A WEDDING DISPUTE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 71, 4 January 1935, Page 3

A WEDDING DISPUTE

POSTPONEMENT OF CEREMONY. MAORIS DISAPPOINTED. (Special to the " Guardian.") AUCKLAND, January 3. A scene unprecedented in the tribal history of the King Country since the introduction of Christianity and pakeha customs was. witnessed at Hangatiki on New Year's Day. Some 000 guests assembled for a wedding and the wedding feast. The feast was held, but not the wedding. Instead, the day ended with the bride and bridegroom bitterly disappointed and with much heartburning among the elder Maoris. The niece of Princess Te Puea, of Waikato, was betrothed to a member of a leading Native family of tha district, and there was a widespread desire to do them honour. Arriving at 10.30, the bridal party, robed in valued Native mats and head-dress, received a tribal welcome according to real Maori custom. This formal part of the festivity ended with a few dignified speeches by noted chieftains. It had been arranged that the wedding should be solemnised by the Methodist Church, to which the bride belongs, but the local Native Methodist minister, when about to take nis place on the village green before the bridal party, found himself forestalled by the sudden appearance of a minister of the Ratana church, clothed in purple robes arid attended by a choir of Maori maidens. The Methodist minister, philosophical, stood passive. The silence was broken by the grandfather of the bride, who made a dramatic protest in which he refused to give the bride away unless the service was conducted hyi the Methodist minister. Orators Take the Stage. The bridegroom, who belongs to the Ratana church, suggested that the grandfather's wishes should be complied with, but the Ratana followers remained adamant. For a full hour the debate continued. The orators of the elder generation suggested that the ceremony should be carried out according to ancient custom. A minister of the Anglican, Church suggested that the impasse might be ended if he performed the ceremony, whereupon one of the younger Maoris advocated that the couple should repair by car ot the registry office at Te Kuiti and be married there. Not dismayed, the Ratana minister and choir conducted a religious service in which those present joined. The discussion was then resumed until it was finally adjourned for kai. During the feast a Maori wag proceeded to cut the three-decker wedding cake which adorned the centre of the huge table spread on the green, and portions of the cake were distributed among all present. Throughout the afternoon, small groups on the marae continued to discuss the position, and it was finally announced that the wedding ceremony would be postponed.