A VISITOR

by Steve Waterman

This pakeha lady
Came knocking at our door.
We watched her through the window.
Mum called, ‘What's all that knocking for?
You kids jumping on the furniture?
Go out into the street.'
And when a long silence followed
There came the sound of plodding feet.
Mum stood there in the doorway
Of our very best front room
And glared at us till Mihi said,
‘Shh, she's out there wanting you.’
The knocking was repeated
And before our Mum could speak
Tara flung the front door open wide
And their faces turned to meet.
The Maori and the Pakeha
Both caught in their surprise
Stepped back a bit and waited,
While blue surveyed brown eyes.
‘Good morning, Mrs Tatana.
I'm from the Ladies' Guild.
I'm collecting in this district
For a hall we hope to build.'
Again there came this silence.
Mum seems to think in bits.
And then she spoke so softly
With her swept-up rounded lips.
‘I'm sorry I can't help you,
My husband's down the Bay
And it's only every second week
He comes home with his pay.'
The Pakeha looked worried,
Her lips went sort of thin.
Then Mum's face smiled all over
And she said, ‘Well, come again,
I'll put some by next pay-day
For this hall that's for the kids.
We could even have a hangi—
That brings in the quids.’
She waited for an answer
And readily it came.
‘Well, we didn't think of doing that.'
Mum said, ‘Oh, what a shame.’
Suddenly it occurred to her,
‘I'll tell you what I'll do.
There's several crates of bottles.
We'll put them in your boot.'
‘Well, really …’ said the lady,
‘I'm sure that's very kind …
I don't think that's the sort of thing
That we had in our minds.'
She smiled, then said, ‘Good morning.’
Her heels clacked down the path,
She tried to shut the broken gate
Then drove off in her car.
Mihi sighed in wonder,
‘Gee, that lady sure looked neat.’
While Mum's voice rolled in laughter—
‘I've been talking in bare feet!'

Ans Westra Photo

A group of Colombo Plan students from many different countries recently visited the East Coast as the guests of the people of Ruatoria. This photograph was taken during their visit to the Maori Room in ‘The Bungalow’, formerly the home of the late Sir Apirana Ngata.

Approximately 1,000 visitors from all over the North Island attended the opening and dedication of the new Centennial Hall at Waipatu marae at Hastings, on June 29. The building was opened by the Minister of Maori Affairs, Mr Hanan, and the dedication was conducted by Bishop Panapa, Canon Wi Huata, the Rev. John Tamahori and the Rev. N. Te Hau. The hall is a modern-style community centre.

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Mr M. H. Maihi, the first Maori teacher to be chosen by the Woolf Fisher Trust for a travelling scholarship, recently returned after spending five weeks in Australia. Mr Maihi, master at the Penrose High School, Auckland, was one of the 17 teachers chosen last year for 1963 scholarships. He was accompanied by his wife Marjorie who is also a school teacher.

Highlights of their visit included a trip to the Surfers' Paradise on the Gold Coast where they saw the only platypuses in captivity, and to the Great Barrier Reef where they were taken by glass-bottomed boats to view the coral reef, which they described as like an ‘underwater forest of fantastic vegetation’.

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The Riatana Catholic Maori Club, Wellington, won the cultural and sporting competitions at the Roman Catholic Hui Aranga at Manutuke last Easter.

Riatana won with a total of 90£½ points, and a Christchurch club, Whetu Ariki, was second with 70 points. Waipatu, Hastings, was third with 68£½ points. About 2,000 Maoris attended the meeting, which was held on the Manutuke marae.

An inter-denominational cast presented the Passion Play on Good Friday night. The play had been a feature of earlier huis and the all-Maori cast has won warm acclaim for its dignified and impressive performance. All members of the cast came from Hastings.