MORE THAN M.P.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 127, 31 May 1937, Page 5

MORE THAN M.P.

PRIVATE TIRIKATENE.

u PRINCELY SPOKESMAN." MOST REMARKABLE MAX. (Special.—By Air Mail.) LONDON, May 13. The most remarkable man among the New Zealand army contingent sent over for the Coronation is massive, 6ft 2in, 16-stone Private Eruera Tihema Tirikatene, M.P., says a special correspondent of the "Daily Express." Known throughout New Zealand as "Tiri," this copper-colured soldier is one of the only four Maori members of Parliament. But Tiri is more than just an M.P. to the Maoris. He is a great warrior chief, head of the Ngaitahu tribe and commanding allegiance from many other smaller tribes scattered over the South Island. Tiri traces his descent back to the thirteenth century, when his ancestors ventured the seas from the South Sea isalnds and landed in their war canoes on the shores of New Zealand. He chose to come over as a humble private in order to honour his King. He served in France during the war and was promoted sergeant on the field. This rank he sacrificed to don the uniform of a New Zealand soldier once again. Drawing a salary as M.P. and owning considerable land, Private Tirikatene insists on no distinctions and camps with his comrades at Pirbright. War Dance. Packed in his kit is one of his proudest possessions—the native costume of the Maori chief. Tiri gladly put on the costume when I saw him at Pirbright camp. Clutching the traditional razor-sharp bone weapon of hand-to-hand combat, he war-danced for me In his bare feet, with Guardsmen as part of his audience.

And later, as we motored through London, Tiri chanted love songs hundreds of years old, songe of strange poetic beauty. ( "I am a warrior and a fighter," the M.P. told me, "and I come from a tribe who gained their leadership by eternal conquest. "That was the way of life of my people when the white man came, and there was much fighting right up to late in the last century. "But now we are peace-loving and all our fighting has been done for the Empire on the battlefronts of the Great War." This princely-looking spokesman of the Maoris is 42 and father of eight children. His hair is tinged with grey, yet he has the physique of a great boxer. To his tribe his person, his place by the fire, his property is taboo (sacred and untouchable). Private Tirikatene, M.P., means much to them.