Plenty of Talent

At this time Kawana, who comes from Putiki at Wanganui, was attending a school for the blind in Wellington, learning to be a piano tuner. Like the others, he had plenty of talent, and was a versatile instrumentalist, playing the saxophone, clarinet, piano, bass and guitar.

The Hi-Fives, as they now called themselves, acquired one other invaluable asset in Wellington—their manager Charles Mather, who is one very important reason for their success. Mr Mather, a former Royal Marine, took command of the Hi-Fives after he saw them in action at a Wellington night-club where he was manager.

The Hi-Fives decided to try their luck in Australia. Kawana wasn't certain at first about going, thinking that he might be a burden to his friends. But the others persuaded him to come, and decided at the same time that if they could possibly do so, they were going to earn the money to allow Kawana to go to London to have the eye operation he needed if his sight were to be saved.

On to London

The group had planned to spend three months in Australia, but they were so successful that they were there for fourteen months. Then the Hi-Fives took the decisive step of moving on to London. Once more all went well for them; only two days after they had landed in England, they had an engagement to perform at London's Embassy Club.

It was at this stage that Mary Nimmo joined the Hi-Fives. Mary, who is from Levin, had always been very interested in singing, and was a keen musician. She had never thought seriously of a career on the stage, however, until she was engaged to sing with a band in Surfers Paradise during a holiday in Australia. It was shortly after this that she was offered the position as vocalist with the Hi-Fives, who were then in the position as vocalist with the Hi-Fives, who were then in London. A few hours later, she had packed her bags and was on a plane to London.

Success in Europe

After this the band toured France, Germany and Holland with great success. They had a part in Wald Disney's film ‘The Cast-aways’, then were booked for a tour of Sweden, Norway and Finland. Here again the story was one of success, with broken attendance records and many return engagements.

Meanwhile, back in London, Kawana Pohe was undergoing the second of the series of delicate operations necessary to save his sight. Again all went well. He had 60 per cent vision now, and could see well enough to write music. After the final operation on their next trip to London, Kawana should have nearly 100 per cent vision once more.

Shortly before their return to New Zealand, the Hi-Fives—there were already six of them—added a seventh member to their group. Peter Woolland from Wanganui is a spectacular drummer with a fabulous rhythm and an amazing technique. The only pakeha in the group, he claims he is joining them in order to show overseas audiences that there are some Europeans in New Zealand also!

Next step for the Hi-Fives is Sweden, then a tour of other European countries. Then they are heading for Las Vegas, the famous entertainment centre in the United States.

The Hi-Fives' future is bright indeed. Already, after three short years, they must be considered as New Zealand's most successful entertainment group—Maori or Pakeha—ever to travel overseas. They have achieved this by managing to combine their natural Maori exuberance, charm and musical talent, with strenuous self-discipline, adaptability, and really hard work. They have certainly earned their success.

Solly Pohatu's version of ‘Speedy Gonzales’, complete with mule, usually leaves their audience in hysterics.

An assorted group of 38 Colombo Plan and private students from a dozen different countries have visited Ruatoria as guests of the people there. The party, which consists mostly of Asians and Africans, was billeted in Maori homes for five days.

The Queen's Visit

Organisation of the hui at Waitangi and the reception to the Queen there was partly the responsibility of the New Zealand Maori Council, with the Tokerau District Council doing most of the work connected with the camp for visitors. The Council has expressed its gratitude for the work done by all those who made this such a successful occasion.

The Treaty of Waitangi

The President of the New Zealand Council, Sir Turi Carroll, was given warm support by the crowd for the importance he laid on the Treaty of Waitangi in his speech to the Queen. Consequently, the Queen's reply in which she mentioned the sacred nature of the pact between the Crown and the Maori people, was received with delight.

The Council is making every effort to see that the recognition given to Maori rights by the Treaty is maintained and strengthened in today's world.

Statutes and Legislation

It is not proposed to press the Government to write the Treaty into the country's statutes. To do so would raise all sorts of questions regarding title to land and other matters that would benefit no one but the lawyers who would have to be paid to straighten out the answers.

Present-day statutes provide a sufficiently large field in which the Council can exercise its function of protecting Maori rights. New legislation is being constantly checked to ensure that the Maori point of view is adequately considered. The Council is being helped in this by the Maori members of Parliament.

Meeting at Ngaruawahia

One of the purposes of having its most recent meeting at Ngaruawahia was to make sure the point of view of the ordinary Maori is not overlooked by the Council. It is plain that this type of meeting is going to be of great value and another is planned for Rotorua towards the end of the year. The people of Ngaruawahia showed the Council tremendous hospitality and it is hoped that the chance to meet the Council may have given them the feeling that they stand to benefit from the work it is doing for all Maoris.

Council's Work

The New Zealand Maori Council has not been formed for the good of the 24 members who represent the eight District Councils throughout New Zealand. Indeed, the members have had to sacrifice a great deal of time and work to the Council, for the benefit of every Maori in the country. One thing that they are most anxious to do is to make sure that you, the ordinary Maori reader of ‘Te Ao Hou’, know what the Council is doing and that you may feel that you can come to the Council, through your Committee, Executive and Dis-

trict Council for help in solving your own problems.

Elections next year

Under the new Maori Welfare Act, all Maori Committees (they used to be called Tribal Committees) will come up for re-election next year on the last Saturday in February. To be on the New Zealand Council a member must first be elected to his local Committee and then selected to go on to his Executive, the District Council and finally the New Zealand Council. This means that you govern the Council because you elect the Committee members from whom the Council is chosen.

How the Council affects you

The Council is dealing with very many matters, such as the effects of the Town and Country Planning Act on rural Maori housing, the protection of Urupa from desecration, the conservation of sea-foods, the law affecting Maori land. If you are on your local Maori Committee you will soon see some of the results coming through to you in the form of data papers and newsletters that will tell you in detail what is being done and that will ask for your views to be carried forward by your delegates to your Executive. The Council is out to win your support by doing what you want it to do and by being your mouth-piece in all matters that affect our well-being.

More than £1,800 has so far been given to relief funds for injured victims and dependants of the victims of the Brynderwyn Hills bus disaster, in which 15 Maori people were killed on their way home from the reception to the Queen at Waitangi.

At Onehunga £607 has been collected for the family of Mr Peter Tapene, who was a borough councillor. At Helensville, a fund organised by the Lions Club stands at £400. Lions Clubs throughout the country have been sending in cheques to this fund. In Whangarei £383/12/10 has come forward, and in Auckland a concert realised about £370, including a donation of £24 from the Auckland branch of the Women's Welfare League. Further Auckland donations should be sent to Mr P. B. Taua, Secretary of the Auckland District Council, care of the Department of Maori Affairs.

Mr B. E. Souter, Deputy Secretary for Maori Affairs and Deputy Maori Trustee, is acting secretary and Maori Trustee during the absence abroad of Mr J. K. Hunn.

Mr Hunn left last week on a six-month private holiday during which he will visit the U.S.A., Britain and Europe.

Before joining the Maori Affairs Department in 1950, Mr Souter was for three years officer in charge at Auckland in the Price Control Division, Industries and Commerce Department. He was assistant district officer at Auckland for the Maori Affairs Department from 1950 to 1954, when he was appointed district officer, Whangarei, in charge of the North Auckland Maori Affairs Department district. From there he went in 1957 to the Department's head office in Wellington as assistant secretary, later becoming Deputy Secretary.

Mr Souter is a member of the New Zealand Society of Accountants. He was for many years a prominent tennis player, and is a vice-president of the Wellington Lawn Tennis Association, a member of its management committee, and a selector. Mr Souter is also on the council of the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association.

Building of the new Maori community centre at Waipatu Pa, Hastings, is now well under way. The community centre, an ambitious project, is progressing very rapidly.

Ko wai o koutou e moohio ana ki to teenei mahi ki te rapu whare?

Ahakoa kei whea te taaone he mahi nui teenei. Naa, mehemea he taaone tino nui peenei i a Aakarana nei, kaatahi ka tino uaua rawa atu. E hara hoki i te mea he Maaori anake kei te kimi whare. Kaaore, he Haamoa, he Rarotong, he Hainamana, he Mangumangu, he Paakehaa, me ngai taaua. Ngaa momo tangata katoa o te ao e piirangi whare ana, inaianei tonu, moo raatou.

I te marama o Nooema i te tau 1962 ka tiimata maaua ko taku hoa wahine i te mahi nei. Tuatahi ka tuhia e maaua he karere hei paanui i roo nuupepa. Ko nga koorero o te paanui nei i haere peenei. ‘E hiahia ana teetahi whaamere moohio ki te tiaki whare, noo Hamutana, ki teetahi whare e toru oona ruuma moe, moo te tau kotahi e rua raanei. Me tuku ngaa whakautu moo te paanui nei ki too maaua kaainga. Ko te waea 89613.’ Naa, ka tatari maaua ki ngaa whakautu. Tino kore rawa teetahi i tae mai.

Tuarua, ka tiimata maaua ki te titiro i ngaa nuupepa o Aakarana ki te waahi paanui i ngaa whare moo te tuku. Naa eenei ka moohio maaua i ngaa utu moo te wiki e piirangitia ana e ngaa kaituku—e ono paauna, e whitu raanei, e waru, e iwa, tekau tae noa ki te tekau maa rua paauna i te wiki. Ka raruraru o maaua whakaaro i te nui rawa o te utu. Ka tiimata te whakaaro mehemea ka taea e maaua

Who of you have experienced this task of searching for a house? No matter in what town, this is an arduous affair. If the town should happen to be a very large one like Auckland then the task becomes even more difficult. You see, it is not only the Maori people who are searching for houses. No, there are Samoans, Rarotongans. Chinese, Hindus, Europeans, as well as ourselves. All breeds of men are today wanting houses.

In the month of November 1962 my wife and I started. We began by publishing an advertisement in the newspaper. The message of the advertisement went like this. ‘A good living family from Hamilton would like to rent a three bedroom house for one or two years. Send replies to our home address or ring 89–613, Hamilton.’ Then we waited for the replies. Not a single one came.

Next we began examining the advertisements section of Auckland newspapers. From these columns we learnt how much rent was being demanded by the owners—six pounds, or may-be seven, eight, nine, ten and upwards to twelve pounds per week. The high rents troubled us somewhat. We began to wonder whether we could still manage to pay our bills, for food, power, telephone rentals, and such like. We looked at the papers every day.

Now here is one which may be all right—six pounds ten shillings is the weekly rental.

te utu o a maaua nama, araa moo te kai, moo te hiko, moo te waea, me eeraa atu mea. Ia raa, ia raa, ka titiro maaua, ka titiro.

Teeraa pea he pai teenei e ono paauna, tekau herengi te utu. He whare e toru ngaa ruuma moe, kei Henderson e tu ana. Ka riingi atu maaua. Ko te whakahoki mai, kua riro kee. Aa, kaati, me titiro anoo. Anei teetahi kei Te Atatuu. He whare e rua ngaa ruuma moe. E ono paauna te utu i te wiki. Engari ko te tangata naana i paanui he tangata hokohoko whenua, hokohoko whare. Me peehea, me riingi atu? Aae. Ka riingi atu maaua. Ko te whakahoki, ‘Kaare e taea te koorero atu inaianei. Me haere rawa mai koe ki te reehita i too ingoa ki roto i o maatou pukapuka. Naa, kia mutu teenei, kaatahi taatou ka koorero’.

‘E kii, me peenei kee!’ Ko ahau teenei.

Ka titiro anoo maaua i te nuupepa. Kei Maungawhau teetahi whare hou, e toru oona ruuma moe, kaaore he taputapu o roto, e tata ana ki ngaa toa, ki ngaa pahi, ki te kura moo ngaa tamariki. He karaati toona moo te motokaa. Ka whakaaro maaua, ka pai hoki teenei. Me riingi atu kia moohiotia te utu moo te wiki. Naa, ka riingi atu.

Ka kii atu au, ‘Teenaa koe. I kite ahau i too paanui i te nuupepa o te rangi nei, araa, too paanui i too whare hei tuku. E rapu whare ana ahau. He aha te utu moo te wiki moo too whare i paanuitia nei?’

Ka whakahoki mai te kaituku, ‘Tekau paauna i te wiki!’ Kaa kii atu au, ‘Aa, teenaa anoo koe, e hoa! Hei konei ra!’ E toru herengi me te hikipene te utu moo te waea nei.

Ka roa e peenei ana, ka whakaaro maaua me tuku anoo he paanui ki te nuupepa. Teeraa pea ka kitea e te tangata, ka riingi mai. Ka tukua taa maaua paanui Ka ahatia? Kore rawa i arotia e te tangata, ka riingi mai. Ka tukua taa maaua paanui Ka ahatia? Kore rawa i arotia e te tangata. Tekau maa toru herengi eenaa kua haere ki te poo tangotango, ki tua o te aaral. Kua wehe atu i a maaua, kua haere pea ki teetahi whenua aataahua, nui atu te whare!

Naa, ka whakaaro maaua kaaore he painga o te mahi nei. Kua riingi atu maaua i ngaa taangata maha, kua paanui maaua i o maaua hiahia i roo nuupepa. Kaaore rawa he painga. Ko te koorero inaianei, me haere maaua ki Aakarana ki te kite aa tinana i ngaa taangata tuku whare, aa, kia kite hoki i ngaa whare. Ka riingi atu ki te aapiha toko i te ora, ka koorero atu i too maaua hiahia. Ko taana whakahoki, aae, me haere mai maaua ki Aakarana, maana hei whakatikatika.

It is a house of three bedrooms and it stands at Henderson. We rang through to the owner. His reply, the house had already been taken. Well then, there is nothing to do, but to start looking again. Here is one at Te Atatu. It is a two bedroom residence. Six pounds per week. The man who advertised it is a land agent. What should one do, ring him? Yes. We rang him. And his reply, ‘We cannot tell you anything more about it. You come in to our office and register your name in our books. When this is done we shall tell you all you want to know.’

‘Is this how you do things?’ This was me asking.

We looked at the newspaper again. A new house at Mt Eden was advertised with three bedrooms, unfurnished, handy to the shops, to buses, to a school for the children. It has a garage for the car. We thought, this looks good. We should ring through and find out how much the weekly rent is. We rang through.

I said, ‘Good morning; I saw your advertisement published in today's newspaper. I refer to your house to let. I am wanting a house. What is the rent for your house?’

The owner replied, ‘ten pounds a week!’

I said, ‘Well, good morning again, friend’. ‘Goodbye!’ The ring cost me 3s. 6d.

We had been going like this for some days now when we thought we should publish another advertisement. Perhaps people will see it this time and they will ring us. So we sent our advertisement. What happened? Not one person saw it. Thirteen shillings crossed into the night of blackness, across the great divide. They parted from us, going perhaps to a glorious land where there were lots of houses!

We thought this was no good. We have rung numerous people and we have advertised in the newspapers. Absolutely no luck. The plan now is that we should go to Auckland so we could deal personally with the agents or owners and actually see the houses.

On the Saturday we set off in our car for Auckland. On arrival we discovered the name of a land agent who might be able to supply our need. Then we went to the man's office at the bottom of Queen Street not far from the Chief Post Office. We entered. The fellow said, ‘Good morning! Wait a bit, it shan't be long. Would you mind waiting outside here please.’ We waited for some time and then out came an old Paakehaa man who looked a bit shabby. What he wanted was of course the same as we wanted. Now that the land agent was clear we entered his office, and we all

I te Haatarei ka whakatika mai maaua, maa runga i too maaua motokaa, ki Aakarana, ki te kaainga o taua taangata. Tae atu, ka koorero mai ia ko wai te tangata kaihokohoko whenua, hei whakarite i o maaua hiahia. Naa, ka haere maaua ki te kaainga mahi o te tangata nei, kei raro o Queen Street, tata tonu ki te Poutaapeta Nui. Ka kuhu atu maaua. Ka kii mai taua tangata, ‘Teenaa koorua! Taihoa, kaaore e roa ka waatea ahau. Me whanga mai koorua i waho naa!’ Ka whanga maaua, aa ka puta mai ki waho teetahi koroheke Paakehaa, paruparu nei te aahua. Ko taana hiahia peeraa anoo i too maaua. Naa, ka waatea te tangata tuku whare, ka haere atu maaua ki tana ruuma, ka taki noho ki raro.

Ka koorero mai taua tangata, ka rere aana paatai. He aha te momo whare e piirangi ana maaua? Tokohia ngaa tamariki? He aha te utu ka taea e maaua, ia wiki, ia wiki. He motokaa anoo too maaua, me eeraa atu paatai. Kii tonu tana ruuma i te toroa mau kaari. Ka haere toona ring ki teetahi o ngaa toroa, ka kumea mai ki waho. Kei roto i te toroa nei eetahi kaari aahua nui ake i te kaari purei moni. He tuhituhi kei runga i ngaa kaari nei, e paa ana ki ngaa whare tuku kei a ia. E hia ngaa ruuma moe, peehea te tawhito, he kaainga pai wehi raanei, he karaati raanei, te ingoa o te tangata noona ake te whare, te nama o toona waea, te utu i te wiki, me eetahi atu koorero—kei runga i ngaa kaari nei.

Ka tirohia e ia ngaa kaari nei, me te koorero mai ki a maaua moo te uaua o te mahi nei, moo te nui hoki o te utu moo te whare tootika. I kii ana ko ia, teeraa anoo teetahi mea nui ki a ia ki te kaituku, ko te moohio o te tangata ki te tiaki whare. Kia pai tonu, kia maa, kia koa ai ngaa ngaakau o ngaa kaituku. Ko eetahi taangata hoki he paruparu, he waawaahi taonga, he turituri. He paatii tonu te mahi, ka umere ngaa waha, ka takahi ngaa waewae, ka patua ngaa waahine, ka rere te kangakanga. Naa, ka kino ngaa taangata noho tata atu ki aua mahi, ka kohete i te kaituku. Ka mea atu ahau, ehara maaua i te taangata mahi peeraa. Ka whakahoki ko ia, e moohio ana ia.

Ka kumea mai e ia, eetahi o ngaa kaari nei hei titiro maa maaua. Ko ngaa utu moo raatou e rima paauna tekau herengi, e ono paauna raanei. Ka tuhituhia ngaa koorero moo ngaa whare nei, me ngaa tohutohu kei hea. Ka kii mai taua tangata, ‘Naa, me haere koorua ki te titiro i ngaa whare nei. Mehemea e pai ana teetahi ki a koorua me riingi mai koe ki ahau, aa, me utu mai ki ahau ngaa moni

sat down.

He spoke to us, asking many questions. What kind of house did we want? How many children? What rent can you pay each week? Have we a car, and so on. His room was full of filing cabinets. His hand went towards one of these and he pulled it out. In the drawer were some cards a little larger than playing cards. Upon the cards were some writing concerning houses to let, which he had. How many bedrooms, the age, whether it was a good or undesirable home, whether it had a garage, the name of the owner of the house, the number of this telephone, the weekly rental and some other facts—this is what was on the cards.

He perused the cards, talking to us as he did so of the difficulties of this business and how expensive decent houses were. He said a big thing as far as he was concerned, was whether a person knew how to look after a house. He should be careful and clean so as to gladden the hearts of the owners. Some people were dirty, destructive, and noisy. They were always partying, yelling their mouths off, stamping their feet, breating their wives and using foul language. This kind of thing angers the neighbours and they have arguments with the owners. I assured him we were not people of that kind. He replied that he knew we were not.

He pulled out several cards for us to look at. Rentals for these were £5 10s. to £6. He wrote down some facts about these houses together with some directions to locate them. The man said, ‘Now you go and have a look

moo te wiki tuatahi. Mehemea he wehi rawa ngaa whare nei, kaaore koorua e piirangi, ana, e pai ana teenaa, kaaore he utu moo te titiro.’ Haere ana maaua.

Naa, ko teetahi o ngaa whare nei, i Birkenhead e tuu ana, i raawaahi o te taaone o Aakarana. Ko te whare nei kaaore i tino pai ake i te whata kaanga, i te whare kurii raanei. Ai, ko te paruparu, me te karukaru, me te tino koroua o teenei whare, ka whakaaro ahau mehemea moo a maaua heihei te kaainga nei ka tika taa maaua hara mai ki te titiro. Ko te utu moo te wiki moo taua whare kurii nei, e rima paauna tekau herengi.

Teeraa anoo teetahi o ngaa whare nei, i te tahataha o te hiwi kei reira nei te kaareti o Kuini Wikitooria. Ko te mate o teenei kaainga he teitei rawa, he uaua moo te piki atu, kaare i tino pai moo te tamariki. Kaaore maaua i piirangi ki ngaa whare a te tangata ra.

I te ahiahi ka hokona mai e maaua te nuupepa moo te ahiahi, ka titiro i ngaa paanui mo te whare tuku. Ka haere maaua ki teetahi pouaka waea ki te riingi atu ki ngaa kaituku. I muri mai ka haere maaua ki te titiro i ngaa whare nei, aa, poo noa.

Naa ngaa mahi o teenei raa, ka moohio maaua e kore e taea te whare tootika i te ono paauna i te wiki, i te ono paauna tekau herengi raanei Me nuku atu te reti i teenei, kaatahi anoo ka tata atu ki ngaa whare papai.

Mutu ana te Kirihimete, ka nuku mai maaua ko taku hoa, ki Aakarana noho ai. Ko te whakaaro me noho tata tonu ki ngaa whare nei, kia maamaa ai te haere ki te titiro. Ko teenei mahi hoki e rite ana ki te omaoma whakataetae. Ka tae wawe ngaa mea kakama ki te oma, araa, ngaa mea noho tata; ka mahue ki muri ngaa mea tawhiti ngaa kaainga. E toru ngaa raa he riingi te mahi, he haere ki te titiro whare, he hoko nuupepa. Te kitea teetahi whare moo maaua, kore rawa!

E haere ana maaua i te taaone i teetahi rangi, ki te haereere, aa, ki te maatakitaki hoki i ngaa taonga miharo o Aakarana, ka kite maaua i teetahi paanui he mea peita ki runga i te wini. Ko te paanui nei e whakaatu ana i te ingoa o eetahi taangata reti whare, hokohoko whare. Ka whakaaro maaua he pai tonu pea me haere atu maaua kia kite he aha ngaa whare kei a raatou moo te reti, kei tuupono noa, kei a raatou eetahi whare aataahua, ngawari te utu. Ka whakatika atu maaua ki te kuaha, aae, e puaki ana. Ka kuhu atu maaua. E rua ngaa waahine e whakahaere ana i te mahi nei. Kii tonu too raaua i te auahi o a raaua hikareti. Ka rere ngaa mihi, me to

at these houses. If you find one which you like ring me, and then pay me the rent money for the first week. If the houses are funny and you don't like them, that would be all right as there is no charge for booking.’ So off we went.

Now one of these houses was at Birkenhead on the other side of the city of Auckland. This house was not much better than a shed used for storing corn, or a dog kennel. It was dirty, raggedy and so ancient that if we were looking around for a house for our hens, then this was the place. The weekly rental for this dog keenel was £5 10s.

Another house was on the side of the hill where stands the college of Queen Victoria. This place was too high up, difficult to get to, and quite unsuitable for children. We didn't like any of the houses that man offered.

In the afternoon we bought an afternoon paper and looked up the advertisements section. We went to a telephone box and rang some of the owners. Later we went to look at the houses until dark.

The activities of this day convinced us that we could not get a decent house for £6 per week nor even £6 10s. We would have to pay higher than this to get the beter kind of house.

Soon after Christmas my wife and I shifted in to Auckland to stay. The idea was that we should stay close to where the houses are so it would be easy to go and see them. This business is somewhat like a racing competition. Those smart off the mark get there first, that is, those who live close by; the folk who live a long way out are left behind. For three days we rang people, we loked at houses and we bought newspapers. Do you think we could find a house for ourselves, no!

We went to the city one day, for a stroll and to do some window shopping, when we spotted a sign painted on the window. The sign was advertising the name of some people who let and sell houses. We thought perhaps we should go and see them just in case they have some good houses with reasonable rent. So we headed towards the door, yes, it was open. We entered. There were two women running the business. Their room was full of cigarette smoke. The greetings flew and so did the hand which held the cigarette.

From behind the smoke of her cigarette one of the ladies asked, ‘What can we do for you?’

My wife replied, ‘we would like a house to let. We thought that perhaps you had some

haere tonu o ringaringa mau hikareti.

I muri i ngaa auahi o toona hikareti, ka paatai mai teetahi o ngaa waahine nei, ‘He aha too koorua piirangi?’

Ka mea atu taku hoa, ‘He whare reti too maaua hiahia. I whakaaro maaua teeraa pea kei a koorua eetahi whare tootika, ngaawari te utu, hei titiro maa maaua.’

Ka koorero anoo te wahine nei, me te auahi mai, ‘Nui atu ngaa whare kei a maatou, engari mehemea e hiahia ana koe ki te titiro i eetahi o ngaa whare nei, me utu mai koe i too moni reehita—e toru paauna me te toru herengi. Maa teenei e whakapuaki mai ki a koorua, ngaa koorero moo ngaa whare nei. Nui atu ngaa whare kei a maatou. Ahakoa he aha too hiahia, kei a maatou he whare moou. Ko ngaa utu mai i te rima paauna tae atu ki te tekau maa rua. Kia moohio mai koorua e kore o maatou whare e piiti i eetahi atu o Aakarana nei. Utua mai te moni reehita, ka hoatu e au, ngaa korero moo ngaa whare nei.’

I a ia e koorero nei e puta mai ana te auahi i toona ihu, i toona waha, tata tonu i oona taringa. He auahi te kai! Ko teetahi mahi anoo aana he whakatikatika i oona moohiti, ahakoa te tika o te noho mai i rung i tana ihu. Ka whakaaro ahau, naa te aorere kee te haere a teenei wahine! Kua kite ahau i te wahine peenei i roto i ngaa pikitia Amerikana. I teenei raa kua kite aatiana ahau.

Ka koorero atu taku hoa, ‘He pono too koorero e koorero mai naa koe? He whare tootika aau hei titiro maa maaua, kaaore raanei?’

Ko te wahine auahi, ‘Utua mai too moni reehita, ka kite ai koe’.

Naa, i paatai peenei ai taku hoa, naa te mea kua rongo maaua i ngaa korero whakatuupato a oo maaua hoa. Ko taa raatou korero mai i peenei naa. Kauaa e utua he moni kia kite raanoo koe i ngaa whare. Mehemea ka utu koe i too moni i mua, ka tonoa koe ki te whai whare keehua, araa, he whare kua riro noa atu i te tangata. Ka moumou too moni, ka kataina koe e te iwi whaanako nei, naa too rorirori ki te hoatu noa i too moni. Ko te koorero o aa maaua hoa, he tino mahi naa te hanga nei teenei, ki ngaa Maaori, me oo taatou huaanga o Haamoa, o Rarotonga, me eetahi atu whenua o te Moananuiakiwa. Naa, kia tuupato koorua, kia tuupato, kia tuupato.

I a maatou e koorerorero nei kei te paatootoo mai ngaa koorero whakatuupato nei ki oo maaua maahunga. Ka mea atu au ki te wahine ra, ‘Hei aha, ka haere maaua ko taku hoa ki waho ki te whiriwhiri i te take nei’. Haere ana

good houses with reasonable rent for us to look at.’

The lady spoke again with the smoke clouds rising, ‘we have lots of houses, but if you want to look at them we would like you to pay in a registration fee—three guineas. When this is done we will be able to tell you about the houses. We have many houses. No matter what you may want, we have the house for you. Our rentals range from £5 to £12. We would like you to know that our houses will compete with the best in Auckland. Now just your registration fee and I shall give you the addresses of these houses.’

As she spoke the smoke was issuing forth from her nose, from her mouth, and very nearly from her ears. There was smoke everywhere. Another thing she did was to continually adjust her glasses even thought they sat perfectly upon her nose. I thought, here is a woman who travels at the speed of aeroplanes. I had seen women like this in American pictures. This day I was face to face with one.

My wife spoke, ‘Is what you are saying true? Do you have some good houses for us to look at, or not?’

The smoky lady said, ‘Pay your registration fee and you shall see’.

Now my wife had asked in this particular vein because we had heard the warnings of our friends.

What they said went something like this. Don't pay over any money unless you have seen the houses first. If you pay your money first you will be sent to find some ghost houses, that is, houses long since occupied by others. You will waste your money and the thieves will laugh at you, at your stupidity in parting

maaua, ka toe teenaa toru paauna.

Noo muri noa mai i teenei, ka tuutaki au i teetahi Maaori o Rarotonga i mau i te hiinaki a te hanga nei. Ka puta mai taua tangata ki too maaua whare, naa eetahi taangata tuku whare i tono mai ki te titiro. Ko too maaua whare tetahi o ngaa whare keehua e rima i hoatu ki a ia. Ka moumou taana toru paauna me te rua paauna i runga ake moo te rere haere maa runga tekehii!

Kua roa maaua e rapu whare ana inaianei, aa, kua tiimata te manawa paa o te ngakau, te aawangawanga, me te hoohaa. Ka kitea raanei he whare moo maaua, kaaore raanei? Peehea atu te roa, e waimaria ai maaua? Ka whakaaro maaua me tuku anoo he karere ki te nuupepa me kore e waimaria i teenei paanuitanga. Me aata whakatakoto pai a maaua kupu i teenei taaima. Me kii peenei naa maaua, maa maaua e tiaki te whare, te tekihana, ngaa kaari, mehemea ka tukuna mai ki a maaua te whare. Ka tuhia taa maaua paanui, katahi ka tukunu atu ki te nuupepa.

Wera ana taa maaua maea i te putanga mai o taa maaua paanui. Ka wehewehea e maaua ngaa whare i waeatia mai. Ko eetahi he nui rawa te utu, ko eetahi kaaore e piirangi tamariki ahakoa he Maaori he Paakehaa raanei, ko eetahi kaaore e tukuna mai ki te Maaori, ka toe mai e whaa pea hei titiro maa maaua. Naa, kaaore i roa ka kitea he whare moo maaua, aa, mutu ana taa maaua mahi rapu whare. E rua rau maero i haerea e maaua i te mahi tirotiro whare. Ko ngaa moni i pau, tekau paauna pea, nuku atu raanei. Mehemea i te tiimatanga kaaore koe i moohio ki ngaa aahuatanga o teenei mahi, o te rapu whare, ko te tuumanako, kua moohio koe inaianei.

so easily with your money. Our friends informed us, that this was a favourite trick played by these rogues on Maori people and upon our relatives of Samoa, Rarotonga and of other lands of the Great-sea-of-Kiwa. Now, you two be careful, be careful, be careful.

As we were speaking the words of warning were knocking at our heads. I said to that woman, ‘never mind, my wife and I will go outside to discuss this matter’. So we went, and saved our three pounds.

It was a long time after this, that I met a Maori of Rarotonga, who was caught in their eel trap. The fellow turned up at our house; he had been sent by land agents to look at it. Our house was one of five ‘ghost’ houses he had been given. His three pounds were wasted as well as an additional two pounds for flying around on a taxi.

We had been seeking a house for some time now and we were beginning to become apprehensive, worried and bothered. Would we find a house for ourselves, or not? How much longer will it be before we have some luck? We thought, perhaps we should send another advertisement to the newspaper and we may be more fortunate this time. We would word our message very carefully this time. We would say. that we were prepared to look after the house, the section, the garden, if they let their home to us. We wrote out our advertisement and duly sent it.

When the advertisement appeared, our telephone was hot. We separated into classes the houses which we were offered. Some were too expensive, some didn't approve of children whether they were Maori or Pakeha, others would not let to a Maori, and we were left with four to go and see. It wasn't long after this when we found a house and our search for a house was over. In all we travelled 200 miles looking at houses. The money used up in the search was about £10 or even more. If at the beginning you knew nothing about this business. I hope you know something now.

A magnificent greenstone mere of the great Ngati Toa chief, Te Rauparaha, has been presented by the Wineera family of Porirua to the Dominion Museum, Wellington.

Te Rauparaha died at Otaki in 1849 after a life of adventure and conquest. The Wineera family are five generations removed from Te Rauparaha, and are his only living descendants.

The name of the patu pounamu is Tuhiwai. It is 16 inches long and estimated to be worth several hundred pounds. It was believed by some to possess very special qualities of divination, for it was said to become a light green colour as an omen of good and dark green as an omen of evil.

History took an ironic twist in Taupo when the future of the old courthouse was being settled. From serving the Armed Constabulary during the closing stages of the Maori Wars, the old building has come down through the hands of the Justice Department into the care of the Taupo-nui-a-Tia Maori Youth Club.

Angry Weather

Then the storm came. Tremendous waves broke high over the beach, right up the sand dunes. They left behind a great slimy mess of dark-brown sea-weed, strewn for miles over the dirty-grey sand. The clay road leading up to the church was a quagmire. On May 1 when the ceremonies were due to take place it was quite impossible for any vehicle to negotiate the angry beach or the sullen road. Even the next day, the journey was extremely hazardous—a memorable one for all who dared it.

He who dared most was Simon Urlich, a black-bearded giant direct descendant of Hiione, one of the first Maori teachers trained by the Rev. Joseph Matthews, and a greatgrandson of the first Maori priest. It was at

4 a.m. and still pitch-black, bitterly cold and raining heavily when Simon drove his lime-works truck to the end of the beach to pick up the Primate and his company. Following his directions they all piled in or on the truck and set off, trying to ignore the crested waves washing round the wheels. Many of them kept their eyes closed the whole four miles, in prayer no doubt.

The consecration of the church was a very impressive ceremony. All the priests were decked in full regalia, and as many people as possible crowded into the church to participate. The altar, the font, the chancel and the sanctuary, the altar book and the service book were blessed each in turn by the Archbishop. Then the Bishop of Auckland, assisted by the late Rev. Paki Tipene, celebrated the Holy Communion. The Archbishop's sermon was translated by the late Bishop Bennett. The Maori Bishop then gave a Maori address which was much appreciated. Deeply moved the congregation filed in procession right round the church, both inside and out.

Celebrations Afterwards

Traditional feasting and oration followed, and these would have lasted much longer if the weather had been kinder. As it was there was much anxiety over the continued deterioration of the weather and the dismal prospect of the return journey. These important visitors had other engagements so after many warm farewell speeches they had to go. Apart from a few minor mishaps the return journey was uneventful.

In earlier days the Maori teachers travelled regularly each Saturday to receive spiritual guidance and instruction from Rev. Matthews at Kaitaia. He helped them prepare their sermon, advised them on methods of teaching, and solved many practical problems for them. Then the assistants returned immediately to take Sunday services on their own isolated communities.

In the 1891 list of Maori teachers, Rangiawhia was served by Reihana Ngatote and Raharuhi Ihaia, and the Maori clergy taught by Joseph Matthews includes the Rev. Meinata Te Haara, Reihana Ngatote, Renata Tangata, Reihand Paora Kamioi, all of whom have direct descendants living in the same place today.

Since those early mission days the people have been loyal to the Anglican faith. It was no easy task to build this church on the hill. Over nearly forty years, money was slowly accumulated and held in trust by members of the Reihana family. The fine site commanding Merita Bay and Cape Karekare was given by the Reihana family and the church itself can be seen from miles away.

In 1946, under the direction of Ruki Stevens, with the freely given labour of all the men on the peninsula the church began to take shape. It was constructed in conventional style, with native timbers and it measures approximately 60 £ 40. A very large mat, woven in sections by the women, completely covers the sanctuary. When build the church was entirely free of debt — no mean feat — and no wonder the people are proud of their work.

Today, the church on the hill is in good heart. It has indeed become the symbol of progress and vitality in that small but now prosperous community.

?

A Maori farming incorporation in the Puha Gisborne, is currently the top supplier to the Kia Ora Co-operative Dairy Company's factory. In one month recently the block achieved an output of 6,850lbs. of butterfat.

Comprising the personal estate of the late Mr Mahaki Brown, the block—known as Tapui—was incorporated some time ago with 10 beneficiaries and is operated by a commitee of management on their behalf. It conducts dairying operations on two portions of the block of a combined area of 266 acres, with 100 acres of hill-country run-off for dry stock.

This season the incorporation is running 160 cows, milked in two sheds, and uses the labour of beneficiaries and their families.

?

The memory of the late Mr Puataata Alfred Grace, O.B.E., has been perpetuated by the unveiling at Hirangi Pa, situated between Tokaanu and Turangi, of a memorial tombstone and flagpole. Mr Grace, who died in 1959, was a man of outstanding gifts who served the Maori people faithfully for many years.

In the presence of a large gathering of people from many parts of the North Island, the memorial was unveiled by the Associate-Minister of Finance, Mr D. C. Seath, and dedicated by the Bishop of Aotearoa, the Rt. Rev. W. N. Panapa.

Alan Armstrong, of Wellington, is joint author (with Reupena Ngata) of ‘Maori Action Songs’. A second book, ‘Maori Games and Hakas’, is to be published shortly. This article is the first of two in which he discusses the teaching and presentation of action songs and hakas. The second article will appear in our next issue.

Technique a Necessity

Technique is important when teaching both haka taparahi and action song. Often they are taught extremely badly if the end result is any criteria. Too often, teaching consists merely of performing the item over and over again with perhaps a few experienced performers carrying the rest. Faults are left to iron themselves out, and of course they never are corrected, and so mistakes are perpetuated into actual concert and even competition performances.

Explaining the Item

It is very important that performers understand the nature and significance of the items which they are to learn. When this is neglected, the result is an unconvincing performance and vague actions because performers do not understand what they are trying to say. Even quite competent users of colloquial Maori cannot translate without help the literary style affected in some taparahi and waiata where archaic words and usage serve to obscure the meaning for present-day speakers of the language. Therefore an item must be introduced before it is taught and at least a general explanation, if not a line by line translation, given to the performers.

The Words

Haka and action song are above all the expression of a message—a message of the soul. It is the words which convey this message. The actions are merely a vehicle for the words—a means of emphasis which express little in themselves. If the words do not reach the audience then, to a Maori, the whole performance is meaningless and sterile. Many of the best teachers begin their teaching session first with practice in vowel sounds. Maori speech today has become so corrupted by the flat, tight-lipped English vowel sounds that some vocal limbering up is very important when there are a high proportion of young people in a group.

The next step is to learn the words thoroughly before the actions are attempted. There is often a great urge to get onto the actions quickly and the result is either mumbled in-

distinct words, because everyone is busy watching the leader and learning the actions, or poor actions, because performers have their eyes glued to a blackboard. Difficult lines must be broken down and the beats and breath pauses explained. How often have you heard a difficult haka such as Ruaumoko where lines such as ‘I patukia ki te tipua ki o Rangitopeka, pakaru te upoko o Rangitopeka’ tail off to a miserable mumble? Leaders must listen carefully and note slurring and faltering which marks uncertainty with words. Unless such faults are corrected early they are difficult to eradicate and can persist for a long while. I attended the initial practices of the group which welcomed the Queen at Waitangi this year. We spent two whole afternoons on words —without learning a single action!

The Actions

Just as it is a good idea to practice sounds, so it is often helpful—particularly when there are a number of inexperienced members in a group—to carry out practice exercises before getting on to the actions of the song or haka. These exercises allow everyone to limber up, gives novices confidence and allows the group leader to move around correcting common faults in posture and execution.

When the time comes to learn the song, etc., actions are too often merely repeated time after time. Initially the song or haka should be broken down line by line or into groups of lines, the actions of each being taken through slowly with the performers following. Difficult actions must be fully demonstrated and performers given a few minutes to practise in their own time, those in difficulty being corrected by the more experienced. Opinions differ as to whether items should be practised in correct tempo from the very beginning. Many teachers favour taking items with difficult words and/or actions through more slowly at first. The disadvantage of this is that it makes the correct speed more difficult to establish later and performers tend to slow down during the course of an item to the original practice tempo even after the correct beat is established and practised.

Correcting Faults

The important thing is that faults are straightened out as the rehearsal progresses. Nevertheless it is best not to correct individuals whilst the rest of the group waits. This will cause novices in particular to lose confidence. Specific faults in individuals are best brought to notice by a general reference to them for the benefit of all. This generalised correction should however be supplemented by experienced performers moving around during the course of the item correcting individual errors and helping those in difficulty.

Novices are usually understandably reluctant to get into the front, and hide away at the back where they can neither see nor be seen, and have their faults corrected. Spread the performers out, and allow plenty of space between rows and individuals. Sprinkle experienced performers amongst the inexperienced.

The Leader

The leader is the conductor of our orchestra, yet often he cannot be seen by the musicians. He should stand on a table or chair. Whether the leader faces or turns away from the group during practice is a matter of controversy. Many performers find it difficult to follow when the leader is facing and making his movements in opposite directions to them. When he turns away of course his actions are partially obscured. If the leader does lead with his back to the group then it will first be necessary for a careful demonstration of actions whilst facing the group. The ideal at rehearsals is to have two leaders—one facing, and the other turned away from the group.

Summary

In summary therefore a suggested sequence of teaching is:

First: Introduce the item. Mention its history if known and give some idea of its meaning and significance.

Second: Do some vocal exercises, then thoroughly practise the words without actions.

Third: Do some practice exercises to limber up.

Fourth: Get some of the experienced performers to do a demonstration of the complete item, words and actions.

Fifth: Practice the actions, slowly at first and line by line.

There is nothing new here. This all adds up to learning gradually but thoroughly and taking nothing for granted. Check faults and never be satisfied with anything less than perfection.

Helpful Information

In September 1961 Miss M. Toia, chief instigator of the project, went to Waiwera with two Maori mothers to a Supervisors' Refresher Course which proved most helpful and they returned to their community bursting with use ful information.

The Committee anticipated opening on the first school day of 1962 but sand and other equipment did not arrive in time so opening day was delayed till 14 March 1962, when eight children were enrolled.

Children at Te Ahu Ahu having their lunch outside in the sun. The Playcentre is only one year old, but it has already proved a great success.

The sessions started with Supervisor, mother helpers and children all learning this new way of life together. The sessions lasted from 9.30 a.m. till 12.30 p.m., and within those three hours the children had really explored everything within the centre, and by the time the May school holidays came around the parents and the children were confident that they would succeed.

Mrs Gwen Andrews, Northland Liaison Officer, paid us a visit in April and brought with her Mr David James of Adult Education, and with his help, most of the mothers were able to have their four introductory talks which are so necessary to enable them to do their duties at Playcentre sessions. He also showed films on painting, child behaviour at different age groups, and nursery organisations in other countries. These proved most interesting as they gave us a clearer understanding of our children and both Mrs Gwen Andrews and Mr David James have our sincere thanks.

In May, Te Ahu Ahu-Waimate North Playcentre became a life member of the Maori Education Foundation Fund.

Books were also added to the Playcentre in May and Maori children were just thirsting to know what were between those two covers. Story reading is always a favourite period especially to the 3 ½-5 year olds. There was utter silence when a story was being read and many were the times when it just had to be re-read again just to make sure that what happened to Black Sambo really did happen.

On 19 June 1962 the Te Ahu Ahu-Waimate North Playcentre was officially opened by Mrs G. Somerset, Dominion Advisor of Playcentres in New Zealand, and it was a great day with people from all walks of life present.

After the official opening Miss M. Toia, with four Maori mothers, attended a Playcentre Convention in Whangarei, where one of the mothers received her first Supervisor's Certificate. Maori and Pakeha parents intermingled exchanging ideas and from this convention was born the idea of having combined meetings at different centres each month. Te Ahu Ahu-Waimate North had their turn in November 1962 with Dr Paewai as Guest Speaker. He stressed that there must be closer unity between Maori and Pakeha through clearer understanding between the two races, and he believed that this could be done through Playcentre where both Maori and Pakeha parents are both striving for the same thing, better education for their children.

In August, three Pakeha children joined our group and Oh! the bewildered look upon our Maori children's faces was a rare sight, but after a few sessions anyone seeing them play together would think they have been doing so all their lives. This increased our roll to fourteen.

No Regrets

At the end of the year the Committee held a very successful Gala Day which realised almost £29. Everyone present enjoyed themselves partaking in Sports and Lolly Scrambles. The Bring and Buy stall assistants were kept very busy throughout the whole day selling everything from suits to buttons, also the canteen, and everyone went home tired but happy.

We look back over the past year with no regrets, but only with pride, and look forward to the coming year with hope and confidence knowing that all our hard work was not in vain because we are at last helping our children to feel established in the world before they start their long school life ahead of them.

Please let this be a starting point for another Maori Playcentre in New Zealand and we will be eagerly scanning these pages to read your report.

Best of luck, Kia ora.

Roimata Ruhe

Supervisor

A Sign of Aristocracy

In the old days, moko was not at all like this. It was a sign of aristocratic birth; as James Cook noted in 1762, tattooing was ‘peculiar to the principal men among the New Zealanders’. It would have been quite impossible for a slave, or any other person of low birth, to aspire to possess a moko on his face, although practically all men except slaves were tattooed from their knees to their waist.

Another early traveller, the Frenchman Dumont d'Urville, wrote in his diary that ‘A New Zealander one day examining the seal of an English officer, noticed the coat of arms engraved on it and asked him if the design was the moko of his family’. And Te Pehi Kupe, whose facial moko is on the inside cover of this issue of ‘Te Ao Hou’, said much the same thing when he explained to his English friends that the marks on his forehead represented his name. He also drew for them the corresponding forehead marks — the ‘names’ — of his brother and son.

Even though we have no really adequate explanation of the full meaning of moko, its general significance is clear. Distinguished families possessed marks which belonged to themselves alone, and these were handed down from father to son. Always, though, there were differences; no two moko were ever the same, and the designs allowed for infinite variations.

A famous man's moko would be known far and wide, by his friends and by his enemies. Many old stories show that this was so. When, for example, Hatupatu, the youngest of three brothers and his father's favourite, was going with his brothers on an expedition to avenge the burning of the Arawa canoe, his father secretly taught him the tattoo marks of Raumati, the leader of their enemies, so that it would be Hatupatu, rather than his two brothers, who would gain the honour of finding and killing Raumati.

Wearing a moko was like having your name written on your face in very beautiful writing. It was also a way of showing that you had reached adulthood, for it was only at puberty that boys and girls were allowed to be tattooed. No girl of good birth was regarded as fit for marriage until this was done, and until then, no boy could consider himself a proper warrior, a person of some consequence in his village.

So they endured the terrible pain stoically, sustained by their pride and by the knowledge that henceforth, they were no longer children: they were men and women. In this way, the ceremony of tattooing served as an initiation rite: as the sign of their transition from one role in society to a different role. All so-called ‘primitive’ societies (that is, societies, such as that of the Maori, which did not possess a written language or an elaborate technology, and which lived in comparatively small social groups), had initiation rites of some kind. They served the purpose of bringing home to the boys and girls concerned, and to their relatives and fellow villagers, a sense of the importance and finality of their change of status. Usually, as with the Maori, the initiation rites were accompanied by prayer and pain, and by

This Maori chief's drawing of his moko is on a land deed in the possession of the Hocken Library, University of Otago.

a permanent visible sign of their new place in society.

This was why slaves could have no moko, unless, of course, they had been captured as prisoners of war. The moko was a mark of a man's or woman's position in society; but a slave, by definition, had no place in society.

Men who were not slaves, but who were of undistinguished ancestry, wore the moko from their waist to knees, but did not have it on their faces. Probably, this was because the head, being tapu, was especially important as a mark of distinction.

The only important men who did not wear a moko were the tohunga, or priests. The writer does not know of any tradition telling why this was so, but it seems likely that it was a consequence of the prohibition against shedding the blood of a tohunga. Not even another tohunga could do this safely; if you found a tohunga from an enemy tribe, and wanted to kill him, you had to strangle him, or use some other method which avoided shedding his blood.

This dried head is in the Dominion Museum in Wellington. There are very few of these heads in New Zealand now, though there are quite a few overseas. Maoris preserved the heads both of relatives and of conquered enemies. Enemies' heads were exposed to view and jeered at, but the heads of relatives were carefully guarded.
Their method of preserving them was so good that even today hardly any heads show signs of decay.

We have said that boys and girls were not tattooed until adolescence, and that their moko served as a sign that they were now adults. However, only a small amount of tattooing was done at one time; it was so very painful that it would have been quite impossible to do it all at once. This was particularly the case with men, who had so much more tattoo on their faces than women.

The artist who did the tattooing was very highly skilled, and was well paid for his work. People eagerly sought out the best artists, as they were very anxious to get as good a moko for themselves as they could; if the artist was a bungler, he could easily ruin their looks for life. A good artist was rewarded with such gifts as canoes, clothes, even slaves; in fact, one of the songs he sang, while he was working away at the tattoo, was a reminder to his client that he was expected to be generous with his payment. People who were not in a position to pay for a good carver often submitted themselves to someone learning the art, feeling that even a clumsy moko was preferable to none at all.

One often finds among Maoris today the mysterious belief that art is ‘commercialised’ and debased if it is associated with money. In the old days there was certainly no such attitude; then, the artist—whether carver or tattooer—was paid handsomely for his skill and labour, using the goods which were then the equivalent of money.

Faces Were ‘Carved’

These days tattooing is done by making lines of very small punctures in the skin with an instrument like a sharp needle, rubbing in the colouring matter as this is done. This is comparatively painless, even if a local anaesthetic is not used. But instead of puncturing the skin in this way, the old Maori tattooer carved it, using a small fine chisel made, usually, of bone. The chisel was hafted to a handle and was tapped with a light mallet, so that it cut a furrow in the patient's skin. This was of course a much more painful method than the modern way, and in those days there were no anaesthetics. The patient managed to endure it, though, because he knew that this was a test of his courage, and it would have been ignominious to cry out. And while the lines were being chiselled the tattooer, or the patient's relatives, would sing magic songs to make him brave.

The original of this Maori chief's ‘signature’ is in the Hocken Library, University of Otago.

The patient's face soon became covered with blood, and the tattooer wiped this away as he worked, dipping his chisel in the pigment as he went along. (The colouring material was often burnt and powdered kauri gum, or else charcoal, mixed with oil or fat. After the pakehas came, gunpowder was sometimes used. When they were healed the lines looked not so much black as dark blue.)

The most painful parts were the lips and the corners of the nose and eyes. When the skin around the eyes was tattooed, it swelled up so much that the patient was altogether blind for several days afterwards. For three or four days after the operation, both the artist and the patient were very tapu; they were not allowed to eat food with their hands, or to communicate with anyone except those in the same condition as themselves.

The moko lines are so intricate and so exact that it is very difficult even to copy them in a drawing, or to carve them on a wooden statue. To carve them on someone's face is almost unimaginably difficult. Maori tattooing is among the most ambitious and skilful that the world has known, and it is very famous because of this.

Before he started work, the artist drew the lines on his patient's face with charcoal. Certain lines were the same on every moko, while others were handed down from father to son, but there were some places where the artist put patterns of his own invention. The patient took a keen interest in this, and when the charcoal lines were drawn he would examine them carefully, using a gourd of water as a mirror, to make sure that his moko was the way he wanted it.

Sensitive to Art

In pre-European times Maoris were much more sensitive to good design than most people in this country are nowadays, and they understood much more about the impact and power which good art possesses. The fact that

Maori moko, like Maori sculpture, was important for social and religious reasons and, almost certainly, involved detailed symbolism of which we now know nothing, does not alter the fact that it was important to them for aesthetic reasons as well. These two things are the two sides of the same penny; they cannot be separated. For art to be meaningful, it had to be part of the social and religious fabric of their life; we have shown, briefly, how this was the case with moko. And if the designs were to perform their function properly, if they were to have mana, it was important that they should be well made and beautiful.

Drawings of Moko

Three of the illustrations accompanying this article are drawings of moko which were made by Maoris in the early years of their contact with Europeans. In these first years Maoris were naturally not able to sign their names in the pakeha way. Sometimes, though, when a chief was selling some land and had to put his name on the document recording the sale, he did not merely put a clumsy mark in the place where the pakeha told him to. Instead, he made a drawing of his moko; doing this was, to him, much more meaningful as a signature than making a simple mark, or writing his name in the pakeha way, would have been.

Most of them had never handled a pen or pencil before, and in most cases they would not have been specialised artists. It is remarkable to see how exactly they knew the lines of their moko, and with what sureness and sensitivity they depicted them. These drawings of moko are works of art in their own right; the more one studies them, the more apparent this becomes.

Although Maori drawings of moko were apparently fairly common once, they are not found everywhere; for instance, the signatures on the Treaty of Waitangi do not take this form. They occur only on very early legal agreements, as Maoris stopped drawing them when they learnt writing. Apart from Major-General Robley, whose book ‘Moko’ was published in 1896, few people have shown an interest in these Maori moko drawings, and apparently no collections of them have been made. The editor of ‘Te Ao Hou’ has located a few others apart from the ones illustrated, but apparently surprisingly few of them have survived. She would greatly appreciate hearing from anyone who may be able to tell her of any more such drawings.

The lines in the facial moko which were the same for all men were chiefly the curving lines around the mouth and the lines on the forehead over the eyes. If the moko was a full one there were usually two large spirals on either cheek, though differences between these spirals are to be found. Occasionally, too, one of these spirals was not present, being replaced by other patterns. This was, for example, the case with the preserved head which was used as a model for the drawing on page 30. There are many other more subtle regularities; for instance, the spirals on the nostrils always have much the same form, and certain lines in the central forehead pattern seem always to be the same.

It is interesting to compare the detail of one moko with another, for this makes it possible to understand better the nature of the differences between them, and to appreciate how ingenious and beautiful these differences of detail are. The harmony of the whole becomes most clear when one studies closely the way in which these infinite variations are possible within the framework of such a strict discipline.

For Living People

The more carefully one looks at moko the more one sees, too, how well its lines are designed to suit the contours of the faces on which they were carved, and how effectively they added to their wearers' dignity.

One only wishes one could see those finely tattooed faces in motion—especially in the middle of a haka. We can see this art now only in drawings and on dried heads in museums, but it was designed for living people: for a fierce race of warriors who were also artists.

A Wellington newspaper, ‘The Dominion’, has donated a cash prize of £100 for the winner of a Maori choir contest.

The contest, which will be one of the classes of the Wellington Competitions' Society's festival held in August and September, will be open to choirs with a minimum of 16 and a maximum of 40 performers, who must appear in Maori costume.

The class will be known as ‘The Dominion’ Maori Choir Championship and will be in two sections, a test piece and an own selection. The test will be the hymn, ‘Fierce Rage the Tempest O'er the Sea’, and the own selection item must be a choral, not an action song.

After working on the ‘Aussie circuit’ all this winter, the Howard Morrison Quartet hopes to travel on a concert tour of the East and may take up a contract in the United States later this year.

‘If it was just a matter of going to the States, we could have gone 18 months ago,’ Howard said. ‘But most contracts tied us down for too long a period. We'll be back in New Zealand if I have anything to do with it.’

Training in the carpentry and joinery trade is now available for Maori boys at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The special carpentry centres established in these three places now provide pre-apprenticeship training in this trade for 72 Maori boys each year. In addition, special one year pre-apprenticeship courses in plumbing, electrical wiring and motor mechanics are now being conducted at the Seddon Memorial Technical College, Auckland, with twelve Maori boys in each class.

These special schemes now provide training for more than 100 Maori boys each year.

These schemes are available to Maori boys living in country areas, who are not able to obtain apprenticeships in or near their home towns. If your son qualifies under this heading and is interested in taking up a worthwhile trade when he leaves school, you should get in touch with the nearest office of the Department of Maori Affairs to learn more about the scheme.

Continued from page 5

feel myself that Maoritanga will be embellished by the pursuit of Western civilization.’

Mr Bennett said that the concept of appointing a Maori as head of one of New Zealand's overseas missions four years ago was a new development in our international politics and was viewed with interest by a number of countries—particularly in Africa and Asia, where it was assessed as being symbolic of New Zealand's racial policy.

As a result, the image of New Zealand as a tolerant, enlightened country had been enhanced.

During his appointment in Malaya, Mr Bennett said he had been struck by the number of words in the Malayan language which were identical or similar to Maori words. This had afforded personal proof of the accepted theory that native races from as far north as the Philippines and Malaya, and right down to the South Pacific, were all part of the same language group and shared a common origin.

This was probably one of the reasons why he and his wife had not felt strangers in Malaya; nor had they been treated as strangers.

By undertaking schemes under the Colombo Plan to help raise the living standard of Malaya (now second to Japan among South-east Asian countries), New Zealand was strengthening one of Asia's last strategic outposts resisting the spread of Communism, said Mr Bennett.

For a democracy to exist, he added, a country must have a reasonable standard of living and literacy; an efficient civil service; and secure and able political leadership. At least one of these attributes was missing in any country which had been taken over by a dictatorship or Communism.

‘Every penny we have put into Malaya has been money well spent’, he said. ‘By helping Malaya we are really helping ourselves.’

One of the very few Maoris to gain a Master of Science degree in recent years is Quentin Tapsell, who belongs to a well-known Rotorua family. Last year Quentin obtained his M.Sc. in crystallography at Canterbury University and was also a University Rugby Blue. At present he is at the Teachers' Training College in Christchurch.

From Jerusalem

Thelma, who comes from Jerusalem on the Wanganui River can sing, Maori songs with the best of them, and thoroughly enjoys doing so, but she was puzzled by what seemed to be an attitude that it was not really appropriate to have a Maori singing European songs. (This was ten years ago, of course—people understand this sort of thing better now.) After she married her husband, who is Austrian, they went on a holiday to Europe, staying with his relations and travelling in his country and elsewhere. She took the opportunity of perfecting her German accent, which allowed her to learn the songs of the great nineteenth-century German composers, and she also became fascinated by Austrian folk songs: ‘Wherever I went I collected new ones.’ (At first her husband knew no English, and she knew no German. They taught each other their own languages—now, she says, ‘we've got our own dialect.’)

Ans Westra
Thelma Keepa is a trained singer who has done a lot of concert work, but singing with the overseas Sadlers Wells Opera Company was a new experience for her. She had a wonderful time, and rather regretfully turned down an invitation to go back to Australia with the company.

When, on their return, she found that broadcasting officials still regarded Maori songs as the appropriate ones for her to sing, Thelma decided not to give any more radio recitals. So for the last ten years, Maori audiences at Ngati Poneke have been pretty well the only ones to be able to enjoy her very fine voice.

In the last few years the New Zealand Opera Company arrived on the scene, but Thelma, busy with her home and her job at the Waterfront Commission Office, never got around to going to their auditions—‘perhaps it was a bit of the old Maori shyness, too’, she said, laughing.

Then a couple of months ago an overseas opera company, the Sadlers Wells Company, visited New Zealand with the production ‘Orpheus in the Underworld’. Thelma saw in the paper that they were advertising for local people to sing in the chorus, and thought she would like to have a go. But she didn't really think she would have a chance—it was so long since she had done singing of this kind—and

she says it was only her husband who made her decide to try.

‘He told me I'd only be wasting my lunch-hour if I went to the audition—you go and get the cat's meat instead, he said—so I thought I'd have to give it a go.’

When Thelma got there, she found that all the other singers were hugging music scores—‘I hadn't brought any music with me, so when I saw this I rushed out and bought Waiata Poi. I had only sung in Maori for the last few years, and this was the first thing I could think of.’

When her turn came, she took ‘Waiata Poi’ over to the accompanying pianist. ‘His eyes widened when he saw what it was—I was very anxious for him to get it right, and thought he probably wouldn't know it, so I showed him one piece and told him, “now mind you don't drag it here, and foul me up”. What I didn't realize at the time, was that he was the assistant musical director of the company!’

Chosen to Sing

Much to her surprise, Thelma was chosen to sing in the opera.

‘I absolutely loved the show. I was very nervous at first, but after the first few nights it was all right. Everyone was terribly kind to me, and I had a wonderful time.’

When the directors of the company discovered the quality of Thelma's voice, they asked her if she would tour New Zealand and travel to Australia with them. This was a very considerable honour, and a rare chance for anyone with ambitions as a singer. Ten years ago, she says, she would have gone like a shot, but now she is settled down, with a husband and a home, and this kind of work isn't possible for her any more.

‘In the end I did give in and go to Christchurch with them for the season there. And I hope to sing with them whenever they come back to Wellington again. They will be here again in August, and I'm looking forward to it very much.’

Thelma said one more thing that interested us very much. Knowing action songs, she says, was a great help to her in learning how to move on the stage, and she found that the movements came easily and naturally to her.

This natural stage presence seems to be one more reason why Maoris, who have already produced one distinguished opera singer in Inia Te Wiata, and another one of great promise in Hannah Tatana, are due to produce a great many more opera singers in the future, as they come to have better opportunities for training and using their musical talents.

Thelma Keepa is sure that this is going to happen. ‘There are so much better opportunities in New Zealand now for singers, pakehas or Maoris.’ Speaking of Hannah Tatana, she said that she had not yet met her, though she hoped to do so some time. ‘I went to hear her, though, and she has a wonderful voice. She seemed so much at home on the stage there, too—she really did.’

Meeting at Iwitea

Iwitea, a small pa tucked away off the Wairoa-Gisborne Road a few miles from Wairoa, and at the head of the Whakaki Lake, was the scene recently of the opening of the fifth Te Poho o Tahu meeting house. The predecessors of the present building had all either burnt down or rotted away in the last century.

Tahu himself was the ancestor of the Iwitea Maoris, and lived several centuries ago.

The building itself displays a new departure from the conventional Maori type, where carvings and other decorative artistic forms of Maori culture are in plentiful evidence. The Rev. Canon Rangiihu, who conducted divine service on the day, referred to the completed building as a perfect example of a ‘half-caste culture’. By this he meant that, instead of carving the various panels, the cultural designs have been painted, thereby giving a half Maori, half Pakeha effect.

The highlight of the function, which was led by Sir Eruera Tirikatene, and attended by a very large crowd, was the spirited discussion of the pros and cons of the Treaty of Waitangi in the afternoon. It was apparent, even among the real diehards of the leaders of the respective tribes present, that there is no unanimity about the revival of the claims for the full implementation of the terms of the Treaty. As it was, and this was emphasised by Sir Turi Carroll, it was agreed that the best way to regard this very important document, was to examine it in the light of the present day conditions, and to see which of the conditions agreed upon by our ancestors, would be feasible and acceptable today.

There were no resolutions passed, and the matter gained no friends, nor lost any.

—E. H. NEPIA

?

The Governor-General, Sir Bernard Fergusson, has accepted the office of Patron of the Maori Education Foundation.

In his letter of acceptance, His Excellency said that he was very impressed to learn of the wide field the Foundation intends to cover, was delighted to accept the office and would like to be kept fully informed of the work being accomplished. He enclosed a donation to the Foundation funds.

?

The Maori Carpentry Training Centre in Wellington, which is proving itself an outstanding success, reports that in its first year examinations at the end of 1962, 27 boys passed out of the 31 who sat the examination. The successful apprentices were:

J. Andrews, R. Robinson, J. Haitana, J. Taha, D. Matoe, C. Broughton (Taranaki); T. Collins, D. Wanoa, B. Huhu, A. Gordon, Tuakana Manuel (Gisborne); P. McLean, M. Low, Tom Manuel, V. Henderson, J. Crawford (Ruatoria); L. Whenuaroa (Taihape); R. Albert (Ohakune); Carkeek (Otaki); S. Rarere, P. Taumata (Wairoa); R. Babbington (Tokomaru Bay); G. Kaipara (Whakatane); S. Koko, R. Hanara (Hastings); J. Kimura (Hamilton); E. Blackburn (Raetihi).

‘KAIWHAKAAKO’ ASKS,
‘WHAT PRICE EDUCATION?’

CITIZENS, do you want the best education available for your children?—This was what I heard in a tape recording of an American radio programme, it was part of an advertisement urging parents to find out what was happening in the schools of the district and was aimed at getting public approval for an increase in the taxes which people pay to keep their schools going.

—In the U.S.A., my American friend told me, every district has its own school board, elected by the people, and this board levies the taxes from which nearly all the expenses for new schools, teachers' salaries and so on are paid.

—That's very different from New Zealand, I thought. Here the Government pays the education bill along with the railways, health, defence and all the other bills. But this money doesn't come out of a hole in the floor of Parliament Buildings, it comes out of the taxpayers' pockets.

The real difference is that under the American system parents have direct control over what is spent on education. In New Zealand Parliament has more direct control.

New Zealanders and Americans share one thing, though: if they want ‘the best education available’ they have to be ready to pay for it.

But do New Zealanders know what they want, or are they ready to let the Government do their thinking for them?

Poetry of the Maori
Translations by Barry Mitcalfe
Paul's Book Arcade, 1961. 12/6d.

reviewed by Peter Fairbrother

Mr Mitcalfe is to be complimented on producing this book of translations of Maori poetry. There is a keen demand from both pakeha and Maori for printed waiata, with translations and notes. Much research and enquiry is necessary before one can even put pen to paper concerning one waiata; the time and effort that have gone into producing a booklet of twenty-two poems deserves praise and admiration. This is a book every New Zealander should have, and have read.

It is remarkably free from misprints—an occasional ake for aku catches the eye. There are other words one wonders about, but waiata manuscripts are seldom free of spelling mistakes which seem to be perpetuated.

The introduction covers all the universal aspects of poetry and relates them to Maori poetry. This comprehensive essay on Maori poetry suffers from the same cryptic quality which makes Maori poetry hard to translate. Some of Mr Mitcalfe's statements could so easily be contradicted; though if we knew his reasoning, we might agree in part. For instance, he reiterates that the Maori life of old was restricted and monotonous—as one who has hunted pork and pigeon, bobbed, gaffed, and trapped eels, dived for kina, dug pipi and tuatua, grown, harvested and stored kumara, I fail to understand why Mr Mitcalfe says a life close to nature is monotonous—and Mr Mitcalfe doesn't tell us why. And in what sense is the imagery of nature restricting? Is a tractor a more effective symbol than thunder? Or a power pylon than a tree?

Nevertheless, this introduction is a good essay on the subject and should be carefully and critically read. If careful reading provokes argument, then it only confirms that it is a good essay.

In his introduction and ‘translator's note’ Mr Mitcalfe adequately outlines the difficulties that any translator of poetry has, i.e. (1) how much literal translation? (2) how much interpretation? (3) will the translation resemble in form the poetry of either language, or neither? The other difficulty with Maori to English is the freedom of reference in Maori to things unmentionable in English.

The cover, title page and the introduction all refer to the English versions as translations, and as such we must judge them. Often in the introduction we are told that the poetry of the Maori is cryptic:

Yet again we are told that:

From this we would expect to find the English translations much longer than the Maori, but instead we find that most English versions are the same length as the Maori originals, some divided into the same stanza pattern. To the non-Maori speaker this implies line-by-line translation, and the other implication is that no attempt has been made to expand the cryptic style—or else much of the meaning has been left out. From the form of the translation one is entitled to believe that matotoru in XV means ‘small number’. In IV an interested pakeha will find tapa occurs three times with a different translation each time, but no explanation is offered.

One might excuse the leaving out of some of the meaning were it not accompanied by the addition of concepts not in the original. We can search in vain to find Maori words to mean (or imply) ‘Your blood soaks into the wood,’ in XIV. Where are the Maori words for ‘pain’ and ‘death’ in XVIII?

The English versions of X, XII, XIII, XIV, XVII, XVIII seem distorted by these two things—leaving out what is there, and adding what is not.

Those that seem to me to be adequate translations and adequate interpretations are VIII, IX, XI, XVI, XIX, XXI, XXII.

Mr Mitcalfe says:

Yet he fails to make clear the significance of the symbolism of papa totara in II and XIV. This and other oversights make one wonder if, when he says ‘[Maori] poetic imagery was inevitably restricted in scope,’ he does so, not appreciating himself much of the symbolism.

Surely, if he wants to give an insight into the concepts he would translate ‘He rongo toa mai, hau ana ki te tahatu o te rangi’ as ‘Your fame, spread even to the edge of the sky’, rather than the weak sounding ‘Your courage cries to the empty skies.’ (VII)

Indeed, over all, the translations seem to lack the vigour of the original.

‘Bold Tiki!

Soft Tiki!’ seems hardly adequate translation for ‘Tiki; ka riri Tiki,

Tiki, ka reka Tiki.’ (XI)

The first five lines of English in XX give us an insight, not into Maori culture, but into the

Victorian-spawned moral attitudes of the New Zealand pakeha.

As a final point of criticism, let us take Mr Mitcalfe's statement:

Why then, include XV?

Is it that he has failed to see the rich allusions, the ‘many-sided images’? Or is it an attempt to do the impossible, like Maui?

It seems that in many poems, Mr Mitcalfe has translated the nouns and verbs, ignoring the vital little words, then, using the images so obtained, written his own poem. (How else could he arrive at ‘the eyes’ from no mata?) If the book were titled ‘Poems by Barry Mitcalfe on themes derived from Maori poetry’ my criticisms would cease to be valid, but the cover asserts translations, and as translations they must be judged. The introduction and translator's note provide the standards of criticism for this and any other subsequent book of translations.

Taking Mr Mitcalfe's statements (i. to v.) as a basis of judgement, it seems he has failed to expand the compressed, cryptic Maori, to give us the ‘many-sided image’, to give us an insight (we got a glimpse, perhaps). But I say this knowing the size of the task he undertook. It is a task that needs doing, as so many of us realize, and it really is quite an urgent task, too. There are few of us capable of doing it, fewer willing to do it, and, of these, few with the time to do it. So I repeat, ‘Congratulations, Mr Mitcalfe,’ for pioneering this field, and giving us a book to be enjoyed by the dilettante, to serve as a challenge and a standard to potential compilers of similar anthologies.

New Zealand Politics in Action:
The 1960 General Election

by R. M. Chapman, W. K. Jackson,
and A. V. Mitchell
Oxford University Press, 43/6

This is a detailed and scholarly examination of the last general election in New Zealand. It analyses very closely all the available official documentation on the subject, and also considers the results of a number of special surveys arranged by the authors who are all university lecturers.

They were fortunate in that in New Zealand, unlike most other countries, election results are published in polling-booth units which cover only a small area. This means that it is possible to find out very exactly in what ways different sorts of people vote.

The results of this inquiry are fascinating to say the least. The book demolishes, with quiet, lucid precision, a number of very widely accepted ideas. For instance, it demonstrates that the so-called ‘floating vote’ (the people who are regarded as being likely to keep changing their minds politically from one election to the next) is not nearly as important a factor as has been thought. Changes in the social composition of an electorate—areas ‘going downhill’ or becoming ‘better class’, families moving from the centre of a city to the suburbs, and so on—usually prove to be responsible for the changing political allegiance of that electorate.

Discoveries such as this have far-reaching practical implications, and are also of great interest to everyone who is curious as to the reasons why people behave as they do.

I have the space here to mention only one other of this book's interesting conclusions. In the chapter devoted to the Maori electorates, the authors have to account for the reasons why the Maori vote for Labour was much lower in 1960 than it previously had been, and why this drop was mostly due to a large increase in the number of Maoris who did not cast a vote.

The author of this chapter considers the possibility that the severe budget of 1958 may have been responsible for this change but decides that the change was too great to have been caused by this alone. After considering other possible reasons, he writes as follows:

‘The conclusion is, I think, inevitable, that the Labour Government's handling of the Maori tour controversy earned it the deep disapproval of Maoris all over New Zealand and in this conflict of loyalties—loyalty to Labour and disapproval of its attitude in this test case—they acted as others act when torn two ways politically, they ceased voting in large numbers.’

M.R.W.

It's Perfectly Easy

by Mary Scott
Pauls Book Arcade, 13/6

For anyone who wishes to escape the stress and strain of city life for an hour or so, this light-hearted book is just the answer.

As usual with Miss Scott's books, ‘Its Perfectly Easy’ is set in the country—this time, by the sea. A young journalist, Helen, and her brother Peter, decide out of necessity to start up a seaside camp on a piece of land inherited by the brother. The situations arising out of this decision are most amusing, and there are many delightful characters in the book—Trina, a young widow who has ‘mislaid’ her husband; John Muir, the owner of the adjoining piece of land, who is an old grump until the end; Handy Andy, whose nickname gives away his part in the story; and last but not least, Venus, a Great Dane bitch, given to the heroine as a parting gift from a Latin admirer.

—B. V. Tong

?

Maori apprentices trained by the Auckland Technical Institute showed ‘encouraging results’ in the New Zealand Trades Certification Board's examinations last year, the principal, Mr R. A. Keir, said recently.

He told the board of managers that nine out of 11 electrical trainees passed their examinations, with a top mark of 92 per cent; 11 out of 12 passed in plumbing, the highest mark being 78 per cent; and in carpentry 23 trainees sat and 17 passed, with the highest mark of 86 per cent.

‘All these lads are now employed as apprentices and their employers report most favourably on their progress and bearing,’ said Mr Keir.

?

A Maori Methodist minister, the Rev. Rangi Rogers, represented New Zealand at the triennial assembly of the Cook Islands Christian Church from May 1 to 6. Mr Rogers accompanied a party of Cook Islanders on their first fraternal visit to the Reformed Church in Tahiti, and returned to Auckland by aircraft on May 13.

The visit to Tahiti is part of the programme marking the centenary of the arrival of the Paris Missionary Society there.

The business of the Cook Islands was conducted in the Rarotongan language, and the appointment of a Maori delegate meant that he was able to follow the business without an interpreter.

?

Mr Frederick Aotearoa Brown, a school teacher who comes from Awanui, Northland, is at present on a year's visit to Denmark, as a member for a Rotary youth exchange scheme. The purpose of this scheme is to give young men a first-hand understanding of people in other lands. Mr Brown, who was sponsored by the Panmure Rotary Club, and whose fare was provided by Rotary, was met by Rotary members in Denmark, billeted with families there and found suitable employment. As with all the young men travelling under this scheme, he is regarded as an ambassador for his country.

Fred Brown is the son of the Reverend Henare Brown and Raiha Brown of Awanui. After attending Kaitaia College and Auckland Training College, Fred taught at Tikitiki Maori District High School, and then at the Matata Primary School near Whakatane. Since 1959 he has been at Tamaki Intermediate School.

A keen sportsman, Fred was one of the instigators in the formation of the Tamaki Senior Rugby Club, who are now firmly established in Auckland rugby. Fred has captained their senior team for 2 years.

—‘Te Rarawa’

High Standard

It is fortunate that Pye has preserved ‘Maori’ on a recording which does nothing to tarnish the group's deservedly high reputation. The items recorded range from stick games, through action songs, waiata, chant, haka taparahi and peruperu. Despite the disadvantages inherent in recording an actual stage performance, the presentation is first-class. The choral items such as ‘Patupaiarehe’ and the Hinemoa Love Song are gems of precision and harmony. Here is a record which, despite one or two uneven patches, mainly in ‘E Pari Ra’, displays ample evidence of careful rehearsal, a feeling for what is being done and an obvious determination to provide the audience with the best. If any reader wishes to recommend to a local or overseas pakeha friend a record which combines variety with competent performance, then I commend this disc to their attention.

Mention must also be made of the technical quality of the record. The reproduction is clear and true and free from the audience's coughs and snuffling which often detract from tapings of stage performances. My only cavil is the fact that some of the space on the back of the record could well have been devoted to a more detailed description of the items presented.

Guide Rangi and the Rotorua Arawa Concert Party

Stebbing SLP 1006 12 in. 33⅓ LP

The cover states that this is a record of ‘a typical Maori concert’. I would not quarrel with this description after seeing some of the concerts which have been doing the rounds of late, but one can only wish it were not true. This record is, I fear, a very patchy offering. Its faults are ragged harmony, faltering starts and a lack of cohesion amonst the group. The haka taparahis in particular at times degenerate into shouted jumbles.

I have a great admiration for Guide Rangi and the Arawa party, which is one of the few groups giving regular public performances of Maori items. Their concerts are happy affairs and do much to create a favourable image with the thousands of visitors, many of them from overseas, who attend their performances. However I would not like an overseas listener to form an impression of a ‘typical Maori concert’ from this disc. If ever there was a case of familiarity breeding contempt, it is demonstrated in the approach to the audience illustrated in this recording.

‘Live’ Recordings Risky

As I mentioned in the first review, it is a risky undertaking to record actual performances of Maori items as so much of the success of a stage performance depends on visual things, but the previous recording reviewed gives proof of what can be done. Technically there is little wrong with this record although it would appear from the audience noise during some of the items that it was taped during an influenza epidemic!

The disc contains plenty of variety and the poi item sounds well. An improvement would be cover notes on individual items. It is true that there is a commentary of sorts but statements such as a bald ‘the haka in the early days was performed by the men to develop their muscles’ may suffice for tourists, but …!

To those who have seen the Arawa Concert Party in action, the record will perhaps have a sentimental value as a nostalgic reminder of the gay informality of the weekly concerts in the Regent Theatre, Rotorua. I can say no more!

One thousand records of Maori traditional songs, action songs and hakas will be on sale in Malaya and New Zealand soon after a tape recorded by the concert party of the 1st Battalion, New Zealand Regiment, has been processed in New Zealand.

There are 35 men and 10 women in the concert party, which is coached by Padre H. Vercoe, of Opotiki.

Mirth Te Moananui

Mirth, a 23 year old teacher at Mamaku, 14 miles from Rotorua, has been playing basketball for as long as she can remember. She has represented Auckland and played for Rotorua for two years. Last year she played in the North Island team for the third successive year. Second daughter of Mr and Mrs E. te Moananui, of Paeroa, Mirth has been teaching in Rotorua for three years.

Rebecca Faulkner

Rebecca, a diminutive centre player, played basketball in Tauranga and was chosen for the New Zealand team after only two years at a Dominion tournament. Second daughter of Mr and Mrs B. H. Faulkner of Matapihi, near Tauranga, Rebecca is averaging about four miles running each day. She works as a waitress in a Rotorua hotel and runs from her home to work each day.

Both girls are greatly looking forward to their trip, their first overseas. They will leave from Wellington on June 15 and will be away about four months. The girls will be provided with an attractive travelling uniform, consisting of a black and white skirt, reversible black and white coat and black accessories. They will keep this after their return home.

The tournament the team will attend is to be held at Chelsea, where teams from 11 countries will gather. These include the West Indies, the British Isles, Australia and Ceylon. After the main tournament, the team will tour the countries and it is here that Rebecca will celebrate her 21st birthday.

When the team returns from England, the girls will give lectures on their tour and may play in exhibition games.

?

A Maori rugby tour of New Zealand will follow a Northern-Southern trial match at Whangarei on Thursday, July 18.

The itinerary is: Saturday, July 20, v. North Auckland, at Whangarei; Wednesday, July 24, v. Mid-Canterbury, Ashburton; Saturday, July 27, v. Southland, Invercargill; Wednesday, July 31, v. Otago, Dunedin; Saturday, August 3, v. West Coast, Greymouth.

The Northern-Southern breakdown will be—Northern: North Auckland, Auckland, Counties, Waikato, Thames Valley, Bay of Plenty. Southern: Taranaki, King Country, Wanganui, East Coast, Poverty Bay, Hawke's Bay, Horowhenua, Manawatu, Bush, Wairarapa, Wellington, South Island.

?

A proposal from the Poverty Bay Hockey Association that a Maori Hockey Association should be formed and affiliated to the New Zealand Hockey Association was opposed at a meeting of the management committee of the New Zealand association. The proposal was that a team chosen from the Maori association could play visiting teams.

Mr J. G. Leggat (chairman) said there was some merit in the idea of a Maori team playing against visiting teams, but he did not see why a separate association was needed.

Mr A. D. Holland said: ‘It would be a dangerous step—and a retrograde one—to have an association which moved across already-defined boundaries.’

The committee decided to advise the Poverty Bay association that its suggestion was outside the rules of the New Zealand association, but if it presented a remit including an amendment to the rules it could be discussed at the annual meeting.

?

Last year the Maori Education Foundation decided to award merit prizes of £25 each to the top ten Maori candidates in the School Certificate examination. These prizes are to help further education and are granted only to those continuing their studies. Because two Maori candidates gained equal marks at the 10th place, the Board has awarded prizes to eleven students, as follows:

John Anglem, Southland Boys' High School; Dennis Hoffman, Rotorua Boys' High School; Patricia Hickey, Lynfield College, Mt Roskill; Douglas Ihaka, Auckland Grammar School; Rosemary Guscott, Wellington Diocesan School, Nga Tawa, Marton; Kevin Duff, Wellington College; Benjamin Paki, Northland College; Merle Fleming, Queen Victoria School, Auckland; Kevin Paul, St Stephens College, Auckland; Glen Garlick, Rotorua Boys' High School; Philip Hema, Auckland Grammar School.

?

Te Kaha Maori District High School has changed its name to Te Whanau-a-Apanui District High School.

The Whanau-a-Apanui tribe requested the change, said the headmaster, Mr J. E. Goodall. Although pakeha children could attend the school, all the present pupils were Maori or part Maori.

‘The school's name now represents the whole area and not just the Te Kaha settlement,’ said Mr Goodall.

The new school building, which was officially opened in October 1961, has eight secondary and six primary department teachers. The total roll is 226.

?

We have received a letter from a stamp-collector in Cuba who says that he would like to correspond, in English, with New Zealand stamp-collectors. His address is:

Jorge Salguero, Benjumeda 531/110, Habana, Cuba.

Milk Extraction

Only a small proportion of the milk secreted within the cow's udder is held in the milk cisterns. It is mostly contained within the alveoli, the tiny secretory units of the udder. The secretory tissue is provided with a muscle mechanism which forces the milk down tiny ductiles into the milk cistern. From here it is extracted by either hand or machine milking. The muscle mechanism is controlled from the pitutiary gland which produces several hormones. Oxytocin is a chemical substance produced by the pitutiary gland and carried by the blood stream to the udder where it causes immediate and strong contractions of the muscles surrounding the alveoli. The release of oxytocin is initiated by stimulation of the teats and udder, and hence the need for proper stimulation of the cow to ‘let-down’ her milk at milking time.

All the normally available milk contained by the udder can be removed by an efficient milking machine provided the milking process is completed while the let-down effect is still operative. This may last only two minutes in some cows, and ten to twelve minutes in others. This is why individual cows vary so much in their milking behaviour and why poor milking technique can result in the drying-off of some cows.

Ruakura experiments, using identical twins, have shown how necessary and valuable stimulation is. One set of cows were stimulated for 30 seconds, the stimulation involving hosing with cold running water and rubbing by hand, followed by massage of the teats and lower udder and squirting of each teat. The second set of cows were not given any stimulus. The 30 second stimulation resulted in an average increase of 71 lbs of butterfat or 32 per cent per cow. The average production figures for the stimulated cows were 294 lbs of fat in 250 days, and the non-stimulated, 223 lbs of fat in 203 days. Milking time was 20 seconds shorter per cow in the stimulated group and on the basis of milk produced, a reduction of 1 ¼ minutes per cow.

So the Ruakura experiment shows that the use of pre-milking 30 second hand stimulation can result in a substantial increase in production over the system where the machine is relied upon for stimulus.

The udder must be massaged vigorously for proper stimulation and dirt removed from the teats with running water. There is no advantage in using warm water. A squirt of milk should then be taken from each quarter as a check for the presence of abnormal milk.

There must be no delay in applying the teat cups. Delay is dangerous because of the short let-down time of many cows. When the milk flow indicator of the machine shows a rate of about ½lb per minute the cups should be taken off. For cows which need machine-stripping because of teat cup crawl the cups should be pulled down when the indicator shows a flow rate of about 1 lb per minute. However, it should be remembered that a large amount of machine-stripping is an indication of poor stimulation.

Creatures of Habit

Remember that dairy cows quickly get into habits. The cow which is handled quietly and regularly soon develops confidence and loses any fear it may have of being hurt. Fright disturbs the milk let-down and causes the release of a substance which stops the let-down process from working. A frightened cow just cannot be milked. Here are some final points:

Mr S. W. Maioha, O.B.E.

The death occurred suddenly, on 29th January, of Mr Samuel William Maioha, O.B.E., aged 74. He was an outstanding leader in Northland, and was prominent as an official, organiser, interpreter and executive in the social, welfare and sporting activities of the Maori people.

He was chairman of the Tai Tokerau district council of tribal committees, a trustee and secretary of the Waitangi Te Ti Bay Trust Board, secretary of the Waitangi National Maori Reserve Trustees Committee and secretary of the Kawakawa Tribal Executive. He was recently appointed a member of the New Zealand Maori Council.

He was an interpreter for more than 50 years and served on numerous local bodies and school committees. He was a foundation member of the North Auckland Rugby Union and a former Northland representative at rugby, cricket and tennis, as well as playing a prominent part in many other sports.

Born at Waimamaku, Mr Maioha came of wellknown families on both sides.

As a young man he went down to the East Coast for a while but returned to Kaikohe, where he first became a licensed Maori interpreter in 1910 and lived for 14 years until he moved to Rawhiti and finally settled in Russell during World War II.

Mr Maioha received the O.B.E. in the New Year's honours, and was to have been presented to the Queen on Waitangi Day.

The funeral, which was attended by a very large number of people, was held at the Waitangi marae.

Mr Harry Watson

A leading Maori elder of Taranaki, Mr Harry Watson, has died at his home at Motunui after a long illness. He was 69.

A chief of the Atiawa tribe, Mr Watson contributed much to the district and was particularly interested in museum activities.

He was selected to speak for his people at the opening of the Taranaki museum in 1961, but was unable to attend because of illness.

Mr Watson is survived by three sons and seven daughters.

Mr Iki Pouwhare

Mr Iki Pouwhare, a leading authority on Tuhoe history and traditions, died in Whakatane last April, aged 82.

Mr Pouwhare was the paramount chief of the Tuhoe people and lived at Waiohau.

His early life was spent at Ruatoki but in the 1920s he moved to Waiohau where he became a foreman for the Maori Affairs Department. He later farmed on his own account.

Mr Pouwhare was a member of the Tuhoe Trust Board, member of the Tuhoe Maori Land Advisory Committee, chairman of the Southern Tuhoe Tribal Executive, a former chairman of the local school committee and an original member of the Waiohau Tribal Committee.

Keenly interested in all sports, Mr Pouwhare was patron of many sporting organisations.

He held high office in the Ringatu Church.

Mr Pouwhare was buried at Waiohau. He leaves nine children and numerous grandchildren.

Mr T. Wallace

The manager of the Ranana development scheme, Mr Tommy Wallace (Tame Wanihi), who died last February at the age of 51, was associated with the Department of Maori Affairs for almost all his working life.

He was first employed as a shepherd, 30 years ago, on Morikau Station. At this stage the station was controlled by the Aotea District Maori Land Board and later by the Maori Trustee.

He was then employed by the Department of Maori Affairs on the Ranana development scheme and was appointed manager in 1956. Earlier, he occupied a farm in the Ranana area.

He is survived by his widow, Mrs Weheora Wallace, and nine children. The funeral was held at Jerusalem.

Mrs N. H. Wereta

A woman thought to have been 112 years old has died in Wanganui.

She was Ngaone Harihona Wereta, a paramount chieftainess of the Poutama-Ngati tribe. It has been established that Mrs Wereta was a girl of seven or eight years when the battle of Moutoa

took place in 1864. Mrs Wereta, wife of the late Mr Renata Tekapango, was also present at a number of other battles in her younger years.

Mrs Wereta was at Parikino in 1893 when peace negotiations were conducted between Major Kemp and Te Kooti.

She took a prominent part in the welfare of the people in the Wanganui River districts and her commanding personality was such that all had the greatest respect for her. Mrs Wereta had no direct issue, but her direct relations are estimated to be in the vicinity of 1,000. She was buried at Matahiwi, on the Wanganui River.

The Rev. Tame Te Teira

Last April the Rev. Tame Te Teira, aged 66 years, collapsed and died soon after his arrival at the annual Presbyterian Synod at Ohope.

Mr Te Teira, a World War I veteran, was born at Te Hauhi, about 10 miles from Murupara. He served for many years in the Lands and Survey Department as a field assistant, and also worked in timber mills in the district.

About seven years ago Mr Te Teira entered the ministry and trained at Whakatane. He was first sent to Waiohau and finally transferred to Ruatahuna.

He was the father of 18 children and he is survived by his wife, six daughters and six sons. The tangi was held at Waikotikoti Pa, Te Whaiti.

Mr Tame te Tuhi

The death occurred in Rotorua recently of Tame Te Tuhi, son of the famous Tuhoe carver, Te Tuhi, who carved the main meeting house Hine-Nui-Te-Po at Te Whaiti over a 20-year period.

Tame Te Tuhi's body was taken to his ancestral home, Waikotikoti marae, for the tangi.

Mr T. Nepia

A well known former resident of the Nuhaka district, Mr Tom Nepia, died last March in the Rotorua Hospital after a sudden illness. He was a close relative of the former All Black foot-baller, Mr George Nepia.

Mr Nepia was educated at the Nuhaka Maori School, gaining the junior Makarini Scholarship, and later at Te Aute College, where he won the senior Makarini scholarship.

He was a keen sportsman, being a Rugby player for the Nuhaka Club for many years. He was responsible for many successes the club enjoyed. He was also for many years a supporter of the Mahia Hunt Club and a Nuhaka A. and P. Association. For a time he was chairman of the Nuhaka Inc. blocks committee and was a member of the Maori School Committee. He also served for a time on the executive of the Wairoa County Rugby Sub-union.

In later years he transferred to Taupo, where he accepted a position with the County Council as hydatids control officer.