MAORI LIFE

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 June 1942, Page 7

MAORI LIFE

‘LAX STATE OF AFFAIRS

Maori affairs on the east coast of the North Island are far from what people believe them to be, and a survey undertaken by a sub-committee of the Waiapu branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute may awaken interest in the immediate betterment of the Maori people. “One of the most important causes of the lax state of affairs on the east coast is lack of sound leadership among the Maoris,'’ said the report of the committee, read by Mr. A. J. C. Runciman 'at a meeting of the Hastings Rotary Club. “There is little evidence that the elders have any substantial influence in their communities, the only effective control at tangis and huis being that exercised by the police, or occasionally by a native school teacher. Maori councils are non-existent.” In home life, economic troubles were partly to blame for unsatisfactory conditions, but the Maori himself was also largely to blame. Parental control was absent, and reliance was placed on the native school teacher to do something. There was insufficient enforcement of children going regularly to school. Seldom did children go to school with any knowledge of the Maori arts, such as carving, taniko, tukutuku, or even flax-weaving. Without the schools these arts would almost be lost. Orthodox families on the coast were rare, the Maori home comprising, in addition to the normal family, grandparents, adult relatives, and invariably an extra child or two. Children of unmarried daughters, and often sons, were present in almost every home, as illegitimacy was no slur. Legal marriage was. however, becoming more popular. “Music is a warm and vital part of the lives of the Maoris,” says the report, “and it is the only leisure occupation left in which all the family shares. A small percentage of homes are Europeanised, and in these the living standards are excellent. “Colour-bar is prevalent in New Zealand, and it is still a considerable factor in relations between Maori and pakeha. While there is no bar to the political rights of the Maori, there is a definite bar personally. Employment for them is restricted to unskilled work, and work that offers no responsibility. “The two peoples tend to keep to themselves. The pakeha forgets the tremendous difficulties of transition from a primitive people to one acquiring civilised habits, and there is an essential lack of sympathy. The Maori sees the pakeha in the betterpaid jobs, but he does not generally, on the east coast, connect this with better education, greater reliability and greater assiduity at his work. “Alcohol is one of the chief problems on the east coast. Stricter law enforcement is necessary to prevent the activities of the State in respect to health, housing and education being brought to nothing."