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TE TOA TAKITINI
Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper.
Number 78,
Hastings.
February, 1928.
TE AUTE KEEPS MAKING PROGRESS!
The pupils of Te Aute have done very well in last year's Matriculation exams.
The pupils who passed are:
T M Awatere MS C Lima MS
W W Cobbett MS W McIvor MS
H Hamiora MS P W Neild MS
S Himona MS J Raureti MS
R J Keepa MS W Ruwhiu ME
H Keogh MS
M indicates a pass in Matriculation.
S indicates the qualification to study law.
E indicates a pass in Engineering.
Many also passed the Public Service Entrance and the Senior Free Place.
Senior McLean Scholarship.
John Mokonuiarangi Bennett was awarded the McLean for two years. He also passed the Public Srvic and the Senior Free Place.
(We await the names of others.)
Published by the Rev F A Bennett and printed by Cliff Press, Queen Street, Hastings, HB.
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Te Toa Takitini
Registered at the GPO as Newspaper
The price of the paper is 10/- a year.
Address letters to ‘Te Toa Takitini,’ Box 300, Hastings.
Te Toa Takitini, February 1, 1928.
A WORD TO THE CHURCH.
The Bishop of Waiapu.
To my children amongst the Maori People. Greetings to you all. We have recently observed Christmas and celebrated together. Our thoughts have been drawn to the child born on that day. We wondered at the great love of Christ who came into the world as a man – an infant, a child, an adult – so that he was truly a man. And we human beings, knowing our weaknesses and the many ways in which our spirits are marred [whakanoa], seize upon the strong spirit of Christ to help and strengthen us. He came as our Saviour.
The news of Christmas is good news, news of great joy, news of salvation.
There are two Church festivals, days for celebration, Christmas and Easter.
But there are other Church observances, days of sorrow and penitence. Such are the days of Lent.
Lent.
The days of Lent begin on 22nd February. This is a time that reminds us of the 40 days during which our Lord was tested in the desert. The Spirit took him there to that lonely place where he was without companions and without food. The devil came there to test him. The two of them battled there, but it is also a battle that is being fought throughout this world. It is a battle between the Ruler of Darkness and the Prince of Light. The sound or their blows was not heard. Christ did not seek strength from outside of himself. The words of God and his own prayers were the source of his strength. During all these testings Christ was victorious. The devil was defeated and the holy angels came and ministered to Christ.
The days of Lent remind us that the powers of darkness still have a grip on the world. Our testings, our temptations, are like those of Christ. It is not human frailties that are being tested, but whether, being tested we sin.
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The devil often comes to us with his temptations and we give in to them. We fell because we did not follow the example of Christ; we did not seize the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. We fall and that is sin.
The days of Lent are a time for us to suppress our burdensome desires.
(a) It is an appropriate time for us to reflect on our sins and to bring them to Christ, the bearer of the sins of the world. Let us confess our sins to him.
(b) It is an appropriate time to seek spiritual power over the power of the times. Cling to God in Christ by the practice of prayer and the reading of the words of the Bible.
Come to worship frequently, and at the Lord’s Supper take the Holy Communion with a faithful heart.
Don’t delay coming to worship until the bell rings. Don’t wait for the Minister to go in before you. When you enter the church, kneel down and recall that you are now in the presence of God, Offer to him your heart and mind as the Mahi offered their gold, frankincense and myrrh. If you are late arriving at worship you will not receive all the blessings. The few minutes spent in silence and prayer before the start of the service are a time of great spiritual value.
Good Friday.
These are some of the things for us to think about during the days of Lent up to Good Friday, the day on which Christ agreed to give his body as a ransom for the sins of the whole world.
Let us take care lest we find ourselves in the ranks of the soldiers who nailed him to the cross, or amongst the crowd of Jews who jeered at him, or amongst all those who have not followed the crucified One.
Look to him as Saviour, as King, as your God. If you follow this guidance then your souls will be prepared for blessings and the joy of the Day of Resurrection.
From your father in God,
W Walmsley, Waiapu.
[The Bishop wishes the Ministers the above letter to be read to the congregations at the times of service.]
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‘THE NEW YEAR.’ 1928.
T Wi-Repa
This is an appropriate time for us to consider how we are getting on; what state we are in. Christmas Day has come. Our guides tell us to look back so that we will see clearly what is ahead. And with the New Year having come upon us we look again. Christmas is the Feast of Christ when we remember his birth into the world, his works, and his voice commanding people to be good. Nineteen centuries after the birth of Christ his Gospel arrived in our land when at Christmas in the year 1814 that Gospel was proclaimed here in Aotearoa for the first time. In 1914 the reception by the Maori People of that Gospel was the basis of all our activities. Let us look back at that centenary.
Centenary 1814-1914
When Samuel Marsden arrived amongst Ngapuhi they were occupied with warfare, murder and cannibalism. These were years when their thinking focussed on destroying other tribes. They had acquired some weapons which made it easy to defeat their enemies. It was the time of the gun. It was also the time of the Bible. For many years these two struggled – darkness with its new weapon, the gun, and the light that came with the missionaries and their Bible. During these years our ancestors were intent on killing one another. The great names of that century were those of warriors dedicated to killing – Hongi Hika, Patuone, Te Rauparaha, Te Rangihaeata, Potatau, Murupaenga, Te Heuheu, Rewi Maniapoto, Tukorehu, Te Waharoa, Te Waru, Tupaea, Mautaranui, Pomare, Te Wera, Te Morenga, Te Heuheu and many others. However we must perhaps place on the list of names of the peacemakers amongst the leaders of that time that of Te Kani-a-Takirau, high chief of the Tai Rawhiti. The main desire of the people of the first part of that century was that they should be known throughout the country as warriors. Those years of wickedness extended from 1800 to 1868. After 1868 the country began to be tranquil.
During those terrible years Waikato fought against Ngapuhi, Ngati Raukawa, and Taranaki. At that time Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata made their expedition to the Cook Strait area. Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Tama descended on the Chathan Islands. And the Amiowhenua roamed over the country. Also at that time war parties of Nga Puhi under Hongi, Tuwhare, Te Titore, Pomare, and Te Wera went to the Tai Rawhiti. Parties from the West and from the North attacked Hauraki, Waikato, and the Tai Rawhiti. More recently there has been the testing of the mana of the King and consequent troubles.
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After that came the activities of the Hauhau and their skirmishes around the country. Out of that was born the work of Te Kooti and the fights over this matter. The last war was that of Titokowaru when we heard of the overthrow of the great pa of Matakitaki, of Te Motunui o Mokoia, of Te Roto-a-Tara, of Te Whetu-matarau, of Kokai, of Te Whiti-o-Tu; and also of the great battle at Te Tumu, and the capture of Toka-a-Kuku, of Pukenui, of Pukekaroro, of Titi-rangi, of Te Moremunui and of Ika-a-Ranganui. No part of the country escaped the doings of the benighted World.
It was not only epidemics which consigned Maori to the afterlife, though they also struck them down. Foster, the doctor with Captain Cook’s party, when they arrived in this land in 1769 in the century before the 1800s, said that there were 400,000 Maori. In the century we are speaking of that number fell to below 40,000.
At the beginning of that century there were very few Pakeha, only a few unscrupulous characters engaged in whaling, catching seals, treachery and murder. They were exiles from their own countries. As the years of that century passed so the number of respectable Pakeha increased. The work of the missionaries bore fruit and two thousand years after Christ our ancestors were unfamiliar with cannibalism.
The Missionaries.
Let us not forget the missionaries and the good work they did for our land. Our land was set on fire by the voice of God at that time. By their hands we were plucked out of the flames of hell-fire. And we are left with the saying of Mr Seddon: ‘This is God’s own country.’ The missionaries came to bring the Gospel of Christ to our people. During the worst incidents of the last century they were present. They brought an end to Maori cannibalism. They poured the water of enlightenment on the red-hot stones of the human ovens and the stones were cooled. They devoted their efforts to seeing that the seeds of goodness were planted amongst our cannibal people. By their efforts and their eagerness to preach the Gospel of Christ we learned that we Maori have the one father and the one mother, that is, we are brothers and sisters to each other; we are indeed one people. Therefore, people, lt us not forget these people and their good work. Without these people we would not have come to accept the enlightenment that the nineteenth century brought. From 1875 to 1914 the seeds they sowed brought understanding and bore fruit. This was the peaceful end of that century. That end revealed the bravery, the maturity, the stout-heartedness of those who worked in Christ’s vineyard. At the celebration of the peaceful end of those one hundred years we were given the good seed as a gift for the new century. They look down from Heaven;
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do we have the commitment to take up their good gift? Will we do anything with it? Are we doing well or badly? You elderly men and women who have passed on, give us some of your strength. You buried the evil and planted the good.
The New Year, 1928.
This is a new century. In this new century we are a new people with new ideas and practices. We are familiar with the ways of our friends, the Pakeha. They have transformed everything. The Pakeha have spread understanding to all places. The Pakeha have set up nearly 150 Maori Schools – a gift to us from the Government. Pakeha are running our leading Maori colleges. Look at ourselves. ‘The old things have passed; their mothers have given themselves over to the new.’ The century we find ourselves in has been good to us. Our people who have gained university degrees are now in their fifties. They grew up in raupo houses, in cooking sheds, in lean-tos. As children they did not dream of cars, aeroplanes, telephones [?waereti] for talking to people far away, submarines, phonographs which reproduce people’s voices, electricity, and suchlike. There is not a Maori village that has been awestruck by the sun of education. That sun has shone upon Maunga Pohatu, Waiapu, Te Kaha, Ruatahuna, Taupo, Waikaremoana, on the head of the Fish [Wellington], on the tail of the Fish [Northland], and on the belly of the land. We have not been able to hide under the trees. The children in every place speak English. Maori read Pakeha newspapers and books. Each day or week we hear accounts of the world; the newspapers point tell of the new treasures of each country. We eat Pakeha food. We ate only kumara in the olden days; the ‘kumara’ that the Pakeha brought us is ’wine.’ We depend on the Pakeha for our living. Our money comes from the Pakeha. We travel around only on Pakeha transport. We are eager to have everything just like the Pakeha. We have abandoned the wearisome occupations of the Maori in favour of working with sheep, or milking cows or growing corn. The old muddy tracks have been turned into fine roads for fast Pakeha vehicles.
And Us?
And so we ask ourselves about our
own situation now that we are surrounded by the wonderful things mentioned
above. Are we improving like the Pakeha or are we going backwards? Are we
thrown into confusion by the overwhelming light of this new century? We wear
beautiful clothes. We travel in cars; we bravely participate in the current
sports; we are great beer drinkers. These are all activities of this century.
But are our appetites and our minds satisfied by these things? Many young
people are going to the towns to wander about aimlessly –
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to play billiards, to drink beer, and engage in sports. Many of us do not have a permanent job. The young people go to make money only to drink it away. Meanwhile their aged parents live on kumara throughout the winter. Much land lies unproductive. This is the last talent we have. If we do not use it well it will slip out of our hands. Some who have married a wife are still a burden to their parents. They do not know the value of a permanent home. Many of us have not fully grown up and don’t care for our possessions. This is the new world, the world of light, a Pakeha world. Indeed, we must look to the things the Pakeha value if we are to understand it. The Pakeha understands the basic things that make it possible to live well in this world they have fashioned for us. Therefore look, learn, follow, and attain the ways of our friends which are examples for the world. Our ancestors were warriors in their days, Let us be warriors in our days. Our Lord said: ‘Blessed are your eyes and your ears for they have seen and heard things that prophets and kings longed to see and did not see.’ [Matthew 13.16] Neither David, nor Solomon, nor Caesar, nor Plato, nor Socrates, nor Newton, nor Lincoln, nor Lister, nor Simpson, nor Captain Cook, nor Nelson, nor Wellington, nor Bonaparte, nor Buddha, nor Paul, nor Christ saw the wonderful things that we see in our time. So let us not be blind or deaf. Tamahau Mahupuku of Wairarapa says: ‘The New World! Arise! Arise! Arise!’
Best wishes people in this new year.
THE AEROPLANE
A New Zealand Tragedy.
R[eweti] T K[ohere]
As I write New Zealand is grieving and weeping over the tragic deaths of the two young men who were attempting to fly their aeroplane from Sydney to New Zealand on 10th January. News had come from other countries of brave people flying across the world’s wide seas, and these two young men had the idea of becoming the first to cross their sea, known to the Pakeha as the Tasman Sea, the sea between Australia and New Zealand, a distance of 1,400 miles. At dawn (sic) they left Sydney and, had they not had they accident, they would have landed at Wellington on the evening of that day. They wired at mid-day that they were halfway across the sea. They sent another wire and that was the last. The two possible causes of the tragedy were that they ran out of fuel or that there was a mechanical fault. Many people had gathered at the landing-place [Trentham] and were delighted at the news from Paekakariki that the aeroplane was close,
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but it did not arrive. The names of the brave men were Lieutenant Moncrieff of Masterton and Captain Hood of Wellington. Both were married. Their wives and families and the thousands of people waited for them in vain.
Let me set down the story of this amazing thing – the sky-flyer, the aeroplane – from the beginning. On 17th December, 1903, the American, Orville Wright, flew the first aeroplane. He flew a distance of 850 feet at a height of 15 feet for 59 seconds Last year, Clarence Chamberlin flew from New York to Germany, a distance of 3,903 miles; he landed having flown for 42¾ hours and achieved an altitude of 40,000 feet. On July 25th, 1909, the Frenchman, Bleriot, flew from France to England, a distance of 21 miles. The whole world was amazed at this man. During the recent war the aeroplane was used for both surveillance and as a weapon.
During the war years people’s knowledge of flying increased enormously. On May 19th, 1919, Hawker and Mackenzie-Grieve set out to fly from Newfoundland to Ireland. They flew for 14½ hours before coming down in the sea. They were saved by a ship. On June 14th of that year Alcock and Brown flew from Newfoundland to Ireland. The distance was 1940 miles and they covered it in 16 hours 12 minutes. On November 12th that year, Ross Smith and his younger brother flew from England to Australia. It was a distance of 11,294 miles. They flew for 28 days with many stops, unlike the flights mentioned above.
There are two types of plane, those that can land on water and those that cannot. Another kind of aeroplane floats in the sky and is called an airship; an aeroplane cannot stay airborne without its propellor turning.
In 1924 four aeroplanes from America set out to fly around the world. One crashed while flying from America to Asia. The remaining three reached Japan and Hongkong; from there they went to Saigon, Bangkok, Rangoon, and India; from India they went to Persia, Turkey, and crossed into Europe, arriving in London on July 16th. Leaving England and Scotland they crossed to Orkney whence they crossed to Iceland reaching the frozen lakes; from Iceland they crossed to Greenland, Labrador, Nova Scotia and New York. They flew from New York to Chicago, and from Chicago to Seattle, the town from which they had set out. They had flown 27,500 miles at a speed of 76 miles an hour. The circumference of the earth is 25,000 miles. By flying to the islands and over the narrower parts of the ocean the Amricans’ planes covered 27,500 miles. This flight to go around the world was very long. It is worthwhile to look at a map to see the route they took. They were able to do it because the planes had floats that enabled them to land on water.
To the End of the Earth.
On important story last year was about the Pakeha flight to the end of the world. The first person to travel there was Captain Amundsen and his companions. The way he got there was with sleds hauled by dogs. Experts were concerned that aeroplanes would not be able to fly to the South Pole because of the snow and they thought that the oil in the engines might freeze. But what was that to Amundsen? Two of his planes flew from Spitzbergen to the North Pole. They did n0t actually get there, having drifted some 100 miles off course. One of the aircraft came down in the sea and was crushed by the ice and destroyed; the one that landed on the ice, after extensive repairs, was able to fly again, Amundsen returned with all his companions in the one aeroplane. They were missing for three weeks and it was thought that all of them had died.
When Amundsen returned from the South Pole he was intent on returning there, this time by plane. While he was getting ready Commander Byrd and his friend flew there in May, 1926. These two reached the South Pole but did not land. Their flight there and back covered 1,300 miles and took 16 hours. Byrd is an American. On 16th May, 1926, Amundsen with a crew of fourteen went from Spitzbergen to the North Pole in an air-ship. Reaching it they did not return but went to the other side of the world – the world is a ball – and landed at Teller, Alaska, part of North America. They had flown nearly 3000 miles.
The Year 1927 – A Year of the Aeroplane.
That year it seems the Pakeha was smitten by the aeroplane epidemic. During January Pinedo flew from Rome along the west coast of Africa and to South America and from there to Cuba and the United States. There Pinedo’s plane was destroyed by fire. When he obtained a new plane he flew to Canada. He flew to Canada and Newfoundland. From Newfoundland he crossed to the Azores and despite mechanical problems he arrived safely in Rome. Pinedo was Italy’s hero.
The same year the Frenchmen, Nungesser and Coli, attempted to fly from their own country to America across what the Pakeha call the Atlantic Ocean. It is more than 3000 miles across. These two were lost. While people were grieving for them the American, Lindbergh, landed in Paris. He was a young man. He had no companion as he crossed this wide ocean. He could not sleep or rest. He crossed the more than 3000 miles in 33½ hours. He was a real hero and greatly honoured by his nation. Soon after Lindbergh’s flight Chamberlin and Levine arrived in Germany. They were also Americans; Levine was a millionaire. They flew 3,906 miles without landing or resting.
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After these Byrd and his friend crossed the Atlantic Ocean. These heroes crossed at a terrible time; they could see neither the sea nor the sky. When they reached France the fog was so thick they could not see a landing place and they had to wander in the air. When their fuel ran out they had to come down on the sea and their floats [?rubbers] brought them to shore. Captain Hamilton, Colonel Murchin and Princess Lowentein-Wertheim attempted to fly across the Atlantic Ocean but perished in the sea. In October, an American woman, Miss Elder, and her friend set out to cross the Atlantic Ocean; they came down in the sea and were rescued by a ship. The Americans also attempted to fly from California to Honolulu. Some succeeded, some died, one of the latter being a woman, Miss Doran.
It is not the case that flying has stopped; there is a great deal of it. But I must end here these examples of the courage of the Pakeha in advancing this thing, the aeroplane. The final flight in this account is that of Moncrieff and Hood, the story of which began this article.
A NOTICE
Sneeze, spirit of life! Come to the wide world, to the world of light.
To the tribes, to the languages, to the hapu, to the gatherings of people who live in scattered places under the [?oinga] hems of your ancestors. Greetings to all of you.
Therefore, you important ones from the South and the North:
This is an invitation from all of us to you to come to the gathering for the church that has been built at Puketawai, Uawa, on 15th February, 1928. Come! Come! Come to ease the heavy burden we carry on our shoulders. Come and do not forget the people of your ancestor Marakaia. Therefore, you tribes who will join our canoe, gird on your money-belts, gird them on with [?tamarua]. Come and stand on our marae.
[Haha uri! Haha tea!]
From
Karaka Waru, Moana Tautau, Whare Rutene Porotiti.
Wi Manawai
Hon. Secretary.
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THE MAORI SOLDIERS’ FUND
The Report and the Accounts of the Maori Trustee of the Fund for the year ending 31st May, 1927.
1. The work of the Fund’s two farms made steady progress during the year.
2. The profits from the management from the time the Fund took over show that the hopes expressed in last year’s report have been fulfilled. This becomes clear when one looks at the situation of the corresponding place; Hereheretau Station carries a small debt compared with its counterpart at Te Muri, Hoia Station.
3. The Office has completed the arrangements for the small amount to be paid for its expenses, and amount of £150 besides its appropriate commission.
4. This year the expenses paid out are greater because of the expansion of the right projects to the advantage of the Fund.
The Parent Fund
5. On hundred pounds (£100) has been allocated to the Fund being money from a committee which they had retained for the purposes of the Fund.
Hereheretau Station
6. Following the diminution of the [?rents ?rates] by the Dominion Revaluation Board which we reported on last year, we are at last able to correct the accounts. All the [?rents ?rates] go to the Commissioner of Crown Lands to fund the building of houses, and [?rents ?rates] paid previously are included in the accounts of the station [?rents ?rates].
7. R Taylor who was manager of the Station when the Department took it over has left and A Overend was appointed manager from last November. A man and his wife have been appointed to assist him in the work of the Station and this arrangement is working very well.
8. The old building which served as married quarters has been moved to a new site close to the site designated for the permanent homestead. Plans have been completed for a woolshed like that built on Hoia Station; when that is finished all will be in place for the working of the Station and it will be able to shear its own sheep and not need to take them to the Opoho Station. The plans and arrangements for the homestead have been made and building is scheduled to start in the new year.
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9 The telephone line from Nuhaka to the Opoho Station can be extended to the site of the new homestead and this will be done when everything comes together.
10 The major work completed this year is the access road which joins the main Whakaki road. The Department of Land found that it was necessary to build an access road to some of the Crown Lands adjoining the Station, and by arrangement with the Department the amount the Station had to pay was to be on the valuation of the Station from the date of the completion of the road, and at that point too the rates could be set. The Public Works Department were a long time building this road which was nearly two miles long. Because of the rain and the wet conditions this winter the work progressed very slowly. The work is close to completion but before the road can be opened for heavy loads it must be allowed to settle and the foundations must dry out. The work ends at the Waikerepu River and discussion goes on about a crossing.
11 Some of the equipment still needed by this Station are a sledge and its harness and three saddles.
12 A small part of the required equipment has been acquired for the new house and the part designated as married quarters.
13 In last year’s report concern was expressed about the kind of farming appropriate for this district. From what we have observed during the past year we have learned that the soil at Hereheretau is excellent for raising sheep, and to this we must add the very good care and attention paid to the flocks and the fine management of the land. Because of this, fifteen Romney rams have been acquired and 350 ewes. At the end of May there were almost 2000 sheep on the Station. The fat sheep were sold for a good price shortly before the price dropped. We are happy that of all the sheep sent to the Slaughter House this year not one has been consigned to the boiler. The cattle also are thriving; 82 new beasts were chosen and purchased this year. Two pack horses were obtained to replace the two who died.
14 The wool was entered in the sales at Napier in January and March. The prices were lower than we hoped for but they were comparable with those current at the time.
(To be continued.)
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RUIHI HEIHI
On Sunday, 22nd January, Ruihi, the wife of Pene Heihi, entered upon the long sleep. The serious nature of her illness meant that she had been taken from Waiomatatini to Gisborne to be near the doctors. The doctors and the family did all they could for her but the Creator had determined that his was the time for her move on.
The Minister, Bennett, reached Gisborne during her last days and everyone expressed their love and praised the purity of her heart, and the assuredness of that elderly woman’s faith in her last days on this earth. Her mind was very clear right up to when she was taken. She had no fear of death because she knew well the teachings of her faith and she knew Christ as her Saviour.
Ruihi died at the home of her daughter, Mrs Mere Waaka, in Kaiti. The elder, Pene Heihi, was there also along with their son Timi Heihei and others of the close family, as well as Lady Carroll and others.
Ruihi was 82 when she died. She was of chiefly descent and her lineage is known in her many hapu from Tuhoe to Ngati Kahungungu.
She was born in a pa called Te Ahuahu, near Manutuke, in 1846 soon after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.
When she was twelve, Huinga was born, and her parents designated her as foster-mother to Huinga. They were inseparable right up to the time Ruihi married Pene Heihi. Raniera Kawhia married them in 1865 and Bishop W Williams (the Brother) confirmed the two of them at Whareponga. They had fourteen children but seven died. They had four grandchildren, sixteen great-grandchildren, and five great-great-grandchildren. Perhaps she is one of our few elderly women to see her great-great-grandchildren.
This is a remarkable thing so I shall write it down for the tribes to see.
1. Pene Heihei – Ruihi Hokeke
2. Heni Te Owaina – Mahaki Paraone
3. Te Rawhiti – Te Whata
4. Rawinia Te Aungira -Paranihi Hinaki
5. Turanga
Her hapu are Ngai Tawhiri of Rongowhakaata, Nga Potiki of Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, and Ngati Konohi of Whangara.
There were great expressions of grief and love for this elderly lady, for her kindness to people, and for her strong support for the Ministers and the teachings of the Church for the past fifty years.
On Monday 23rd her body was taken to Whangara and on 24th to Waiomatatini where she was buried amongst her ancestors and her children.
Farewell, Kui! Go to the Lord! Spread over your grandchildren your honoured cloak of faith, hope and love.
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INCREASE INSIDE! INCREASE OUTSIDE! TO THE WIDE WORLD, TO THE WORLD OF LIGHT. SNEEZE! SPIRIT OF LIFE!
This is the Tipione black-backed gull which flies in this new year of our Lord Jesus Christ to the coast of the East, of the South, of the West, and to the Interior.
This is an invitation to the voices, to the chiefs, to the assemblies of people who live on the marae of our ancestors to come to the hui to be held at Ruatoki in the Bay of Plenty on 4th March, 1928.
First, for the unveiling of the memorial stone to Te Pouwhare Te Roau Rongokataia, who died on 10th December, 1927.
Second of the purposes of the hui relates to the wicked monster, Aitua [Tragic Loss]. Bring the tragedies of the country to these our marae to honour and to grieve over. Bring [Te Kiri awhitanga] of our father, Sir James Carroll so that this remnant can see it. That is, bring all the country’s sorrows.
Third of the purposes of the hui concerns the young men and women. From 5th at 10 a.m. there will be friendly games of tennis for the young people. On the dayu of the hui the prize for that contest will be revealed.
Fourth of the purposes of the hui relates to Tuhoe, particularly to the young men. It is about ways of farming and takes place on 6th at 10 a.m.
Fifth of the objects of the hui is to address questions about the Department of Health’s delivery of health to Maori to Dr E P Ellison, Director of Health for Maori.
Those coming to the hui may bring items for the agenda.
Te Purewa Te Purewa Erueti Peene
Mika Te Tawhao Hauwai Tiakiwai
Hori Aterea Taura Papaka
Teepa Koura Taua Rakuraku
Tupaea Rapaera Paiaka Rakuraku
Paora Rangiaho Takao Tamaikoha
Te Whetu Paerata Rua Kenana
Te Pika Te Peeti Te Pairi Tuterangi
Tuhitaare Heemi Rev Te Ropere Tahuriorangi
Apihai Hauraki Rev Wiremu Te Moana
Teao Tangohau Te Iki Te Pouwhare
Akuhata Tekaha Tawera Moko
By Te Ihi Paerata Hawiki
Ruatoki, 14.1.28
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THE MAORI BISHOPRICK.
On Thursday, 19th April, the General Synod of the New Zealand Church meets in Wellington. The Synod meets every three years. All the New Zealand Bishops attend together with the Bishop of Melanesia and the Bishop of Polynesia. With them are three clergy and four lay representatives from each diocese.
The Synod has many matters to deal with at this meeting. One of the important matters is that of the Bishoprick for th Maori People. Sir Apirana Ngata and the Rev Bennett will stand up for the Bishoprick for the Maori People before the Synod.
The contentious aspect of this issue is that the Bishops say that the first Bishop should be a Pakeha and Maori want a Maori as the first Bishop.
Bennett, the Commissary for the Maori Bishoprick, has called a meeting of the Aotearoa Synod for Wednesday, 18th, at 10 a.m. in Wellington. That Synod will hear what the Maori are thinking so that a unified position can be put before the General .Synod or perhaps to the Bishops.
The Maori of Auckland have said that they would agree to having a Maori-speaking Pakeha as the first Bishop.
The Diocese of Waiapu passed a motion saying that there should be two Bishops for the Maori People, one Pakeha and the other Maori, to fulfil the hopes of both Pakeha and Maori.
Some of the members of the Maori Synod hold to the view that with a Maori as Bishop the Maori Church will progress strongly. The Archbishop has said in his paper, the Church Gazette for January, that he thinks that if Maori do not agree to having a Pakeha as the first Bishop perhaps the matter will come to nothing.
So, people, you see some of the problems surrounding this issue. Although the Archbishop has considerable authority it is not for him alone to decide the issue but for the whole General Synod.
Therefore, the Church amongst the Maori People must be earnest in praying to the heavenly Father to pour out the power of his Spirit to clarify the thinking of the spokesmen of the Maori Synod and to guide all the decisions of the General Synod.
This is work for the Spirit. We must not depend on the strong hand of men alone. And do not be distressed if this treasure is plucked from our hands. The law that says, ‘A tooth for a tooth;
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an eye for an eye,’ belongs in the past. What has been said in our hearing is that if the Maori request is not granted then the Church will be destroyed from one end to the other. This is wrong and it should not be said. Take heart! If God is with us, who should we fear? People, Church members, pray for us your spokesmen, that we may speak and act rightly, and that we may seek only that God may be glorified.
MAKERE TE AWHI HAPUKU
P[araire] H Tomoana
Makere – Te Awhi - the wife of Taranaki Te Ua, has died, taken by the strong hand of fate – a kind of Queen within her many genealogies – and there is great grief and pain at this affliction. The news of her death was dismissed as just a mistake. Then we wept, our sad hearts were torn from us. It is unlikely that we will ever forget such a woman as Te Awhi.
On 18th she went into Royston Private Hospital, Hastings and at one o’clock on the morning of Thursday, 19th January her eyes slept!
What a shock! One’s heart thudded in one’s chest!
Each marae cried out, ‘Kui, farewell!’
You, the closest to her, Matu Karauri and Rangirangi Paewai, wept.
‘The Beautiful.’
The Beautiful one! Walking in beauty there!
A canoe made to sail swiftly through the water!
A totara felled in the Wai-nui-a-Taane..
We were joined to one another by heavenly word.
My heart was supported by our being together.
The spirals on your face have suddenly turned away!
Who am I that am left behind to dwell alone!
Farewell, grandchild of the great and lofty. You have run your race. Not one letter of the works of your famous ancestors has been left unfulfilled by you. And you have won all the prizes of these races. You are the ABC of this proverb:
‘Mate atu he tetekura, ara mai he tetekura.’
As one chief dies another rises to take his place. [Nga Pepeha 1766]
This day you have fulfilled this saying. ‘Not what I want but what you want.’ [Mark 14.36]
.On Sunday, 22nd, she was placed in the grave of her parents at Te Hauke. The Rev Hemi Huata and the Rev Peni Hakiwai conducted the service.
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