.

In summer a mosquito net may be necessary to keep off flies and insects. If baby has to sleep in his pram during the day, see that the wheels are fixed to prevent the pram running away.

Care should be taken to see that he is not too hot. He should be placed on his side, tucked firmly and securely but with a certain amount of freedom for movement. He must not be wrapped up tight with no freedom for movement. His position should be changed every time he is attended to.

As baby gets older he can be taken out in his pram, which should be made with a ventilated wicker hood lined with green. There should be no ball fringers or rattles on the front of the pram. This is injurious to the eyes because of the constant movement when the pram is wheeled about.

Many a mother is afraid that cool air is bad for baby, and liable to give him a cold. This is far from right. Provided baby is properly clothed and accustomed to being out of doors whenever the weather permits, he is much less likely to catch a cold outside than if he were kept in a warm, stuffy room.