HONE HEKE MONUMENT.

Northern Advocate, 12 April 1911, Page 5

HONE HEKE MONUMENT.

UNVEILED AT KAIKOHE.

GREAT MAORI GATHERING-.

(Special to "Advocate.")'

KAIKOHE, April , , 12. Altogether some 2000 Maor,is have been congregated at Kaikohe for days past in anticipation of the unveiling of the monument erected to the memory of the late Hone Heke, No fewer than 46 tents, an adjacent house, and a large hall have been in requisition for the accommodation of the natives. The feeding of such a multitude has been no small problem, and among other things there have been included in the daily consumption four head Of cattle, two tons of potatoes and kumeras, 1080 lbs of bread", and an abundant supply of cakes, puddings, etc. In celebration of the great occasion a triumphal arch was erected! acrsss the road, just below the public hall, the decorations consisting of nikau and other greenery. Further up the road, strings of flags were suspended from poles standing on either side o£ the road, with. dependent "Welcome" mottoes to the different tribes-, of the Ngapuhi, Rarawa, Aupouri and; others. The Native Committee had a patrol of 12 police to keep' order, and it says much for the respectability of such a mixed gathering that only four had lo be put in durance vile. A two-horse team have been in constant use for carting water from the creek, as no other supply is near at hand. The monument stands on the highest point of the Kaikohe Hill, near the trig station. This spot was at first opposed by some, of the Maori owners, who thought that the Government intended to take five acres as a reserve —a proposal that had no substantiation in fact, but one that the Maoris in question were prepared to resent. On Monday the whole of the morning was occupied in practising hakas and other ceremonial with which it was proposed to welcome Mr Carroll. At noon the natives assembled to await his arrival, and the troop of 400 gaily bedecked women and a like number of half-naked men made an imposing show. At 1.30 the near approach of Timi Kara was heralded by a volley or two of rifle shots, and a

few minutes later, as the Ministerial party neared the marae, the Maoris greeted them with songs of welcome and dances. Followed the inevitable speeches by representative tribal chiefs, to which the visitors made fitting replies. Lamentations for the death of Hone Heke occupied three hours, and then it was too late for any serious business to, be discussed. That was reserved until yesterday, after which the monument was unveiled by the Acting Prime Minister, Hon. ,T. Carroll, in the presence of a vast concourse, which included 200 Europeans. Speeches were made by Mr Carroll and several chiefs in praise of the departed rangitira. (The late Hone Heke, M.P. for the Northern Maori district, was born at Kaikohe, Bay of Islands, in 1869. He wae the son of Hone Ngapua Tuhirangi, of Kaikohe, and Pane Puriri, of the Bay of Islands and Whangarei. He received his education variously at the Kawakawa village school, the Oromahoe native school (Bay of Islands), and St. Stephen's native school,. Auckland. In 1891. he entered Government service as clerk in the Native Land Court office, Wellington, which position he resigned in 1592 to take up the leadership of the Maori Federated Tribes of New Zealand —excepting the tribes under the movement of the Maori King, those residing in Thames and Waikato, and the followers of Te Whiti and Tohu (Parihaka). The object of this union was to petition liament for Home Rule for the Maoris. Hone Heke was elected to the House of Representatives for the Northern Maori district in 1893, and sat continuously for that electorate until the time of his death.)