A MAORI MEMORIAL WANTED

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23478, 5 November 1941, Page 10

A MAORI MEMORIAL WANTED

Sir—A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting Waimate, South Canterbury, a town which for its size is remarkably well possessed of amenities. I observed that though Waimate’s Maori population had migrated to Morven, the pakehas of Waimate possess a considerable amount of appreciation of the race which welcomed the white men to the district. In one of Waimate's main thoroughfares stands a carved Maori house, while in . the vicinity of the several parks are gateways, huts, etc., based on Maori art; and on the border of the town stands a monument to the chief of 1860, Huruhuru. What has Christchurch to show of the Maori, except what is locked up within the museum? Without the necessity of conscription, and as a war effort, the Ngai Tahu tribe has given all its able-bodied men as soldiers. There are no conscientious objectors, where we pakehas should expect it, seeing that our progenitors treated the Ngai Tahu so unjustly in the past. Since a war is on. little amends can at present be made, but an appreciation of the Maori can be made afterwards by the erection of the carved Maori house in Christchurch. Civic authorities have put the blind eye on the existence of a “temporary” Maori reserve in Hagley Park. The ordinary citizen, who does not possess the facilities to see the evidence published in the correspondence columns in the past, can, however, find at the Public Library in “Proceedings of the Canterbury Provincial Government.” session 14. Tuesday. December 18, 1880, that a proposal to build a Maori hostelry on the native reserve in Hagley Park was the subject of a close division. The objections to a hostel do not apply to a show Maori meeting house. What better appreciation of the Ngai Tahu war effort could be later made than the erection of the Maori house? —Yours, 6tC ‘ W. A. TAYLOR