HAEREMAI!

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 238, 8 October 1935, Page 8

HAEREMAI!

TRIBES GATHER.

CORONATION CELEBRATIONS.

LAMENT IN THE NIGHT,

(By Telegraph.—Spccial to "Star.")

HUNTLY, this day,

While Huntly slept last night hundreds of Maoris wailed on the banks of the Waikato River through the night, a lament to the dead King Te Rata Mahuta. Hundreds more from north and south arrived by train and car to-day to rejoice and celebrate the second anniversary of the coronation ceremony of tho young Maori king, Koroki.

From early morning the road over the bridge from Iluntly to Waabi was ilusty with fast-moving cars, while dozens moved slowly along by foot to arrive at the celebrations grimed and dusty from benzine fumes.

A blazing sun beat down on the pa, but a strong wind swept from the south to scatter rubbish willy-nilly, to fan the fires of the cookhouses and to ruffle the hair of the Maori maids.

It is a big day a x , the pa. The coronation celebrations were an event in themselves, but in the Maori eyes it had another significance this year, for the reason that the Minister of Finance, Mr. Coates, was expected to arrive this afternoon and address the gathering. With the arrival this morning of Mr. Taite Te TomO, the. Maori M.P., came news that Mr. Coates could not attend the ceremony. The Maoris were keenly disappointed, for they had much to tell him and they expected to learn a great deal of the Government's plans for the future of the Maori race. Maori Healer to Attend. Up to 12.30 p.m. Ratana, the Maori healer, who with a large following had been on an electioneering tour of the North, had not arrived at Huntly. He is expected this afternoon when the Ratana candidates for the various Maori seats at the coming elections are expected to address the gathering. By 11 this morning close on 2500 Maoris were assembled at the pa. Elaborate preparations had been made for the midday meal by dozens of men and women cooks. Hundreds of tons of potatoes and kumaras had been peeled, sacks of mussels and toheroas had been opened, and atj those strange delicacies peculiar to the acquired Maori taste had been carefully prepared for cooking.

Smouldering fires in various parts of the pa, anil flat-covered mounds with wisps of smoke issuing, indicated that a real feast, so dear to the Maori heart, was soon to begin. Splashes of colour, blended with the bizarre touch which only Maoris know how to achieve, added to a brilliant and colourful setting. A Contract in Fashions. Young Maori men and maids wore their best, the young men with their hair glossily pomaded, the girls with their cheeks carefully powdered and their lips rouged, in marked contrast with the Maoris of the older generation. These latter were the Maoris of tradition, old women with pipes in theit months, their faces heavily tattooed, and old men with mouths full of stumps and with crinkled faces and bent backs. Even to-day they do not speak English.

With head bowed in memory of liis dead father, the 25-year-old king Koroki sat in the middle of a square, the four sides of which were composed of Maori men and women, who stood to join a lament. Three Maori choirs, from Ahipara, Xgaruawahia and Morrinsville, sang the Maori National Anthem. Two thousand Maoris bared their heads while prayers were offered, and a simple service ended with the singing of "God Save the King" in Maori.

Poi danccs and hakas of welcome followed. Just prior to lunch Mr. Taite Te Tomo addressed the gathering.