Plans For Waitangi Day

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30035, 21 January 1963, Page 12

Plans For Waitangi Day

(From Our Own Reporter.

WELLINGTON, Jan. 20. A spectacular illumination is planned as Waitangi Day ceremonies mount to a climax before the Queen and Prince Philip on the evening of February 6. The Royal New Zealand Navy will beat retreat and then, as all incidental lighting is doused on the Waitangi shore, the Royal yacht Britannia and six warships a mile offshore will instantly light up. The Maori Bishop of Aotearoa, the Pt Rev. W. N. Panapa, will at that moment begin to administer the benediction to all present. The ceremony will end with the massed singing of “Poraiarau” (“Now Is The Hour”).

As part of the illumination, a spotlight will pick out the New Zealand flag at the masthead cm the lawn of the residency. The Treaty House and the nearby Whare Runanga will be floodlit Arriving ashore for the ceremony at 6.50 p.m., the Queen and Prince Philip will be met by the Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake) and Mrs Holyoake. There will be a ceremonial drive to the Treaty House Challenge To Queen As the Royal party proceeds to the dais the challenge to Her Majesty will be staged. Dressed as a Maori warrior. Lieutenant-Colonel A. Awatere, an Auckland city councillor, will issue three challenges. The darts which be will throw at the ground near Her Majesty win be retrieved and handed to her by a Ngapuhi leader yet to be named, a Rangatira Tangata Whenua, or chief, representing host tribes.

Lieutenant-Colonel Awatere will be the leader of the costumed Maori parties and his challenge will end with a haka by warriors and a Powhiri—a welcoming posture dance —by wahines. Care will be taken to achieve authenticity. The Royal ensign will be broken out at the masthead and the traditional Waitangi ceremony begins with a Royal salute and the playing of the National’Anthem. After Her Majesty has inspected the guard of honour, there will be a general salute, a further playing of the National Anthem, a 21-gun salute and the breaking-out of the Union Jack on the gaff at the masthead. Speech From Ground

Addressing the Queen, Sir Turi Carroll, chairman of the National Council of Tribal Executives, will follow tradition by speaking from the ground before Her Majesty, not from the dais beside her. Poi dances and action songs will complement his address. The Queen will receive a bouquet and a copy of Sir Turi Carroll’s speech, carried to her by Mr N. P. K. Puriri. a Waitangi National Trust Board member. A speech by the Prime Minister will be greeted by further poi dances and action songs After the reply by the Queen there will be hakas. Bishop Panapa win recite Lord Blediatoe's prayer for the faithful observance of the Treaty of Waitangi. Then the Navy band win give a marching display and will begin the sunset ceremony with the playing at an evening hymn. The sunset ceremony will see the lowering of the Union Jack and the White Ensign from the masthead. f Her Majesty will leave

about 8.05 p.m. for a ceremonial drive back to the Waitangi jetty and a trip to the Britannia for dinner. As she returns to her yacht, the Maori performers and the Navy band will begin a concert, continuing to entertain the members of the public attending the ceremony. This will be the second concert of the day to entertain the crowd of thousands expected to be xt Waitangi in the afternoon. When the Queen will not be at Waitangi itself, a party of performers from the Kaikohe District High School will present a two-hour show on the golf course.