MANGERE HOSTEL

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 280, 26 November 1931, Page 9

MANGERE HOSTEL

FOR. BENEFIT OF MAORIS.

HISTORIC ASSOCIATIONS.

TE PTJEA'S SUPPORT.

j In the old days the strip of land that 'runs out into the tide on the right, just after 'one crosses over the Mangere Bridge, was a noted place of call for Maoris ti'aveiling from this part of the island to the Waikato. In Maori life it held something of the importance of a khan or caravanserai on one of the old caravan routes in the East. Maori travellers hound from the isthmus of Tamaki to the Waikato would, if they came from the Waitemata, paddle their canoes up the stream now called the Tamaki River, haul them over the narrow portage at Otahuhu, launch them in the Manukau, paddle up the Waiukuj arm, haul them over a very narrow strip of land that separates the waters of the Manukau from the Waikato River, and on the latter waterway they could paddie for. many miles into the heart of the country. Mangere was a recognised stopping place, and its importance even in quite recent years is evidenced by the Maori stone church, which was restored not so lon°- ago and is now being used again after years of neglect. The Maori War resulted" iii military roads being driven into the Waikato, but even at that time the 'sixties —the river was used largely for transporting stores and even troops. During the early days of the war was a large body of natives living at Mangere, in the vicinity of the stone church, 'and the white population of Auckland was (perhaps naturally) very nervous as to what their brown visitors would do./ The Waikato was in a ferment, and supposing the Maoris at Mangere broke out? What would hav^happened had the Maoris stood their ground there is no telling, but they had evidently got word that the _ pakehas'■"had the wind up" and packing their "pikaus" Hone,»his wahine and his kiddies' got aboard the old canoe and paddled away, en route to the Waikato. Oddly enough after all these years Mangere will again be a resting place for passing Maoris. Local Maoris,

backed by the §upport of Te Puea, known popularly as "Princess" Puea, intend to erect a hostel on native land, given for the purpose, in the vicinity of the Mangere bridgehead. The hostel will be the centre of social activities in a district in which there is still a large number of natives living. Te Puea is the remarkable woman who started the movement that ended in the erection .f the model village at Ngaruawahia, oil which the carved meeting house was opened with great eclat, natives coming from all over the North Island to repiesent their tribes. The occasion marked the reconciliation of tribal differences that had been existing for years—a legacy from the war days when some oi the tribes followed the pakeha and some of them fought him. Te Puea gets her soubriquet "Princess" from the fact that she is related to the "Royal" family ai Waahi, on the Waikato River. She is a woman of high rank and full of high ideals for the Maori people. Money for the Mangere hostel project is being raised by various means, and on Friday Te Puea and some of her friends are giving a characteristic Maori entertainment at Onehunga in aid of the funds.