MAORI CHILDREN IN WELLINGTON

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 194, 14 May 1936, Page 8

MAORI CHILDREN IN WELLINGTON

An Educational Tour BEWILDERED BY CITY SIGHTS Some two dozen Maori childten, pupils of the Tokaanu Native School, spent yesterday in Wellington, on their wav south to Christchurch. They are on' a ten-day educational tour, and there is no doubt it will broaden their outlook and their knowledge of civilisation. For, until yesterday, none ol them had ever set eyes on city streets or travelled on traincar, train, or steamer. As a full programme, incliidiug a visit to the zoo, had been arranged for them, by the day’s end they were quite dazed by the swift sequence of surprises, and it is doubtful whether a single one could have given a coherent account of it all. As the party embarked on the Wahine in the evening, brown knuckles rubbed wondering eves to brush away sleep and make certain it was not a delirious dream. The children are in charge of Mr. J. W. Durwood, headmaster of the school, aud several teachers and native instructors. They arrived by the morning train from the north, and made their headquarters at the Y.M.C.A. During the morning they visited larliament Buildings, where they were met by the Minister of Education, Hon. F Fraser, and by the Hon. Rangi Mawhete, M.L.C. The Wellington City Council accorded them a hearty welcome by placing ab their disposal an omnibus, which conveyed them in the afternoon to Mount Victoria, the Newtown Zoo, the municipal milk depot and tlie Dominion Museum school of arts and crafts, where they were welcomed by Sir Apirana Ngata. Later, from 2YA they broadcast the songs “Uia Mai Koia” and “Mebc Mann.” and t.ne haka “Tn Wharetoa.” Wellington did not impress the majority of the children favourably. One or two exclaimed delightedly that they would like to live here always. But most of them, used to fresh air, geyser and lake and forest, condemned the city as noisy and smoky. . The shops fascinated them all; they were agog to spend the few pennies burning holes in the pockets of (heir Sunday clothes. The train journey had proved a little terrifying for some, so they shrank at first from taking a tramride. But once they tried, they decided it was not too bad after all. The bus drive was glorious. These country children fully appreciated the beauty of the wide sea, the land-locked harbour and the distant hills. At the zoo, Mr. Langridge personally showed them round. Their eyes goggled at the unfamiliar beasts. The antics of the monkeys, the lions and tigers, and the ungainly pelicans, were sources of great glee. But the elephant was the hit of the afternoon. '“By corry, that fellow's got a tail both ends,” was the inevitable comment. The children had rides on the big beast, and were reluctant to leave. While they were at the zoo, an aeroplane passing overhead provided an additional thrill. At the museum, where they were greeted with ceremonial liakas by the Maoris working on the Native house, they had afternoon tea. It was a weary party that filed up the Wahine’s gangway in the evening, but the children had still sufficient animation to be thrilled with the size of the ship and the excitement of departure. “Their parents were most unwilling, in many cases, to consent to their going to the South Island, in case the steamer capsized,” said Mr. Durwood. “They wanted me to write to the captain and obtain his personal assurance that he would not upset the ship on the way down to Lyttelton.” (Picture on page 7.)