The story of Māori missions : with special reference to the work of the Presbyterian Church

Fletcher, H. J. (Henry James), Otago Daily Times and Witness Newspapers Co., Dunedin, N.Z., 1924

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Title: The story of Māori missions : with special reference to the work of the Presbyterian Church

Author: Fletcher, H. J. (Henry James)

Published: Otago Daily Times and Witness Newspapers Co., Dunedin, N.Z., 1924

The Story of Maori Missions.

WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE WORK OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

By Rev. H. J. FLETCHER, of Taupo.

For the Use of Members of P.W.M.U., Bible Classes, Girls’ Auxiliaries, etc.

Issued by the Maori Mission Committee

(Convener: Rev. J. A. Asher)

DUNEDIN

Otaro Daily Times and Witness Newspapers Company, Limited.

1924,

The Story of Maori Missions.

EARLY HISTORY OF MAORIS.

When giving addresses on Maori Missions to young people we often ask the question. Who discovered New Zealand? The usual answer is Captain Cook, although some venture on Abel Tasman, and on one occasion a smart boy said that it was Julius Caesar. It usually creates a considerable amount of interest when they are told that New Zealand was discovered by the Maoris many centuries before Tasman was born.

We know on overwhelming evidence that a number of -canoes reached New Zealand about the year 1350. The names of the canoes, their captains, the crews, and the other people on board are known to their descendants. The places where each canoe landed, and the various events that took place on their arrival, have all been narrated by men who were trained for the purpose, and who had a pride in their ancestry. The date .given above is calculated from the Maori genealogies. Although the Maoris had a different name for each night of the moon’s age and a name for the year, they had no date on which to base their reckoning. To arrive at any date in Maori history we allow 25 years to a generation. It may not be accurate, but at present it is the only method of fixing dates for events in the Maori records. The mean, taken over a large number of genealogies, reckoning 25 years to each name back from the present date, we arrive at the approximate date for the arrival of the fleet of seven canoes of 1350. But when these canoes reached New Zealand they found the coast already thickly populated. There is an interesting story of the arrival of the Mataatua canoe at the mouth of the Whakatane River, in the Bay of Plenty. When the canoe got close in to shore the crew saw an imposing pa on the cliff above the entrance to the river and a large number of people on the shore.

While they were hesitating, afraid to land, not knowing what reception they might meet with ashore, the captain’s daughter, WairaKa, jumped overboard and waded ashore, saying. “Let me

Whakatane.” The meaning of the word “Whakatanc” is “play the man.”

The people on shore were the descend ants of a chief named Toi-kai-rakau and his party, who reached the Whakatane country about 250 years before the coming of the Mataatua. The pa on the cliff was their stronghold, named, in memory of a still more ancient pa known to them in their wanderings. Kapu-te-ranga. The story of Toi and his wanderings sounds like the stories of Sinbad the Sailor. While living at Tahiti, in the Pacific, Toi’s son was blown out to sea in a storm and did not return. Some months afterwards Toi fitted out a canoe and started out to search for tidings of his son.

A considerable time was spent visiting the most likely places in the south Pacific without success, and Toi finally reached New Zealand and settled at Whakatane. Sometime after Toi had left his homo the son returned, and then he went after his father, and tracked him from place to place until he reached the Taranaki coast. There he was told that the man he sought was on the other side of the island. He turned the prow of his canoe northwards until he rounded North Cape, and then he inquired his way south until he arrived at Whakatane. The ramparts of the old pa are still in good preservation on the cliffs above the present town of Whakatane.

In Tahiti Toi’s full name was Toi-te-huatahi, which means Toi, the only son. His Zealand name means Toi, the wood eater. It means that Toi and his people had no cultivated foods like the later migrants; they lived largely on the products of the forest.

The reason given for Toi’s settlement so far south was because all the country to the northward was already thickly populated. The date of the arrival of Toi and his party is calculated at about the middle of the twelfth century. How far back it is beyond this date since the first Maori arrived here it is impossible to say. It is known that Polynesian navigators were cruising over the Pacific on voyages of discovery between 500

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•and 1000 a.d. Who, of those daring Vikings of the south, first saw these islands no one can say. One of those great explorers was a Maori named Kupe. He visited New Zealand about 850 a.d., and named many portions of the North Island. He was in Wellington Harbour and he named the two larger islands after two of his daughters. He visited the South Island and killed an octopus in the French Pass. One of his companions, a man named Ngahue, got a huge block of greenstone which was taken back to Tahiti when they returned. Hokianga, which should be Hokianga-a-Kupe, is the place from which Kupe started on his return journey.

Another explorer whose name is well known was called Hui-te-Rangiora. He was away to the south of New Zealand long before King Alfred burnt the cakes. Maui was another of those wanderers, and the story of how he fished up the North Island of New Zealand from the depths of the sea is looked upon as another way of describing the discovery. Taking the story of Maui and his voyage from the north we can easily understand how New Zealand would first appear as a ■cloud on the horizon, and as the voyager got closer the island would appear to rise up out of the sea, until finally the canoe would ground on one of the beaches. We have the descendants of Kupe and Maui with us to this day, and they can point with pride to the fact that long •centuries before Columbus discovered America, or Magellan the Pacific, their ancestors had found and settled these islands of Aotearoa.

The Maoris coming from the tropics tried to keep as far north as possible, and as population increased it led to continued struggles for the better portions of New Zealand. In the tribal wars the tendancy seems to have been for the weaker tribes to be driven south, if they were not exterminated, and as the years rolled on the fighting became more intense. But the coming of the European with the deadly musket changed the tribal lighting to ruthless wars of extermination. The Maoris acknowledge that Christianity came just in time to save them from extinction: another 26 years would have seen the last Maori in the south, and nearly the same thing in the north. Hongi’s raids in the northern portion of the North Island and Te Rauparaha’s in the south accounted for thousands of lives.

This bloodshed was at its worst in the first few r years of missionary work.

MARSDEN, THE FIRST MISSIONARY.

The honour of being the pioneer of missions in New Zealand belongs to the Rev. Samuel Marsden. In the very early years of the nineteenth century,* while carrying on his work as chaplain to the convict settlement in New South Wales, he met a number of Maoris who had gone across from New Zealand to Sydney on whaling vessels. He got into * close touch with them and made them welcome to his own home at Paramatta. One of the Maoris was a young chief named Ruatara, a very fine specimen of the Maori people. Ruatara had acquired a slight knowledge of English and was able to tell Marsden about New Zealand and its people. From that time the good man’s heart was fired with the idea of planting the Oospel in New Zealand. He wrote to the Church Missionary Society, then in its infancy, urging them to take up work among the Maoris of New Zealand, but for a long time they were quite unable. On one occasion when visiting England he pleaded the cause of the Maoris before, the directors of the C.M.S. so earnestly that they agreed to his plea. Two missionaries were appointed for the purpose, and they came out to Sydney. As soon as a favourable opportunity presented itself the missionary party came "ii to New Zealand and landed at the Bay of Islands.

After making arrangements Marsden pieached the first Christian sermon heard in New Zealand on Christmas Day of 1814. He took for his text “Behold I bring you tidings of great joy.” It is taken from the Church of England New Testament lesson for Christmas morning. The sermon was in English, but Ruatara explained as much as he could of what was meant. It would take up far more space than we have at our disposal to give a connected account of that early work. It will be sufficient to say that the two missionaries introduced by" Marsden were the forerunners of many others connected with the C.M.S. A few years later Marsden was again instrumental in the Wesleyan Mission in Hoki anga. This mission was started in 1822. hj Rom the very start the members of both parties worked as brethren among the Maoris of the north, and this unity was one of the factors of their success. They had no easy task.

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THE FIRST CONVERT.

The missionary journals present a picture of heathenism revolting in the extreme. The first baptism took place in 1525, 11 years after the first sermon. Eleven years of hard, strenuous work amid difficulties of every kind. There is a curious story related of the baptism. An elderly man had been a regular attendant at the mission services for a considerable time, and he took a keen interest in the work of the mission. As far as the missionaries could judge the man was walking in newness of life, and they advised him for his own sake and as an example to his people to accept of baptism.

For a long time he refused, but one Saturday he asked one of his slaves to took some food and the slave cooked a small quantity of kumara and placed it before him where he was sitting on the grass. The old man looked at the kit for some time, and then he picked it up and passed it over the top of his head. He then took one kumara out of the kit and ate it. As he was eating it he broke out into a profuse perspiration, and he looked like a man under some great mental strain. The missionary thought he was going to collapse. After the sun had set he told the missionary that he had insulted the gods of his ancestors as far as he possibly could and they seemed to be unable to avenge the insult. The old man had committed the greatest sacrilege known to the Maori, in order to test the difference between the teaching of the missionaries and the old teaching of his ancestors. When he found that no evil result followed his action he was ready to go forward. On the next Sunday he was baptised under the name of “Karaitiana.” He is known in the early church records of New Zealand as “Karaitiana Rangi,” the first baptised convert to Christ in these islands.

After his baptism the Gospel spread rapidly to every nook and corner of the islands, and the converted Maoris were the evangelists.

MAORI EVANGELISTS.

As the result of the conversion of the Maoris of the north many slaves were liberated, and some of them went back to their old homes and told the story of the Cross. In one of Hongi's raids on

the East Coast he took a number of slaves from a pa near East Cape. When they reached the Bay of Islands they were allowed to do very much as they pleased. One of them went to the Mission School and he was soon taught to read and write Maori. The Maori language is one of the simplest of languages for reading purposes. Anyonecan learn to read Maori in half an hour. Then, through centuries of training the Maori mind was like a sensitive photographic plate. A Maori could listen to a long sermon and repeat the sermon exactly as he heard it. Our Maori friend stored his mind with the teaching of the missionaries. He wrote down on pieces of brown paper some of the prayers, hymns, and passages of Scripture which had been translated, and when he was taken back to his old home by one of the Williams he began to tell the story he had heard. A year or two later Williams went down to the pa to see about starting a mission.

He found, to his amazement that the old man had been carrying on the preparatory work of a mission station. He had been assembling the Maoris on the Sabbath and teaching them from his own well-stored mind. He had taught a number of them to read and write, using chips of wood and scraps of charcoal for writing material. Instead of having to begin at the beginning Williams found practically the whole community ready for baptism. After a few weeks instruction a large number, both men and women, were admitted to the membership of the church by baptism.

One of the heroic figures of the Waikato country was know as “Blind Solomon.” He became blind through an accident in his heathen days when he was a middle-aged man. He was taken to hear one of the missionaries, and the Gospel message gripped him. He went again and again until he professed conversion and was admitted to the membership of the church. He got a man who could read Maori to read over the Church of England service, and he stored it away in his mind with the Psalms. And then it was his delight to be taken round to the various pas to hold services by reciting what he knew.

The first arrival of the Good News at Taupo was through two men who went to the meeting held in the Bay of Islands

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to discuss the Treaty of Waitangi. When they got back to Taupo they were full of what the missionaries were doing in the north. When they told their story one of the Taupo tribes resolved to follow their teaching. They agreed to abandon their old heathen practices, and they sent a party to the Bay of Islands with a for a teacher.

It is easy to understand from the above how it was that when two ministers were sent out from Scotland to start a Presbyterian Mission among the Maoris one of them, after a careful investigation, reported to his committee that there was no further need of mission work in New Zealand. He reckoned that the work had been carried out so well by the ministers of the Anglican and Wesleyan Churches that there was no room for another mission. He went on to the New Hebrides, and became one of the founders of Presbyterianism in those islands. He is known to history as Dr Inglis, of Aneityum.

THE; GOSPEL HINDERED.

It is, perhaps, the saddest fact we have to record in connection with mission work in New Zealand that it was the coming of the Europeans that changed the whole aspect of the work. In the early days of the mission there were two distinct classes in New Zealand. On the one hand there were the missionaries and their families, with very few exceptions, men well worthy of their calling. They were the living epistles of what they taught. On the other hand there were large number of runaway sailors, convicts, and other low characters in contact with the Natives. The distinction between the two classes was so broad that the Maoris clearly recognised it, but with the large influx of Europeans that took place in the early forties the distinction was lost; the Maoris saw with amazement that many of the so-called Christians did not come up to the standard they expected. At the same time arose mis understandings between Maoris and Europeans. One did not understand the other, nor could they see from the same standpoint. The land was the great source of trouble. Large areas of "'land were bought, or claimed to have been bought, in ignorance of the fact that no Maori ever had the right to sell without the consent of his tribe. Land was always tribal property, and the consent

of all concerned necessary to the sale. The first big trouble was the Wairau Massacre. The next was Hekes War in the north. It was followed by fighting in the Hutt Valley, and at the same time at Whanganui. It broke out again over the unfortunate Waitara purchase in the early sixties. This transaction has been called “Governor Brown's Bad Bargain.” It led to the beginning of the Taranaki War, and this in turn to the war in the Waikato, and on, like cause and effect, to Tauranga, Poverty Bay, Taupo, and Taranaki. The last shot in the Maori War was fired in May, 1870. The inevitable result was to wipe out mission work over the greater part of the North Island. In 1871 one might •have travelled from Cape Egmont to East Cape, from Whanganui to Tauranga, from Kawhia to Gisborne without meet ing with a single mission station.

As a church we did not know these things. We were content to carry on mission work in the New Hebrides, and later on in Canton.

We did not realise that there was as much need right at our own doors as there was elsewhere.

THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY.

The Rev. James Duncan was the First Presbyterian Missionary to the Maoris. He was ordained and sent out by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1843. After a little more than a year spent in Wellington, learning the language and visiting the pas in the neighbourhood of Wellington and along the coast toward Manawatu and making acquaintance with some of the influential chiefs of the coast, he began his work in the Manawatu district, where he spent the remainder of his life. In connection with this work, what is written above must be kept in mind, the times were troublous and more than once a retreat had to be made, but nothing daunted, the work was taken up again and again, and carried on with much success, and manv converts were won to the Christian faith. Some were striking examples of the power of the Gospel to change the hearts and lives of men and women. One especially, may be mentioned of a chief who was truly a follower oi Christ, and strove to bring others to accept Him as their Saviour too. He was respected and

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trusted by Europeans and Natives alike; and one who knew him well in later years testified that he was, without exception, the most perfect specimen of a Maori Christian he had ever known. He died as he had lived, in simple faith; two days before, when in great weakness, he found there was no one to take the Sabbath service, he sat up in bed and went through the whole service, preaching a sermon on the fourth verse of the twenty-third Psalm.

tikei. Turakina, jmd Whangaehu districts. Later on lie started work in the Manawatu and Horowhenua districts, where he laboured right on the time of his death in July, 1894. He preached to three different congregations on one kiabbath, and before the next one dawned, he was enjoying his rest.

Mr GEORGE MILSON.

Mr G. Milson first started work away up the Wanganui river in 1881 under the direction of an undenominational committee in Dunedin, but he soon realised that it would be better for his work if he were connected with one of the Churches. He applied to the Maori Mission Committee of our Church for recognition, and under their direction worked among the Maoris in the Rangitikei and Turakina valleys up to 1896. At that date Mr Milson was getting up in years and could no longer do the long journeys required on horseback, so he resigned, but in a quiet way he continued working among the Maoris until he passed away full of years in 1916.

The Maori villages were principally situated on the banks of the river; and Mr Duncan visited them by travelling up and down the river in a canoe, ministering to the Natives, both as to their spiritual and physical needs. His services as a doctor were in great demand. At first his work was wholly under the auspices of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, but later he was connected with the New’ Zealand Presbyterian Church when it first became an organized body. He obtained a great influence among the Maoris of the Manawatu and Rangitikei districts. At Te Awahou (now Foxton) a Native Church was erected, and a school was established where both old and young were taught to read and write, and where also they first learned the use of figures, weights and measures. These classes were well attended and highly appreciated in those days. In after years his usefulness was seriously • urtailed by the steady drift of the Natives to the iving Country, and his journeys in the Manawatu were then extended to the Rangitikei until the work there was taken up by Mr Honore, whetf he devoted himself to the work of the ministry among his own countrymen, of which work w T e do not propose to record here. He passed to hrs reward in 1907 in his 96th year.

REV. H. J. FLETCHE

Mr H. J. Fletcher volunteered for Maori Mission work in 1889.

ihe Convener, the Rev. J. Doull, announced after his return from the Assembly that year that he was authorised to obtain another worker for the Maori field. Mr Milson and Mr Fletcher were great friends, and through Mr Milson’s advice, Mr Doull was interviewed, and shortly afterwards Mr Fletcher found himself starting on the work which has continued up to the present day. The preparation required was very strenuous. He had no knowledge of the Maori tongue and an Arts course and a Divinity course had to be faced. He satisf d the Assembly’s examiners years by year in the two latter, and was ordained as a minister of the Church in 1898. For the Maori he can say with other students, I could double the years I have spent and still find regions unexplored. Mr Fletcher spent a few months first in the Turakina pa, where he had the valuable assistance of the late Rev. J. Ross in his studies, then at Whangaehu and later on on the banks of the Rangitikei at Te Reureu pa. In 1893 he was sent inland to Taupo on a roving commission to try and find out

REV. ABRAHAM HONORE.

The Rev. Abraham Honore came out to New Zealand as a young man to assistthe Rev. Wholers of Stewart Island in the Mission work carried on there and in the other islands in Foveaux Strait. In the early seventies he came north with the intention of living with his sons on a farm, but when he saw the needs of the Maoris, he offered his services to the Presbyterian Church. Under the direc tion of the Maori Mission Committee, he worked among the Maoris in the Rangi

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what was being done for the Maoris around the great Taupo lane. Six weeks was spent visiting as many pas as could be reached, and the report to the Committee showed that one old Maori curate was supposed to look after the spiritual needs of a piece of country 95 miles long by 65 miles wide. After hearing the report, the Committee directed Mr Fletcher to five at the northern end of the lake and to carry on Mission work from* that place as a centre. That was in 1896, and at that time it was the most neglected portion of the island known to us. We did not know that there were other places in New Zealand where the Maoris had not heard the sound of the Gospel for over half a century. Mr Fletcher’s work has been carried on amid great difficulties, many discouragements, and occasional gleams of sunshine.

The work that seems to be most encouraging, is Bible Class work among the young people. Nearly forty boys and girls have recently joined the Pocket Testament League.

TAUMARUNUI.

In the year 1900, the Rev. H. J. Fletcher walked across the range between Lake Taupo and Taumarunui, then up the Ongarue river to Waimeha and from thence across country by way of Tiroa back to Taupo. He had a service with a few old people at Taumarunui and was astonished to find that it was the first Christian service to be held there for over thirty years. At the Assembly held in Whanganui in February, he told the story fo the needs of the Taumarunui Maoris. The Assembly authorised the Maori Mission Committee to call for a volunteer to go as a missionary. Mr Egerton Ward, who was at that time a Home Missionary at Huntly. volunteered for the post. He lias held the fort there ever since. Being a fine speaker of the Maori language, he was able to start without the trouble of learning the language. A manse site was secured, and a manse built for Mr Ward's use. And now Mr Ward will tell his own story.

“My work began here in 1902: the Mission field was a large one, being within the watersheds of the Upper Whanganui River, the Taringamotu, the Ongarue, and the Pungapunga streams, and over the hilly country along what is now a portion of the Main Trunk line

between Mangupeehi and Raunmu, and wide of the track by many miles. There were no bridges or roads, apart from that portion which would be of service to the railway, and these were located and constructed where the rails are now laid. The Ellis and Burnand Co. had a small mill at Manunui and a large one at Mangapeehi. There was one store, one unlined hall, and two decent houses, one of which was the Presbyterian Maori Mission manse, the other being the home of Mr Alexander Bell and his greatly respected wife, Kataraina Te Waihanea, whose kindness and hospitality was, and is, a proverb in the upper King Country. Near Matapuna was the Maori school, and the school-master’s residence had recently been built. Mr J. Broughton, Miss Broughton, and occasionally Mis Broughton, conducted school. Taumarunui was a Maori village in those days, and only five pakehas were settled here in a way of business. Now we have a borough, bridges, roads and many public buildings, and a pakeha ‘European’ population, making for over 3000. The Native tribes comprise sections of Ngatihaua, Ngatituwharetoa, Ngatimaniapoto and some Whanganui, together with an odd stray Waikato or Ngapuhi from the north.

“My services by day would be held in the big wharepuni and Native houses. In winter there was plenty of smoke indoors, as there are no chimneys in these places. The work was very strenuous attunes and as most of the occupied, and to be occupied country was all broken forest land, the journeying was hard work, and one had to keep fit and strong to do it. In winter time the creek and river swimming called for a good horse, and at any time it might be required for me to take to the bush and find my way out to some pig-hunting camp, or to a native clearing, new or old, somewhere amongst the bush tangle. The Natives received me very well, and some of them found Christ after the explanation of His Gospel. But we were right in the genesis of missionary life, and the converts had to be taught the way of Life Everlasting. It was my endeavour to do this most earnestly, and the life and works of Natives such as Manuaute, Tuhaia, Miriama, Kawepo, Kataraina, Te Ika, and many others who have gone to their rest and rewards, shows plainly, even to-day, how the hallowed memories of the-

A GROUP OF MAORI MISSION WORKERS AND PUPILS FROM TURAKINA MAORI SCHOOL. Back row (from left): Misses Truman, Tweed, and Webber. Middle row: Miss Paulger, Sister Edith, Nurse Doull, Sister Dorothy, Miss Kinross, and Sister Aileen.

MAORI MISSION PIONEERING. Nikau Palm Thatched Whare where Nurse Doul! commenced work at Matahi in 1921.

SISTER ALISON.

The first Deaconess appointed by the Presbyterian Church to work among the Maoris was Miss J. A. Spence. She Avas ordained to the work by the Mission Committee early in 1907 under the name of Sister Alison and joined the Mission at Taupo in January of that year. After a lew months at Taupo, a fresh field was found at Tiroa in the King Country, in the northern portion of Mr Ward’s district. Her work was very varied. Church services and Sunday Schools for Doth Maoris and Europeans were held at Tiroa, Porootarao, Waimiha and other places, Avith house to house visiting and the nursing of the sick to fully occupy her time. In 1909 and 1910 she was engaged under the Native Schools Department in teaching the school for Maori children at Waimiha. in 1912 she was reappointed to the Maori Mission staff, and stationed at Taumarunui. Work there is carried on in many ways among a mixed population of Maoris and Europeans, Sunday School Avork and care of tile sick being the most prominent features.

NUHAKA.

The first indication given to the Assembly about this new sphere of work is contained in the Proceedings for 1912. The report mentions that a lady in the Training Institute was thinking of devoting herself to Maori work. The next year Miss Jessie Alexander was ordained by the Assembly as a deaconess to the Maoris, under the name of Sister Jessie. Nuhaka is one of the toughest propositions to be found anywhere in New Zealand. In the early days of missionary work it was one of the flourishing stations of the Church Mission Society. It suffered 'badly during the East Coast troubles which followed the Poverty Bay Massacre, and after the war was over the Mission was not taken up again with

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the energy needed. The Mormons got in and made it their East Coast stronghold. With very little knowledge of the Maori language, and the active opposition of Mormon elders. Sister Jessie had her hands full. In January, 1915, Miss rMith Walker was appointed to assist at Nuhaka. A way was found to the hearts of the Maoris by house to house visiting. By nursing and dispensing of medicines. Bible-study classes and Sunday Schools have let in the light and the work is full of promise. The appointment of Nurse Alexander to assist in the work at Nuhaka naturally led on to the desire to have a building where cases could be taken in and cared for. In 1918 the report shows that the nurse’s average of new cases of sickness was up to 31 per month. It was decided to build a cottage hospital as an aid to the Mission, and the hopes of the mission staff were filled by the opening of an up-to-date building in 1921, at a cost of over £3OOO. Unfortunately for the Mission, Nurse Alexander resigned her position in order to get married, and another nurse had to be found to take her place. It is just here that difficulties may arise. Maoris become attached to a person, and witn each change the process has to be started afresh. Nurse Berosford’s appointment was a happv one. and she has carried on the duties from March, 1922.

Nurse Doull, as maternity nurse, did good work, but when a sphere of work was found for her in another part of the held, Nurse Wilson took up her duties as maternity nurse in April, 1923. In 1924 Nurse Hotop was appointed to assist Sister Beresford.

REV. A. R. CHISHOLM

Mr Chisholm was appointed to the Nuhaka Mission in November, 1921. and was looking forward to a life of work for Christ among the Maoris, but he has been compelled through ill health to give up, at least for a time, his heart’s desire.

WHAKAKI.

Whakaki is one of the off-shoots of the Nuhaka Mission. At first it was worked from Nuhaka, but now it is the headquarters of Sister Edith, with Hemi. a fine Christian Maori lad. as her assistant. Good work is being done among the children, although, like Nuhaka. the Mormons claim the field as their own.

Time and space will not allow me to go into the minute details of the years spent in Taumarunui, but it should be right for me to say that there is still a call to the Maori Mission Committee in this district.”

good reflect their lustre in the shining light of examples which have been tested by the flight of time, a standard so true, that it remembers or forgets according to merit.

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Other places that appear in the reports of the Nuhaka Mission are Waikare Moana and Rangiahua. Waikare Moana Mission is also known as “Kokako.” and the name of the mission house there is “Rangiora.”

mittee, helped Miss Tweed in mission service, but resigned at the end of 1923.

Sister Jessie occupied this far back outpost during 1923. On Sister Jessie's resignation she was succeeded by Sister Jessie Grieve from Maungapohatu. Misses Harlow and Williams. Rangiahua, are doing fine work as teachers in the Native school. At Nuhaka Misses Paulger and Roseveare arc also doing splendid service in the Native school there.

RUATAHUNA.

About 17 miles further in towards the centre of Tuhoe land is the beginning of the fertile Ruatahuna Valley. The pas in this valley were visited, including the old pa of Mataatua, and the offer of teachers made to the old men. When they understood that we wished to establish schools for the Maori boys and girls they were delighted and promised to do all they could to help. Sister Annie was appointed as deaconess, and Miss Monfries volunteered as teacher. They commenced work in February. 1017. The Maoris gave the use of an old slab whare as a schoolroom, and in a very short time they had over 70 children of all ages, from five up to 17. The attendance was far more than one teacher could manage, so Sister Annie acted as assistant until Miss Tweed, of Lovell’s Flat, was appointed. A little later Miss Ethel Ormsby was appointed as second assistant, and when she left Miss Horiana Te Kauru took her place. These last two ladies were pupils at Turakina.

MISSION STATIONS IN TITIOK.

As far back as February of 1005 the Rev. H. .T. Fletcher and Mr J. T. Monfries had a tonr through a portion of the Tuhoe country to test the possibility of commencing a mission there. The places visited were Murupara, Te Whaiti, Ruatahuna, and Waikare Moana. They came to the conclusion that the time was not opportune.

In December of 1916 the Convener, the Rev. A. Doull. M.A., decided to visit the country to see if it were possible to open up the country to missionary work through the agency of teachers. He took Mr Fletcher with him to act as an interpreter. The first place visited was Te Whaiti where there was a Government Native school unoccupied. The place is so isolated that the ordinary school teacher does not care to take up such lonely places. Mr Doull had found out that this school had had a most erratic history. Teachers would spend a few weeks or perhaps months and then leave it. It was more often vacant than occupied. The School Department was quite willing that the Church should supply teachers for the school. Mrs Gorrie was appointed as teacher, and from the day the school was opened it has not been closed for one day except for the ordinary school holidays. Mrs Gorrie’s successor was Miss Grace Johnstone, who held the fort up to the time of her marriage to Rev. P. Gladstone Hughes, 13.A., of * Chalmers Church. Tim am. The present teacher is Miss Tweed, who was assistant at Ruatahuna. Miss Grant, appointed by the M.M. Com

At Ruatahuna, and the other pas in Sister Annie’s sphere of influence, work is carried on in the face of Maori superstitions, but the workers arc sowing the good seed of the Word faithfully, and having the training of the young people in their hands are able to influence them for good. At the present time Sister Annie is still the head of our mission in the Ruatahuna Valley. Two sisters, the Misses Clemance, of Whanganui, arc in charge of the school. The buildings are most unsuitable. They were put up of rough split slabs by Mr Fletcher, Mr Laughton, and some of the Maoris in 1018 as a temporary expedient, but they have been used right on to the present day. The latest news to hand gives promise that before the end of 1024 Sister Annie and the teachers will have at least a comfortable home.

Miss Eva Jack was appointed by tlio committee to act as a Christian worker among: the To Whaiti Maoris, and in 1021 she was appointed a deaconess under the name of Sister Tiaki, the Maori version of her own name. She is now at Waiohau.

WAIOHAU AND MAUNGAPOHATU.

In March, 7018, the Convener, Rev. A. Doull, M.A., Dr Godfrey (of Palmerston North), and Rev. 11. J. Fletcher visited Waiohau. The Convener made arrangements with the old people of Waiohau to have a school started in the pa for Maori boys and girls. The school was started by Miss Webber in a Maori whare lent for the purpose. Her assistant is Miss Hepetema, one of our Turakina girls. Sister Tiaki is there in the capacity of deaconess, and Miss Cone as housekeeper. For some time the accommodation was very poor; a Maori whare served as kitchen and dining room and tents for sleeping purposes. But this year the Government fulfilled its promise, and a fine schoolroom and dwelling house were erected. A fine Christian influence is being brought to bear upon the lives of the Maori people. The Gospel is being taught by example, not only at Waiohau, but at all the mission stations in Tuhoe. There is a phase of mission work carried out that seems to be unique. Children at the various stations have been handed over to our Avorkers to be trained and brought up as Christians. (Miss Hepetema has been promoted to Kariori and Miss Sybil Clark has taken her place.)

The party named above, with the addition of Sister Annie, made a visit to Maungapohatu immediately after their visit to Waiohau to sec if there was any prospect of opening this isolated spot to the influence of the Gospel. The people listened with interest to the Convener’s proposals, and expressed their eagerness to have a school opened there. The Rev. H. J. Fletcher conducted a service in Maori in the Wharepuni during the evening, the first Christian service held there for over 50 years. In July of the same year Mr J. G. Laughton and Sister Annie opened school there with an attendance of 11 scholars that increased to 42 before the year was out.

The work there has had its share of peculiar difficulties. At first the chief, Rua. was not very friendly, but later on did what ho could to help by giving a building for a school and another for a dwelling; later on he presented Mr

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Laughton with enough timber to line, ceil, and floor a new room. The mission staff there at present is composed of Rev, .7. G. Laughton and his wife, Sister Dorothy Keen, and Mr Laughton, senior. The ladies carry on the work of the school, Rev. Laughton the ministerial work of Ihe district, while Mr Laughton's aid is invaluable in many ways.

MATAHI

'The next station to bo opened in Tuhoe was Matahi. This was the natural sequel to Maungapohatu. Both places are occupied by the same people, and Mr Laughton's ministrations were extended to the people living there. When he reported to the committee about the children it was decided to open another station there, and Nurse Doull, who had had experience of mission work at Null aka, Taupo, and Ruatahuna, was sent to take charge. She reports as follows : —“This station was opened at the request of the Maoris, who gave a fiveacre section for the purpose in August, 1021. Mr Laughton and his father got a sawpit going in the bush, with Te Amaroa in charge. Desks and tables were made, and the school was begun in the meeting house by Nurse Doull and Miss Horiana Te Kauru on October 8, 1021, with about 40 children. In the meantime tents and an old whare, thatched and mended, were used as a camp till a two-roomed cottage was built. Four services are held each Sunday in different parts, and school is opened each morning with prayer, singing, and a Bible lesson. After Miss Te Kauru’s marriage to Rev. J. G. Laughton, Mrs Gorrie was appointed at Matahi, and she now has solo charge of the school. A new road is being made through Matahi to Maungapohatu. and on to Waikare Moana. Over 100 men are working on this road and about 25 of them are white men. Accident patients are brought ui) to the mission station for treatment and a spare tent is reserved for the purpose. Several men have been brought out in this way, having been carried on a stretcher through miles of mud. by their mates. Each white man, as he comes for treatment, is given a Rod Marked Testament to take away with him.

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One important part of the work is in providing recreation for the young people when they flock up to the house on Friday evenings and sometimes again on Saturdays. When 38 get into a room lift by 12ft it is rather a crush, so that the new Elizabeth Grant room now erected by Mr Craig is a great boon.

an institution as the Maoris are asking for. If we could take a few boys every year, place them in a Christian atmo sphere, surround them with the influences of a Christian home, and use every means to bring them out decided for Christ it would do more good than all the field work we have. The story of Turakina, which is given below, shows what has been done tor the girls. We now have the opportunity as never before, and never likely to happen again, of helping the boys and our own mission work at the same time. 1 believe that we owe more converts to Turakina than all the rest of our agencies combined.

The work as a whole is encouraging: the progress the children have made in school and the interest they take in the Bible lesson given each morning: the friendliness of the people: the Sunday services: the visits paid to the sick and others in their homes; the patients who come to the mission house: each part of the work has its own value.”

The. raising of £2OOO was aimed at, before commencing to build this much longed for school for Maori boys. This amount is now in hand and building is to be gone on with immediately.

WAIMANA.

Waimana is both the name of the European settlement and the Maori pa in the Waimana Valley, above the gorge from Tareatna. Sister Aileen in her report for 1922 describes the opening ot this, the most recent of our stations in Tuhoe Land. Her school was held in the meeting house of the pa, with a regular attendance of 37 children. The M.M. Committee has erected both a school and a residence at Waimana.

TURAKINA SCHOOL FOR MAORI GIRLS.

The first official reference to the idea of establishing a school for Maori girls is to ue found in the Assembly Proceedings for 1902 • but the scheme had been well thought out sometime before that date. Tlie three conspirators were, Mrs David Gordon, of Marion, the wife of the Convener of our Maori Mission, Miss Mackellar, now Mrs Hercus of Christchurch, and the Kev. H. J. Fletcher.

In 1922 Miss Flora Fraser was ordained as a deaconess, and appointed to assist Sister Aileen in the work of the mission Miss Arthur assists her sister in the school. Waimana is a station full of promise, and in the near future we hope to see it the centre of a scliool for the training of Maori boys. In the Tuhoe many of the parents are concerned about the future of their boys. They recognise the fact that the boys require training for the battle of life, and that his land is of very little use to him unless he is able to use it to the best advantage. The Tuhoe Maoris are willing to do what they can, and they have offered to the Church a fine, suitable site for a boys’ farm. They want the Church to give the boys practical instruction in farm work. The work the Church has done through her agents in that country has won the confidence of the people, and they are now offering the Church such an offer as rarely falls to the lot of a church in these days. The one outstanding need of the Church in her work among the Maoris is just such

Mr Fletcher had found out from enquirreasons for the decline of the Maoris was their ignorance of the proper use of European foods and the care of infants in sickness. The death rate in some cases was simply appalling. It was estimated that one third of the children born in the Taupo country (tied before they reached the age of five years, and many instances were known where large families of twelve to fifteen all passed away before thej* reached the age of sixteen years.

Miss Mackellar wrote an article to the Otago Daily Times urging that one of Ihe fruits of the union of the two branches of the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand might well be the establishment of a boarding school for Maori girls in some suitable centre.

The suggestion met with a ready response, and, as the Turakina manse, whicli had been used by the Rev. J. Ross as a school for European girls was then

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vacant, the Committee at length decided to take it over and open it as a school for Maori girls. Ready support was obtained from all over New Zealand for the money required. A glance at the Blue Book of 1904 will show how generous the response was, and this was still further shown by the Blue Book of 1905. Nearly £2OOO was spent upon the purchase and renovation of the buildings, and the School was opened by the Right Hon. the Premier on April 13, 1905. free of debt. The young ladies of iJunedin and suburbs organised a sale of work which extended over three days, and they gathered in over £5OO towards the building fimd and other equipment ; but before the cheque reached the Committee the opening ceremony had taken place.

Christian and a good teacher; she left the school five years ago.

We give a few testimonies from some of the old pupils who have married. The first is from a girl who was admitted the year the school was opened. “At present 1 have two nieces attending, and I hope to be able to send my own daughter there too. . . The training I received, and the good influence of the school and my old teachers, Mr and -Mrs Hamilton, has helped me ever since 1 left school.” Again “1 thank God for my days at Turakina. While I was there 1 learned to love the girls and teachers, and best of all to love my Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. As long as I live, I will never forget the days spent with you, and always my heartfelt prayer will be ‘God bless dear old T.M.G.S.’ ” (Turakina Maori Girls’ School.) —A Foxton Girl. “You know how I feel about Turakina. I can never express in words all I owe to you ; but I hope I will never do anything to dishonour the name of T.M.G.S.”—A Hawke's Bay girl. We can say that many of our old pupils are doing what the founders of Turakina had in view from the beginning. They are living Christian lives among their own people, and telling the story of the Love of Christ by their own lives. How long will it be before the boys will have the same opportunity, and be able to write in similar strain about W’aimana?

Under the able management of Mr and Mrs Hamilton the school from the very first took a place in the front rank of Maori schools. Under Miss Kinross, the present principal, the school is more than upholding the early traditions-

it has been a real home to the girls, and the Door of Heaven to many. Among the recent information from Rev. J. Wilson of Turakina, we note the following:—“I am afraid I cannot give you much information about our College girls. Most of them get married, and as far as we can hear of them, are doing well and putting into practice the domestic and spiritual teaching they have received. Miss Kinross informs me that of former pupils, eleven are teaching in Native schools, four are trained nurses, four went in for definite Mission work, two in the Methodist and Miss S. Cooper in the Anglican and Mrs Laughton in our own Cnurch. Miss Hepetema is in our own Mission at Waiohau. Miss Tamai Kingi, Stewart Island, school dux in 1912, is a member of our Church. She is doing well, reads the Outlook and is takincr an active interest in Maori Mission Work. Miss Ida Barrett, now Mrs Taiaroa, of Leeston, is an intelligent and highly respected lady; she was at Turakina in 1919-1921. Hariata Haenga, who left school over a year ago, is a nurse in the Napier Hospital, and ?s very well spoken of by all who know her Ada Honotapu, assistant in the school, died at her home, Frasertown, two years ago. She was a bright, earnest Christian who exercised a line influence in the school. Puna Cooper is teaching in the Native School, Putiki. She is a bright

MAORI MISSION BIRTHDAY LEAGUE.

The Maori Mission Birthday League, like some other movements, began in a very simple way. In 1904, Mr Fletcher was visiting the Christchurch Presbytery in the interests of the -uaori Mission, and yas planned to address a meeting of ladies in St. Paul’s. The afternoon was most disappointing, as far as the weather was concerned, for it was snowing. Only six ladies came to the meeting and among them were Mrs Venables, Mrs Kaye and Mrs J. Mackenzie. One statement in the address struck Mrs Venables, It was to the effect, that if the Presbyterians of New Zealand would only give at the rate of one shilling per annum per member, it would give the committee all the funds they needed for the work in view. Mrs Venables made the statement a subject for prayer and discussion among the other ladies and then launched the scheme under

PUPILS AND STAFF OF TURAKINA MAORI GIRLS' SCHOOL—--1923 GROUP. PRINCIPAL, MISS KINROSS,

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the name of “The Maori Mission Birthday The idea was to organise, and register the Birthday anniversaries of all the members of the Church so as to get from them the sum of not less than one shilling, as a thank offering on each anniversary. The scheme is first mentioned and commended in the Assembly Proceedings, i.c/ 06. In 1907, over 40 branches were reported, with a membership of over 2600. In 1910, the membership was upwards of 4000, and the amount collected £lB4 9s 6d. The seventeenth annual report, for year ending June 30, 1922, gives the senior members as 12,340: junior, 1260; total, 13,600, with total subscriptions amounting to £72/ 8s lid. J»ut as the total membership of the Church is over 42,000 this fund ought to yield over £2OOO per annum for Maori Mission

purposes. Wake ; . somebody, the money is badly needed. And it must never be forgotten that the shilling is an extra, it has nothing to do with the annual collection. The thanks of the Church are due in the first place to Mrs Venables for tile initiation of the scheme, and for' her fostering care for so many years: to the general secretaries who have in turn given oi their best energy, and to the various branch secretaries who have done so well. Miss Retta Scorgie in her report for 1922, says : “More and more lam convinced that the success of the M..U.8.L. rests with the individual secretary of each branch.” We may close this brief summary of the work of our Church among the Maoris with Miss Scorgie’s motto for 1922: “There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.”

Maori Mission Stations and Staff in 1924.

1. Taupo: Rev. H. J. Fletcher.

2. Tauraarunui: Rev. J. E. Ward and Sister Alison.

3. Turakina Maori Girls' School: Miss Kinross, Principal: Miss Benfcll, Matron: Miss Croft, teacher; and Miss Sarah Poi Poi, teacher.

4. Waiohau, via Rotorua: Sister Tiaki, Deaconess; Miss Webber, Government teacher.

5. Te Whaiti, via Rotorua : Miss S. E. Tweed, Government teacher.

0. Ruatahuna, via Rotorua: Sister Annie, Deaconess; Misses Clemance (2), Government teachers; and Miss Phairn.

7. Maungapohatu, via Rotorua : Rev. J. G. Laughton and Mrs Laughton. Mr Laughton, senior; Sister Dorothy.

8. Matahi, via Whakatane and Waimana: Nurse Doull and Mrs Gorrie.

9. Waimana, via Whakatane : Sisters Aileen and Flora, and Miss Arthur.

10. Waimana College: £2040 in hand to build Boys’ Training School similar to Turakina Maori Girls’ School.

11. Kokako (Address, Private Mission Bag, Wairoa) : Sister Jessie Grieve and Miss Cone.

12. Rangiahua, via Wairoa, Hawke’s Bay: Misses Harlow and Williams, Government teachers.

13. Nuhaka, via Wairoa. Hawke's Bay: Sister May. Deaconess; Misses PauLer and Roseveare, Government teachers.

14. Whakaki, via Wairoa, Hawke’s Bay : Sister Edith and Hemi Potato.

15. Nuhaka Mission Hospital: Sister Beresford, Matron; and Nurse Hotop.

(Government teachers are paid by Native Department.)

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