A Memorable Occasion

Ngati Porou, Rongowhakaata, and the other tribes which comprised ‘C’ Company of the Maori Battalion, rose to the occasion and met the challenge by providing, not only ample accommodation and food, but also a first class programme which made every minute a memorable one. Behind Apa Te Kani, scion of one of the rangatira families of the Poverty Bay and East Coast districts, toiled men and women from all the hapus of the Company area, united as never before, in the cause of those who forsook the comparative comfort of their homes for the heat of the battle overseas.

It was significant that the last time members of the Maori Battalion of the Maori Battalion invaded this marae was in January 1946, when a tremendous welcome home was led by the late Sir Apirana Ngata, Father of the Maori Battalion. Some of the speakers on that occasion were present again to add weight to the marae greetings as the visitors marched in for the reunion.

Separate Maori Battalion Again?

Reunions of the Maori Battalion National Associations are not restricted in nature to the consumption of copious quantities of ale, or to the swapping of yarns; there is aways a heavy agenda of formal business to be conducted. The Secretary for Defence, Mr J. K. Hunn, set the ball rolling when as guest speaker Hunn, set the ball rolling when as guest speaker he made what many thought a very provocative address, speaking firstly on the part that Maori ex-servicemen should play in peacetime, and secondly on the thorny question of the formation of a separate Maori Training Unit within the framework of the New Zealand defence system. In regard to the first question, he implored members of the Association to play a larger and more active part in the battle for peace, by taking a leading part in affairs of vital importance to the Maori people.

It was when he made his points on the second main topic that an apparent restlessness pervaded his ex-servicemen listeners, many of whom lost sympathy with Mr Hunn. For many reasons, he said, it was not possible to accede to the request by the Association for a separate Maori Unit. He mentioned several reasons–a blow to the integration of the two races, difficulty in filling the quota for the Unit, practical difficulties regarding its training, the danger of creating a rival feeling between Maori and Pakeha soldiers, lack of Maori officers, and so on.

As soon as Mr Hunn sat down, the fight was on. I sympathised with him, for I knew the great potential the Association guns had for such an occasion as this. Every speaker attacked the points made by the guest speaker, and the meeting ended as it did three years before in Rotorua, with the firm resolve to continue to fight for a separate Maori Unit.

Memorials Unveiled

Later, when the flagstaff in front of Poho-o-Rawiri was unveiled as one of the war memorials to those of the of the Maori race who fell overseas, Mr C. M. Bennett gave a commemorative oration on Te Moana Nui a Kiwa Ngarimu, V. C. Brigadier Dittmer, the first Commander of the Maori Battalion, unveiled a memorial to the late Reta Keiha, a former Commander who died in May 1960.

The new president of the Association is Mr Henare Ngata, a son of the late Sir Apirana Ngata, and with him as his secretary is Mr Peter Kaua; both of these men are living in Gisborne. In future, reunions will be held on a biennial basis; the next one will be in Hastings in 1966.

A general invitation was issued to all members of the Association to attend the opening of the Memorial building in Palmerston North

on the 27th June.

Was the Reunion worthwhile? I say yes. In the first place there were men and their wives present from the very far North to the very far South of New Zealand. For many of them it was their first experience of seeing some of the richest farm lands in the country, and the farming members of the Association were able to see at first hand the productive nature of Poverty Bay and of some of the other districts they passed through.

Oneness of Purpose

In the second place, I felt the oneness of resolve and purpose amongst these men as they spoke both in formal and informal situations. There is no doubt that within them there beats a heart truly Maori, and they are prepared to fight for all those things which they consider vital for the preservation of the Maori race as a whole. National Maori feeling still lies deeply rooted within the breasts of these leaders of the Maori people, and woe betide any who dare to say that the Maori race will soon die.

In the main matters affecting the race, there was evident at the Reunion a feeling that it is better to sink one's personal opinion in the face of the demands of the welfare of our people. This, I thought, was a good sign, indicating that national needs are such that it were better to close the ranks and present a united front than to allow personal differences to disrupt unity.

Finally a word for the tangata whenua. Nothing but praise for their efforts came from the manuhiri, and deservedly so. I think that if ever, in the years to come, the Maori race were to be merged in the tremendously powerful, enveloping, surging mass of humanity, the last characteristic to disappear would be the Maori love of his fellow man, and the extent to which all who belong to that race go in order to express that love.

At Poho-o-Rawiri it was proved that time has not dimmed the strength of this fact.

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A Maori Salvation Army Officer, Cadet-Lieutenant Ashely Te Tau, has been appointed to the Te Araroa area. He is the first Maori Salvationist to be appointed as a Cadet Lieutenant for several years.