“On to,
The threshold,
Of the lord Houmaitawhiti.”

There but now remains the speeches of welcome, and the presenting of gifts, the lighter dances of the poi, and the haka by the visiting tribes, and thence the ancient custom of welcoming distinguished visitors will have been fulfilled in respect to the Queen and her husband, Philip.

One could not help but recall the spirit of the late Sir Apirana Ngata who had for many years propounded the creed of Maoritanga. At Waitangi, the host tribes had danced the poi with the melody:—

“You are just a flower
To be plucked …”

It was one of Sir Apirana's compositions, and in today's haka or posture dances by the East Coast tribes, in his day, if Sir Apirana were present, he would have invariably been the leader. Two very famous chants are those which he always led “Ka panapana,” and “Te kura tiwaka taua.”

We must add to these two the haka by Wairangi, “Te Aea o ia rangi,” “It is Te Aea of every day fame.”

My story is almost finished. My ballad was chanted to the rhythm of the poi ball, and this was appropriate for this type of story. The poi dance is the most queenly of all our dances.

We beheld such a gem in the poi chanted by the Aotea tribes of the West coast, the melody was a ritual incantation, which is beautiful to Maori ears, and this classic was composed in the villages which have as their inspiration the snow capped peak of Taranaki mountain in the West.

The Tapuika tribes of Te Puke danced in heliotrope blue, but the Arawa team aimed at combining six rows of dances into one … to symbolize tribal unity and a unified future.

We greet the poi ball, Her Majesty twirled one in her hands, and even the Duke played with one too. The tapu has been lifted from all Arawa courtyards, as Her Majesty was graciously permitted to make a personal reply to the speech by the assembled tribes.

“Greetings to you all,” she said, “Hold fast to your language, and preserve your Maori-hood,” was another of her parting instructions.

This is the New-World, the world belonging to the youth of the Maori race.

“Upon my shoulders a cloak of kiwi feathers,
A huia fluttered from my head band,
And around my waist was a piupiu skirt,
Girdled firmly with a greenstone mere at the alert,
In my grip was a taiaha with dog hair and sharpened blade.”

These were my tickets, that enabled me to meet the Queen. My song continues:—

“To complete,
My travels,
On the island, southwards,
Twirl on, oh poiball, twirl.”