AUCKLAND HISTORY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 62, 15 March 1933, Page 3

AUCKLAND HISTORY.

HOBSON AT ORAKEI.

ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY.

VILItAGE EN FETE. Orakei village was cu fete yesterday, tlie occasion being a celebration to mark the ninety-second anniversary of the landing at Orakei of Governor Hobson 011 March 14, IS4I. Two members of the Ngatiawhatua tribe, aged. and 92 respectively, who were present when New Zealand's first Governor arrived, witnessed yesterday's proceedings and their presence gave the ceremony a quaint romantic touch. The elder native, Watene Tautari, was seven years old when Hobson was welcomed by a gathering of 1000 Maoris, while Te Hira Pateoro, the younger, was an infant in arms at the time. Apihai Te Kawau, the chief who greeted the Governor with a speech of welcome, was his uncle.

Mr, F. O. Y. Aclieson, Judge of the Native Laud Court, was the guest of honour yesterday, and he was welcomed at the village entrance by a haka given by a party of men, women and girls, led by Wi Pahaka Rewiti. He was accompanied by Mr. Lou Parore, of Dargaville, representing the northern section of the Ngatiwhatua tribe. The celebration originated with the Orakei Maoris and there were some hundreds of Europeans present. History Traced. A religious service was conducted by the Rev. W. H. Toka, of the Ratana. Church, and the Rev. Robert Tahupotiki Haddon, of Hawera, superintendent of the Methodist Maori Mission. A native choir, including girls from the Kurahina Methodist school, Onehunga, sang a number of unaccompanied hymns. Mr. Haddon, in an address said that the hills of Auckland with their terraced fortifications, had been the homes of the ancestors of the Maoris of to-day. A pakeha had once said to him that the Maoris were descended from savages and cannibals; but Mr. Haddon, admitting that that was true, had replied that while the ancestors of the pakeha were wearing skins and living in caves, his own wore wearing mats, and living in carved houses. (Laughter.)

Mr. Haddon traced New Zealand history as it affected Maori rights from the times of Samuel Marsden. Though there had been mistakes in the past, it was now the ambition of the Maoris throughout the Dominion to-day to stand beside the pakeha, to lift up the standard and to carry on. Ancient Hakas Given. Following the service, a poi dance was given by the girls, and then a series of hakas. One of these was a haka to the sun, upon the hoisting of a flag, and was performed when the Union Jack was hoisted near Albert Park upon Hobson's landing in Auckland tlie day after his visit to the chiefs and people at Orakei. Yet another haka embodied a prophecy made by Ti Tahi, a Ngatiwhatua chief, at Orakei in 17S0. Ti Tahi saw seaweed driving ashore, and foretold that a great people should come from the north and settle on the shores of the Waitemata. Later this was remembered and interpreted as the coming of the pakeha.

Thanks for the Maori welcome was returned by Mr. Aclieson, speaking for the pakehas present. He was glad to pay tribute to a great man and to the great Maoris who were his contemporaries. He looked upon the descendants of those Maoris as the remnants of a great tribe, who, though but a remnant, were at Orakei and he hoped would always remain there. Those who had studied the history of Orakei knew that that remnant were entitled to remain, and as a judge of the Court he said their courage in hanging on was admired.

Waitangi Anniversary. But if that people wished to be worthy of the respect of their ancestors, they should improve the condition of the village. It was only eight years to the centenary of the Treaty of Waitangi, and that was little enough time to make a worthy marae of the place. Throughout New Zealand a new courage was coining to the Maori. Why should it not be manifest in Orakei? While the pakeha was willing to aid, the workhad to be done by the Maoris themselves. Wi Rewiti thanked Mr. Aclieson for assisting in the commemoration, and said that the Maoris hoped to continue in the same good spirit as had been evinced that day. The gathering ended with the National Anthem.