"Most Pakehas Know Nothing” About Maoris

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30602, 19 November 1964, Page 11

"Most Pakehas Know Nothing” About Maoris

Most pakeha New Zealanders knew nothing about the Maori way of life, said Mr C, M Bennett, the former New Zealand High Commissioner in Malaya, in a talk to an Asian studies seminar attended by 950 sixth-form pupils in Christchurch.

In an international sense, said Mr Bennett, New Zealand had a very real contribution to make in the field of race relations. It had a reputation as the most enlightened country in that re-

“We should try as citizens to make this a real thing,” said Mr Bennett, “to put some substance into it. Sometimes one wonders if we speak far too gliblv about race relations. There must be give and take on both sides.” Mr Bennett said he wondered how many Maoris his audience had mixed with socially and taken into their homes. “The majority of New Zealanders have no

knowledge of the Maori’s culture and way of life,” he said. ‘ How can you understand and have sympathy with his way of life if you don’t go out of your way to do something about it?” Seminar Suggested Mr Bennett said he hoped there might be a future seminar on the subject of race relations. “But don’t call it that” he said. “That emphasises the differences rather than the similarities. Rather let us call it ‘Two races, one people’.” In response to a question, Mr Bennett said he was optimistic enough to believe that one day the Maori language would be taught to both European and Maori children in schools and universities. He said the Maori was really attempting to understand the pakeha way of life through education, but could the same be said about the pakeha? Was he going out of his way to understand and learn about the Maori?

"r Bennett said there was something of value to be gained from every culture, and one of the ways to greater understanding was through learning the language.

Mr Bennett said the 950 students at the seminar were the political, industrial, comniercial, and professional leaders of New Zealand’s future. As such, they must make it their duty to understand the new horizons of South-east Asia. In this world of new nations and broad horizons, our nearest neighbours are in South-east Asia,” said Mr Bennett, “and of them all, Malaysia would be our closest friend.”

He said that Malaya had a particular attraction for him , he went there first in 19a9 because of the associations of that region with the and Maori people. Hawaiki nui”—the immense Homeland—had only recently been accepted as being located m Malaysia, so he had been keen to make a study of the indigenous people of Malaya, the Malays.

Mr Bennett said the Malays and Indonesians were related peoples who regarded themselves as blood brothers, and they had hardly any dialectic differences. Malaysians attributed Sukarno’s behaviour to his jealousy of the smaller Malaysia’s achievements. Although Indonesia had tremendous resources, it had deteriorated to a second or third-rate Power.

Mr Bennett said he had met Subandrio and Nasution, and admired them tremendously as educated men.