TRIBAL MOURNING

Hawera Star, Volume L, 28 August 1930, Page 4

TRIBAL MOURNING

LOST MAORI LEADER LATE SIR MAUI POMARE (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Aug. 27. The. Ngatitoa tribe began its mourning to-day, when the ashes of iSir Maui Pomarc arrived at AYaikanae. The obsequies were marked by wreaths, Maori ritual and the firing of single rifle shots as the remains of the leader approached the pa. The special carriage which bore the ashes was taken to Waikanae 'as part of the Main Trunk express. The engine shunted the carriage on to the loop line. 'The chosen ones gathered round and placed the carved casket on a wooden carrier manned at each end. A fifth Maori led, grasping a taiaha or ceremonial spear, and slowly they bore the ashes away. Lady Pomare and her children followed, while other mourners and several members of Parliament ..brought up the rear. In silence the procession left .the station. A Maori woman gave a longdr.awii cry and the crowd fell in behind the march to the meeting house of the tribe. Crowds of wailing women waving green branches met the cortege. Chants of - grief followed as the aged chief approached the casket. Then came speeches of lamentation and dances. The ashes will remain in a tent among fern leaves until midnight tomorrow, when they will be moved on to AVaitara.

VAULT BY THE AVAITARA. FITTING RESTING-PLACE. Upon a. high bluff within the enclosure of Manukoribe Pa, overlooking the town and the placid river of AVaitara, is almost completed the vault which on Sunday will receive the casket containing the ashes of Sir Maui Pomare. The vault will ultimately be the base of a monument in memory of Sir Ma.ui and another great Maori leader, AViremu Kingi. No memorial could be more fitting. Behind are the buildings of the pa; to the left the old cemetery wherein lie so many ancient Maori warriors; on the right beyond the road a slope to the sea; in front and below, the river and AVaitara, and beyond the rolling acres of green the stately cone of Egmont. Upon the arrival of the casket- at AVaitara on Friday four Maoris dressed in mats similar to those worn by their forefathers will bear it to the pa, where it will be placed in a small tent until the final obsequies on Sunday. The Taranaki Maoris are making preparations for thousands of visitors to the pa. Many have already arrived, including parties from the South Island and one family from the Chatham Islands. The supply of food collected already includes five thousand eels and ten tons of potatoes.