COOK ISLANDS' CEREMONY

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29067, 2 December 1959, Page 9

COOK ISLANDS' CEREMONY

,4'- --.-y Wedding Dance In Auckland "The Press" Special Service AUCKLAND, November 30. A traditional Cook Islands giftpresentation ceremony with a drum dance was an unusual feature at a wedding breakfast held at Sorrento, One Tree Hill. After the breakfast about 200 guests assembled on the lawn outside in a circle around the couple, Mr and Mrs B. S. Graham, of Takapuna. The bride was Miss Eikura Louise Henry, formerly of the Cook Islands, now of Brown’s Bay. To the rhythmic beat of sidedrum, the dancers, some of them in traditional dress, swayed hulafashion forward to present various gifts to the young people. These included a large woven mat from "the whole of the Cook Islands group.” The service was held at the Cook Islanders’ Congregational Church, Newton.

The wedding breakfast, like the presentation ceremony, was a happy compromise between traditional Cook Island and European customs.

During the breakfast a car parked outside was severely damaged by fire. Mr E. H. Bold, of 9 Hayden avenue, saw smoke billowing from the windows of the car as he drove past. A fire brigade was telephoned from the reception rooms and the wedding guest who owned the car. Mr K. W. Harper, was called from the reception, which had just begun.