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No. 34 (March 1961)
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TE AO HOU
THE NEW WORLD

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY FOR THE MAORI PURPOSES FUND BOARD BY THE DEPARTMENT OF MAORI AFFAIRS

No. 4 Vol. 9 (No. 2)

THE MAORI IN PAKEHA SOCIETY

Some months ago, a New Zealand novel of distinction, Tangahano, by Frances Keinzly, showed New Zealand readers for the first time, to our knowledge, the emotions and fortunes of its characters against a background of large-scale engineering—Tangahano is a hydro-electric station on the Waikato River. Miss Keinzly claimed in her novel, successfully in our view, that the pioneering character of New Zealand life, no longer apparent in the cities, may still be discovered in these huge industrial enterprises. In this issue of Te Ao Hou, we reprint an article by A. S. Fry both in English and in Maori translation, first published in the New Zealand Listener last October, which makes it quite clear how large a part Maori men now play in these enterprises. Mr Fry goes so far as to suggest that in his assumption of dominion over the machine, the Maori is reverting to his ancient attitude towards the land: one of territorial mastery rather than respect for the soil as soil. Mr Fry demonstrates convincingly enough that the Maori has a natural affinity for machines which require some rhythmic control for their proper use: this rhythmic response is part of the Maori heritage. At all events, the large number of Maori men now managing, controlling, and performing highly skilled operations with power machines, sometimes in situations that the pakeha may baulk at, may stimulate the movement of young Maori men from the rural to the urban and industrialsed areas, where they are sorely needed.

Also in this issue, we reprint from the magazine Education the remarkable account of a Maori school childrens' tour, by E. G. Schwimmer, Editor of Te Ao Hou, at present on leave. For a fortnight, these young people from Punaruku were exposed to the whole range of pakeha society, from its large-scale industrial enterprises like the pulp and paper mills at Kawerau, to the superbly equipped Mormon school near Hamilton, and to a variety of arts, from opera and music in the classical European modes to exhibitions of modern art at the Auckland Festival. We find Mr Schwimmer's account full of remarkable insights into the Maori condition, from the moving account of the community's slow progress from reluctance to enthusiasm for the project, to the assumption of leadership by one of the most unlikely members of the party, to the alternating bewilderment and commonsense of the young people as their journey went on. Here, it seems to us, is the whole area of what has been, somewhat inelegantly, called “acculturation”: the adaptation of a people from one kind of culture to another. Mr Schwimmer's lively account leaves us in no doubt that solutions to these problems can and will be found.

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TE MAORI I ROTO I TE AO PAKEHA

No roto o enei marama tata ka puta te pukapuka a Frances Keinzly, ko Tangahano te ingoa, ko te Tanghano whare mahi hiko o te awa o Waikato ra. Katahi ano pea ka ata kitea te wairua o era tu mahi, te wairua e ki ana ko taua wahine nana i oti ai nga mahi onamata, he wairua kaore in nga taone engari kei nga mahi pera anaka me Tangahano ka kitea kei tenei putanga o Te Ao Hou ka taia ai ano ki te reo Maori ki te reo Pakeha nga korero i puta ra i te pukapuka i te Listener i tera Oketopa mo ta te Maori wahanga ki aua mahi nunui. Ko te korero a Fry, te kaitito o aua korero, ko te take pea i tino kaingakau ai te Maori ki te mahi mihini he haupa nui i te oneone, ko te nui whenua hoki to te rangatira tohu. Tetahi e ki ana ano ko taua Pakeha ma te maheni o te whakangau e reka ai te mahi a te mihini a i te mea he haka he waiata te kinaki o a te Maori mahi he hanga noa iho ki a ia te mahi. I te tokomaha o nga Maori kua tohunga ki nga rawekeweke o nga mihini nunui nana noa e kore i roto o enei tau tata ka pera noa atu te heke mai o ratou taina tuakana i noho mai ra i tuawhenua ko ianei hoki he mahi ma ratou.

Kei konei ano nga korero a E. G. Schwimmer i puta ra i te pukapuka i te Education mo to ratou haerenga ko ana tamariki kura ki te haereere. I roto o te rua wiki i kite aua tamariki i te katoa o te ao Pakeha, tae ratou ki nga mira nunui pera me Kawerau, i kite ratou i nga kura nunui pera me te kura o nga moiona kei Hamutana, i tae ratou ki te matakitaki i nga whare putunga o nga ahua me nga mea whakamiharo ona mata a i ronga hoki ratou i nga waiata me nga mea whakatangitangi whakamiharo. Ka mutu i nga korero a Schwimmer mo ta ratou haere e whakamarama ana ia i to te Maro kaupapa me te miharo o nga tamariki mo nga mea i kite ratou. Ko te whakamarama tenei mo te whai a te Maori i to te Pakeha kaupapa hei maramatanga mona.