Rikihana Etana

The death occurred at his home at Te Kao on 27 December, 1968, of Rikihana Etana in his 72nd year. Educated at the Te Kao Native School and then at St Stephen's School (which at the time was at Parnell, Auckland), Etana returned to his home at an early age and enlisted for overseas service during the first world war. He was only 17 years old when he left for overseas.

Following World War 2, he returned home and took a keen interest in the tribal history of his people. Still a comparatively young man, he was appointed Secretary and scribe of the Aupouri-Rarara-Ngapuhi Genealogical Committee — a committee formed to investigate and record the genealogies of these tribes and their connection with other ancestral ‘canoes’.

In the 1920s, the Maori Land Development Scheme was launched in the far north with Judge F. O. V. Acheson, President of the Taitokerau Maori Land Board, taking a leading part in supporting the Aupouri's claims for land development. Rikihana Etana was one of many who strongly supported this move. By the time the elders of the tribe had died, Etana was the only member of the tribe who was fluent in tribal genealogies, which were a great advantage to the tribe in making claims for various land blocks as well as assuring visiting tribes of their lineage connection with the Aupouri.

Rikihana Etana took an active interest in all affairs relating to his people, being the first Secretary of the Aupouri Trust Board, a position which he held throughout the Board's life until a few months prior to his death, a Secretary of the various Land Incorporations, Chairman of the local Maori Committee and School Committee and a spokesman for the tribe at various gatherings and functions.

His funeral, one of the largest ever assembled at Te Kao, was attended by the Judge of the Maori Land Court, Mr Nicholson, the District Officer of the Department of Maori Affairs, and representatives of the various organisations and tribes with which he was associated throughout the years. He is survived by his widow, Ani, and a family of nine children.

Ka ngaro koe te pononga a te Aupouri. Takoto mai i te Toko-o-te-Arawa me te iwi, me te whanau. Hoki a wairua atu ki to whanau e takoto mai ra i te pae o Tu. ‘He tao huata e taea te karo, he tao na aitua, e kore.’ E moe e Riki — nau i takahi te pae o te riri, takahia atu te ara o te tini o te mano. E moe i roto i te Ariki.

Waata Tepania

Within the space of only three months, the Aupouri Tribe in particular has suffered grave loss in the number of outstanding figures and personalities in the tribe. On Monday 20 January, on his way from Ahipara to Te Kao to assist his people at Te Kao to prepare the marae for a Vice-Regal visit in February, Mr Waata (Walter) Tepania died as a result of an accident, which occurred at Ngataki. Mr Tepania was in a truck driven by his son, Mr James Tepania. When the truck struck a deep hole, the door flew open, throwing Mr Tepania, his daughter-in-law and a young child onto the road. Mr Tepania died instantly but none of the other passengers were injured.

Chairman of the Taitokerau Maori District Council, a member of the New Zealand Maori Council, and a member of both the Taitokerau and Aupouri Maori Trust Boards, Mr Tepania was a leader and elder of both the Aupouri and Rarawa tribes. A resident at Ahipara, he was born at Wai-mahana and as a lad attended the most northerly school in New Zealand — Te

Hapua. He worked as a farmhand, a kauri bushman, a bullock driver, a cartage contractor, a commercial fisherman and then became a building contractor. Always interested in the affairs of his people, Mr Tepania took an active part in promoting the education of his people and the retention of Maori culture. It was he who was primarily responsible for the erection of the Ohaki Meeting-house at Ahipara.

A prominent member of the Roman Catholic Church, his interests were not limited to his own church as far as religious matters were concerned. Again it was he who was primarily responsible for the renovation of the Ahipara Anglican Church. Speakers at his tangi held at Ahipara, at which a very large number gathered, referred to him as the ‘needle which was responsible for sewing the churches together as well as the people.’ A forthright and fearless speaker, Mr Tepania represented his tribes at various national gatherings, being respected for his dedication and sincerity of purpose.

So, Te Aupouri and Te Rarawa have again lost another of their notable sons — an irreparable loss which is mourned by many fortunate to know him.

E Wa, nau i takahi nga marae tini o te motu. Ko koe te manu korero o te Tai-tokerau, kua wahangu nei i tenei ra. Kua pania to iwi. Haere ra; kua okioki koe i o mahi; e moe i roto i te Ariki.

Riwai Tawhiri

Mr Riwai Te Hiwinui Tawhiri died in Gisborne last September at the age of 90. He was the last surviving Te Aute College contemporary of Sir Peter Buck.

Mr Tawhiri studied at Nelson Theological College, and although ordained a deacon of the Anglican Church, became a school-teacher and taught at Maori schools in Northland, Waikato and the East Coast. He was one of the first Maoris to become a headmaster. Music and tennis were two of his major interests.

During his retirement, Mr Tawhiri lived in Auckland, returning to Gisborne only three months before he died. While in Auckland, he told his story of ‘The Lost Finger’ to Harry Dansey, and it was published in our issue 63.

Mr Tawhiri is survived by two sons.

Waipounamu Te Wheki

A very well-known figure in the Morrinsville area, Mrs Waipounamu Te Wheki, died on 28 October. She was a sister of the late Te Hau Tanawhea, a chief of Ngati Haua.

Born in 1881, she was one of the last survivors of her generation.

Hipirini Te Kata

Another elder of Ngati Haua has died, Mr Hipirini Te Kata, aged 82. He was born in Te Awamutu area and attended Te Aute College. Mr Te Kata became highly qualified as an interpreter, working with the Maori Affairs Department, the Maori Land Court, an Auckland firm of solicitors, and finally in his own business at Te Awamutu.

Later in life, Mr Te Kata took up farming at Te Awamutu before returning to his home marae, Parewere. He was an ordained apostle of the Ratana church.

Mr Te Kata, who was married twice, leaves a large number of descendants.

Popo Heta

One of Rotorua's oldest Maoris, Mr Popo Heta, died on 18 December in Rotorua Hospital.

Mr Heta, who was born at Karamuramu, was 104 years old. He was five years old when Fort Galatea was built, and could remember Gilbert Mair, leader of the fighting Arawa column, going through Kaingaroa during the Te Kooti campaign.

He leaves a daughter, Mrs Miria Te Tomo, eight grandchildren and many great-grandchildren.

Tumeke Wehipeihana

A large number attended the tangi for Mr Tumeke Wehipeihana, who died on Christmas Day, aged 89. The service was conducted at Kuku Pa, Ohau.

Mr and Mrs Wehipeihana had recently celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary.

Keith Henderson

An unusual tribute was paid to Mr Keith Dawson Henderson, with the holding of a tangi at Judea marae after his death in Tauranga on 7 January.

Both Mr Henderson, who had recently retired after being headmaster at Bethlehem Maori School for 11 years, and his wife, were honorary members of Ngati Ranginui. Mr Henderson, a Pakeha who held the status of an elder at the Judea, Wairoa and Bethlehem maraes, was accorded full chieftain's honours.

Mr Henderson had a strong interest in Maori education and welfare, and with his wife was active in fostering Maori culture. He leaves his wife, Sylvia Ashton-Warner, two sons and a daughter.

Mererina Te Rore

Mrs Te Rore, who was born in Waiwhatawhata, Hokianga, in 1887, died last December. She was a descendant of Moetara, and widow of Raniera Te Rore Taoho.

Many welfare organisations benefited from her support, and she made the rebuilding of the Waikaraka marae and the maintenance of its cemetery her particular responsibility.

Mrs Te Rore is survived by five of her nine children, 27 grandchildren, and 76 great-grandchildren.

I recently attended a Maori wedding where the ceremony was performed in the meeting house and the food eaten in the dining room of the marae. The warmth, the kindness, the laughter and enjoyment and especially the informality of the occasion, mirrored exactly Rowley Habib's description of the Maori people in his poem ‘Maori’.

Obviously the sensitive and articulate Maori can write more truthfully about the feelings of his own people than the Pakeha who is on the outside ‘looking in’. Nonetheless we must be grateful to authors like James E. Ritchie who has made a most sincere attempt to analyse the problems and difficulties of the Maori people so that a better understanding between Maori and Pakeha might be achieved.

Most books about Maoris by Pakeha authors are not. written with the intention of being critical. In a multiracial society Pakehas must be concerned about their Maori brothers. I feel sure that many Maoris do not share Mr Habib's ‘contempt for he who dares to tread the sacred ground of my people’ for that would be breaking down the bridges which in many cases have been built between the two peoples.

Finally may I add that I also enjoyed Mr Habib's poem ‘Pakeha’ in which he is more than generous.

Yours sincerely,

M. Hunt

I am a 13 year old student at London Central Secondary School, and I belong to the ‘Commonwealth Club’. I am interested in writing to Maori students in New Zealand.

Could you please send me some names of students aged 13 to 17 who are interested in being our penpals, as I know others in our school are keen to write to them.

Yours sincerely,

Maureen Hennessy,

I am very interested in the Maoris of New Zealand, and very keen to learn all about them and study their customs and language.

I am a 17 year old English girl, and besides the Maori and New Zealand, my interests include drawing, painting, pop music and rugby, with special interest in the New Zealand All Blacks.

I would be pleased to have several Maori penpals, girls and boys, from 17 years old and up.

Yours faithfully,

Miss Monica Cichy,

For Mr Rowley Habib to view with contempt any Pakeha who tries to come to some understanding of the Maori is not merely an expression of ‘bias’ but bigotry. That he also believes only the Maori is in a position to criticise, for example, the Maori, is no less narrow-minded.

In respect to his opinion that only the ‘true Maori’ can be ‘caught and written about’ by the Maori himself, all that can be really said is that he is obviously unfamiliar with the writing of Baucke and Middleton: Pakeha who not only knew the Maori but thoroughly understood the people—‘as human beings’.

The Maori, I'm inclined to believe, is no different from any other people—taken individually or as a group; they are neither more not less complex than the Pakeha, or any other race—and no more, nor less, difficult to understand, given interest in them. To create, as Mr Habib attempts to do, some form of psychological ‘mystique’ in respect to the Maori is simply a crude expression of, again, bigotry, the underlying suggestion being that the Maori is different in some basic human essentials—he has, for example, ‘subtle emotions’ outside the understanding of anyone other than the Maori. Which is nonsense; all races share a common humanity, open to all men who wish to share it.

Finally, dare I suggest, in the light of Mr Habib's preoccupation with glass enclosures, that those who live in them should never throw stones—at Pakeha, or anyone else?

Yours sincerely,

Alan Taylor

Te Hoa Pono

nā Mere Ana

E rua ētahi kuia ko Kato he pouaru, ko Mere he penihana. Tā rāua mahi he hauhake parareka, kūmara, he tari hoki i tā rāua kānga, paukena, kūmara ki rō rua, ngā parareka ki rō pākoro.

Te wera hoki o taua rangi, ā, ka whakangā rāua i runga i te parani o te whare o Mere, he titiro i ngā kōrero o te pepa, ko te ‘Times’ te ingoa. Ka mea atu a Mere ki a Kato, “He pānui tēnei. Kai te hiahiatia ētahi kaimahi wāhine i te whare mahi a Wati.”

“Ko wai a Wati, ā, kai whea te mahi nā?”

“Kai Tūranga. E kī ana te pepa nei, kotahi mano ngā kaimahi e mahi ana i reira, i ngā marama o Pepuere, o Maehe ki āperira, ā kai te karanga tonu he kaimahi mā rātau. E Kato, inā taua e taumaha nei i te nama — he hiko, Tīwī, me te raihana mō ngā waerehe me utu i tēnei marama.”

“E Mere, ēngari koe, kāore ō waea; tēnā ko au — ko ngā waea a te tangata, te piki hoki o te utu waea! Te āhua, ka poroa e au taku waea. Kāore e taea e au te utu.”

“Pēwhea ki te pāngia koe e te mate?”

“ā, waiho rā mā te wā tēnā e titiro. Ka nui tonu taku ora. Kua pau kē taku penihana mō tēnei marama e tū mai nei, ā, he pai hoki kia hōmai e Hiri he nama kai māku i tōna toa. Me hoko rānei ētahi o ā tāua parareka. āhua pai te utu ināianei.”

“A ka pēwhea tāua i ngā marama roaroa o te makariri? Ka whakawhata tāua i ngā kōhua, ā, ka mate tāua i te hemokai? E, ko te kore tēnā! Haramai, ka haere tāua ki a Wati i Tūranga, me kore noa tāua e waimarie, ā, ka hōmai he mahi mā tāua.”

A Friend Indeed

There were two old ladies, Kato who was a widow, and Mere, a pensioner. They had just finished harvesting their potatoes and storing the kumara in the kumara pit. The pumpkins were gathered into the ‘pakoro’, and the corn picked.

The heat was terrific, and they were sitting on Mere's verandah reading the ‘Daily Times’. Mere said to Kato, “Here is an advertisement calling for workers at Wattie's factory.”

“Who is Wattie, and where is this factory?”

“It is in Gisborne. This paper says that nearly one thousand seasonal workers will be employed there during the months of February, March and April, and they are still calling for more labourers. Kato, here we are laden with our bills — electricity, TV and radio licences which have to be paid this month.”

“Mere, you are all right, you haven't got a telephone; but for me — with other people's calls, and the increasing cost of the tolls! I think I will disconnect mine. I can't afford to pay it.”

“Well, what if you get sick?”

“Oh well, I'll just have to trust to my good health. I have already used up my next month's pension, and I hope Syd will give me credit for food at his store. Perhaps we could sell some of our potatoes. The price is pretty good at present.”

“But what about the long winter months? Are we going to hang our pots up and starve? Oh no, never that! Let's go to Wattie's in Gisborne and try our luck.”

Kātahi rāua ka rapa he tēneti mō rāua, kia kore noa ai e utu rūma, ka kohi i ā rāua kōhua, parareka, he rātana hei mārama mō rāua, he moenga, he paraikete, nā kātahi ka tatari ki ngā waka taritari hipi ki Tūranga.

Ka tae ki Tūranga, ka haere rāua ki te whakatū i tō rāua tēneti ki te one, pēnei anō i ngā ‘turihi’ nei, ā, ka haere rāua ki tā Wati.

“E Kato, hoatu koe ki mua. āhua pai tō hanga, kāore i nui te hina o tō māhunga, pēnei i tōku.”

Ka tae rāua ki te tari, ka pātai mai te karaka ki ō rāua ingoa, hiahia kākahu mahi anō rāua. Ka kī mai ia, “He mahi mā kōrua ināianei mehemea kōrua e hiahia ana ki te tīmata.”

“E koiarā tō māua hiahia, ā, kia nui ngā ora ki a koe.”

I te ahiahi, ka mutu tā rāua mahi, ka kite rāua i ngā penihana kaumātua ake i a rāua, ngā tamariki tāne, wāhine hoki, ā he nui ngā mea i mōhio ki a rāua.

Ka pau te wiki, ka puta te tiaki a ngā kuia nei, ka katakata rāua, kātahi a Mere ka kī, “E Kato, kai roto i tēnei tangata i a Wati, te aroha pono o Te Karaiti. Kāore ana whiriwhiri i ana kaimahi, ā, e mōhio ana a ia ko ngā pouaru me ngā penihana ngā mea e tino āwhinatia ana i roto i ēnei marama. Nō reira, kia tau te manaakitanga a te Atua ki runga ki a koe, e Wati, te tino hoa pono o ngā pani!”

So they looked for a tent to save accommodation charges, collected pots and pans, potatoes, a lantern, mattresses and blankets, then waited for a free ride on a sheep truck bound for Gisborne.

When they reached Gisborne, they went to set up their tent on the beach just like campers, then they made their way to Wattie's.

“Kato, you go first. You don't look very old, and your hair is not as white as mine.”

When they reached the office, the clerk asked for their names and whether they required uniforms. He said, “You can start work straight away if you want to.”

“Oh yes, that's what we would like to do, thank you very much.”

At the end of the day, while clocking out, they met widows, pensioners older than themselves, young men and girls, many of whom knew them.

At the end of the week, both kuias had broad smiles when they looked at their wages. Mere said, “Kato, this man must have the love of Jesus Christ in him because he does not pick and choose his workers. He must know, too, that most of the seasonal workers would be widows and pensioners who need help in these months. God bless you Mr Wattie, the true friend indeed of the needy!”

In publishing this article, Te Ao Hou does not show its support of the theory here advanced (see note at end of article), but wishes to show appreciation to Mr Bokala-mulla for his expressions of friendship.

Origin and Chronology

It is generally accepted that the Maoris are the descendants of a race that came from Asia to the Pacific Islands and from there to New Zealand about 1,000 B.C. India being the cradle of civilisation in the East, there is strong evidence to prove that the Maoris came from India too. Maybe they took thousands of years to complete their so-called ‘Great Migration’. Indian history is written and recorded in rock edicts, in the Vedas and the Epics, and proved in India's recent archaeological excavations. Unfortunately, this has not been the case with the Maori. However, the legends and traditions, the arts and crafts, the beliefs and customs of the Maoris bear a very strong similarity to those of North India. In Lanka too, we have a recorded history of over 2,000 years and the ruined cities of Ceylon with their wealth of historical remains bear testimony to this assertion. A study of contemporary events that took place both in Maoridom and Lanka (Ceylon) will make our similarities very clear.

Hawaiki refers to a far-off land in the west and the historians agree that the low-lying fields of Bengal with the mountainous terrain hinterland is the Hawaiki of the Maori. From about 1,000 to 500 B.C. the mainland of India was full of tribes and tribal strife. There were the Nagas, Yakkas, Arawas, Sooriyas or Sauris, Maullis, Mohanasa, Meena, Kuri and Mauriyas — the Maoris. Also in India there was a tribe called ‘Sinha’, or the Lions, in what was then known as Latarata. The popular place names like Karanasi, Ujjain, Bali, Rangagiri, Ava, Manupoori, Uri and Mandura, all correspond to some place names in Maoridom — viz., Taranaki, Urewera, Pari, Rangiriri, Hawaiki, Manapouri and Uri.

About 1,000 B.C., a General called Chandragupta of the Mauriya dynasty founded the empire of Mauriya in India and

all of India was brought under his rule; furthermore, the great Mauriyan King invaded Burma, Java, Sumatra and the islands in the far east. There were mainly two great ‘migrations’ that took place about 500 B.C. One was the great migration of the brave Mauriyas who were able warriors as well as navigators of the time. The religion at the time was Hinduism in India and the people were just beginning to organise themselves as a more civilised human race. They were mostly farmers and fishermen who possessed crude implements. With their crude implements and a faith associated with dances, songs and chants, the power of the deities (gods) and the dead, the Mauriyas drifted far east, finally to settle in New Zealand, cut off from the mother land. They probably did not take with them the art of writing or any written alphabet so they preserved and passed on their heritage by word of mouth.

Well now, by this time the Sinha tribe of Latarata too launched on their great migration, probably from the Bay of Bengal, and drifted down south until they landed on the coast of Lanka. Both Indian and Ceylon history has it that Prince Vijaya, son of Sinhabahu and Sinhaseevalee of Latarata went on looting and harassing the subjects of his own father and the king then summoned his son and his 500 followers and had their heads half shaven and put them in a canoe to drift and perish at sea as a punishment. Vijaya landed in Lanka with his followers; fought with the native Yakkas living there and then founded the Sinhalese race the island of Lanka, now called Ceylon. Legend has it that any new settlement peopled by sons of Hawaiki (sons of India) was placed under the protectorate of the god Vishnu or Hari. Lanka and Maoridom were both placed under the protection of this god according to some legends. Prior to the landing of Vijaya, the Yakkas and Nagas of Ceylon worshipped the sun and moon, trees and stones and their dead. This was so with the primitive Maori too.

About 240 B.C. the Mauriyas under the leadership of the great emperor Asoka, ushered in what is considered to be the ‘Golden Age’ of Indian civilisation. The Mauriyas, great warriors as they were, fought a thousand battles under Asoka, the great, and at the end the emperor was so filled with profound remorse that he no more wished to extend his empire by Dig-Vijaya or territorial conquest or by the might of the sword. He turned to Dhamma-Vijaya, the conquest by righteousness, and the whole of India including lands overseas, saw a period of prosperity and happiness in this period. The arts and culture flourished and peace and goodwill was even extended beyond man to the beast in that there were laws protecting the animals. He became a Buddhist as by this time Buddhism was at its best in India. This great emperor sent missions overseas to spread the teaching of Buddha and it was his own son, Mahinda Thero, who brought Buddhism to Ceylon during the reign of Devanampiyatissa the Sinhala king who was a bosom friend of the emperor Asoka.

With the introduction of Buddhism to Ceylon the people who were given to other forms of worship and steeped in superstition all became Buddhists and with it came the Great Aryan civilisation of India — Hawaiki — to Ceylon. This great religion has ever since been the biggest religious and cultural force in Lanka. The emperor Asoka's daughter, Sangamitta, later came to Ceylon with the sacred Bo-sapling (Bua trees considered a holy tree) to establish the order of Buddhist nuns (meheisasana) whilst Mahina Thero established the order of Buddhist monks. Thus it would seem

that it is again the Mauriya (Maoris of India) who brought civilisation and culture first to Ceylon. The Maoris of New Zealand left their Hawaiki (India) before Buddhism became the popular religion of India. Lord Buddha himself was a Mauriyan and Ceylon history has a line of kings of Mauriya dynasty.

Legend and Belief

The lay Buddhist in Ceylon had all along been influenced by the Hindu cult and he has faith in the deities of the Hindu pantheon of gods like Vishnu or Hari, Varuna, Yama, Ganesa or Kanesha (the elephant god) and the demon goddess Kali and in the belief that the first god who created the earth was Mnu or Manui. It is surprising that the Maoris too, did worship these very same deities and even today the story of these deities is reflected in their wood-carvings and meeting halls. The three-fingered Kali or the deity with the elephant's trunk are yet found and of special significance is the Maori carved ‘pare’ representing Vishnu and the Gadundas.

In both countries I find some rituals common. We in Ceylon perform a ceremony called ‘kapa’ by fixing a pole in times of drought, crop failure and disease. The Maori too did this and it is again called ‘kapa’. This is done to invoke blessings from the deities and is followed by offerings or sacrifices of meals, etc. The Banyan tree and the Bo-tree are held in high esteem in India and Ceylon and references are found that the Maori too has done this. Although there appears to be no caste system in Maoridom, there is a close semblance of it in the sub-tribal feelings of superiority over other sub-tribes. The word ‘Avichi’ means the hell below, and I read in the book called Who are the Maoris by Newman, that the very same concept of ‘Avichi’ with a scorching fire burning eternally leagues deep down below was a popular belief of the Maoris.

The concept that the superiors came from above and the personification of the sky, moon, sun and earth as deities, is still a living thing in Maoridom. The place given to the ‘cloud’ is significant and those who came from the clouds are called the sons of the cloud — Tama Te Kapua. In Ceylon and India too, the ‘cloud’ was associated with deities and superiority and ‘Megha Varna’. Megha Vana and Megha duta (megha meaning cloud) are significant. In the performance of demonological dances in Bali ceremonies in Ceylon, the marks worn by the dancers are almost the same as those figures of Maori carvings with rolling eyes, protruding tongues and fear-striking appearance. The colours used in these rituals are usually red and yellow in both countries.

Place Names and Words

Both Sinhalese and Maori languages appear to be the derivative of Sanskrit and Pali in India. I came across a host of place names common to Ceylon, India and Maoridom. It is most surprising to find that there are words common both in meaning and sounds in Ceylon and this country. The following will be ample proof:

Society and Customs

The ancient social structure in both countries appears to have been more or less the same. Ariya meant ‘noble’ and instead of the caste system in Ceylon, they had the tribal caste system which meant the same distinction in the social ladder. The family was an extended one, meaning a small blood group with close-knit ties and a law of its own and self-contained. Marriage was endogamous Both countries had a ‘group’ or ‘we’ feeling and did not think in terms of the so-called ‘individual’ or ‘I’. Some of the customs are strikingly similar.

Funeral (Tangi): All relatives were summoned from distant places and there was a great lamenting going on. The dead was either buried or cremated. Ashes or bones were preserved in tombstones built later.

Mana (Mana): This term means social prestige or power in both countries and is pronounced the same way. The kings of old conferred ‘mana’ on persons for bravery or service in the armed forces. A person was considered great who had ‘mana’ and those lower in rank had no access to his personal effects, etc. A district in Ceylon called Hathara Korale has five ‘manas’ conferred by the kings, and chieftains still claim a lot of prestige for having received ‘mana’. It has become synonymous with pride today.

Was (Tapu): This is a belief that some evil will befall a person who does a thing that he is not expected to or entitled to by custom. A person of lower rank wearing a crown or a ceremonial dress worn by kings or nobles is considered an act of this nature. This appears to exist in both countries in their folklore.

‘Pali’ (Utu): This means taking revenge for some injustice done. In Ceylon a king called Gajabahu hears the sad story of how 12,000 people were made captives and taken to India by a king who invaded Ceylon during his father's reign. The king, infuriated by hearing this, marched his mighty army across to India and brought 24,000 prisoners of war to Ceylon. In Maoriland ‘utu’ means much the same. I read in The Decorative Arts of New Zealand by Mr T. Barrow that the Rangatira, Te Rangihaeta of the Ngati Toa tribe had 22 European prisoners slain as ‘utu’, as his beloved wife was killed by the Europeans.

Finally, Newman in his book Who are the Maoris, says, ‘There was a caste in India called Tengalais. These Tengerese people are called Hindus by other writers. Their customs are distinctly Maori and they speak a dialect similar to Maori. With them as with the Maori, the head is sacred. They do not like any one to be higher on a hill than themselves.’ Does this paragraph refer to the Lion Race or Tribe (Sinha) of ancient India, the place of origin of the Sinhalese?

In conclusion may I mention that I do not worry about the exact place of origin of the Maori, be it Bengal of India, a place in Egypt, or South America. The fact still remains that we in Lanka (Ceylon) and you in New Zealand did have much in common in the past as shown by the foregoing facts. We had therefore, a common bond, a common culture before we set out 3,000 years ago in two directions. During the 3,000 years, much happened to erase and obliterate our identity or to alter it to a large extent. This was because the adaptation by both races to a new environment was inevitable in the struggle for survival.

Let us not lean on our past heavily, and, as somebody said, let us keep on making history the way we could. The Colombo Plan can and does not only yield mutual benefits to the participant countries in the economic sphere in aid and exchange of personnel, but in doing so it plays a vital role in bringing people of other races together who find that they have had much in common. This kind of feeling will surely help build up a peaceful international atmosphere for thinking in terms of universal peace and security in the world. May this be food for thought to my readers living today in a world torn to pieces by colour, class, race and religious conflicts.

And I bring you, my Maori brethren, greetings from Lanka — Ceylon.

Asoka Bokalamulla, Probation Officer, Ceylon

(The writer has used for his sources of Polynesian history some of the standard works of past authors. Recent archaeological and other research is beginning to fill

in some of the gaps in our knowledge in a most exciting way. There is growing evidence that the Polynesians may have lived in Fiji as long ago as 3,500 years and that they were there before the Melanesians. All over the South Pacific it is becoming apparent that the Polynesians have been in the area for very much longer than was thought.

The most popular theory amongst present-day scholars is that the Asian homeland of the Polynesians was probably on the South China coast and that they had left there before the first Mongolian people entered the region. So far as Hawaiki is concerned, only the east Polynesians, including the Maoris, refer to this as their homeland. Evidence is accumulating that the original Hawaiki was probably Savai'i, the largest of the Samoan islands. The ancestors of the Maori probably left Samoa over 2,000 years ago and settled in the Marquesas. From thence some moved south to Tahiti and neighbouring islands. Later other groups went to Rarotonga and thence eventually to New Zealand.—Editor.)

‘pop’ tunes for Maori items is eliminated. Radio and television programmes of Maori music are among the most sought after by other broadcasting organisations, and the NZBC does not want to meet the demand by supplying material taken from well known European songs.

Entry forms will be available from all radio stations, and the conditions of entry are shown in detail on the form. Local stations will make arrangements for recording the entries, which are limited to two in each class. The judging will be on tape-recorded performance only, and the composer may present his entry either as a soloist, or as one of a group up to eight in number, or may have it performed by a group of no more than eight people. One accompanying musical instrument may be used if needed. Lyrics must be presented in written form (Maori and English) if they are to be considered for judging.

The panel of judges will include Bill Kerekere and Ashley Heenan of the NZBC,

and three others of national repute in the field of Maori music, culture and entertainment. The recorded entries will be submitted to them anonymously.

Overseas journalists wrote damning articles on the ‘pop’ Maori music presented for the Queen in 1953, and the result was that the items for the Royal visit of 1963 were all original. This contest could provide original items for the Maori group selected to perform for the Royal visit in 1970.