ROTORUA MAORIS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 53, Issue 287, 15 September 1933, Page 3

ROTORUA MAORIS.

IMPROVEMENTS IN VILLAGES i CPer Press Association). ROTORUA, September 14. . The growth of the community spirit has been strikingly revealed during the past months among the natives at Whakarewarewa and Ohinemutu villages, where comprehensive improvement schemes are being undertaken and carried out by native residents, with the support of the borough council and the 'tourist Department. At Whakarewarewa a fund has been accumulated to finance the work, and this will be" further increased during the holiday months when Maori guides will pay a levy on each guiding fee collected.

Many buildings in Whaka Pa have been repainted and: renovated, walks ,and paths have been tidied up, and planting has been carried out with native shrubs. Tho old wooden bridge at the spent baths has been replaced by a pathway edged with rocks, and the diving pool has been edged with a rock wall. Carved fences are also to be erected throughout the pa, and it is hoped in a number of directions to give villages a more typically Maori appearance. Similar plans are proposed at Ohinemutu, where the same amount of work will not require to be done, as this vil* lago has been better cared for in the past than Whakarcwarcwa. It lias been felt for some time that •the appearance oi AVhakarewarewa particularly was not in keeping with the best traditions of the Maori race, and that a bad impression was created upon tourists by the condition of the pa.