PAST DAYS RECALLED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21119, 29 February 1932, Page 11

PAST DAYS RECALLED.

PASTIMES OF MAORI RACE.

FINE DISPLAY AT HAWERA.

HAKAS AND POI DANCES. Not. only the haunting chants of rhythmic poi dances and the racial expression in the spirited hakas, but also the gesticulations of the individual performers themselves, enthralled an attendance of about 7000 people at the Hawera show grounds last Thursday afternoon, when Maoris from as far distant as Waitotara participated in a unique display in connection with the Hawera Borough jubilee celebrations.

For two and a-half hours the ground rang with the sound of Maori voices raised in stirring hakas or modulated to the sweeter tones of the poi chants. On the oval were old Maoris and young ones clad in the garments of their forefathers, while the few gleams of sunshine that penetrated the grey clouds glinted strangely on the brown torsos of the men and the flashing pois of the maidens. Probably never again will the people of South Taranaki be the witnesses of such a large and finished display of the old hakas and dances and games as that provided on this occasion.

A spirited haka by a score of the Ngarauru tribe from Waitotara opened proceedings, Iliina Wakarua leading his men. Included in the Ngnrauru performers were about 16 poi girls and the same number of other men, besides the very fine haka team Old Maori Games. Panenui Hauraranga next led his poi girls on for their dance, and a demonstration of old Maori stick games was given by people of the same Hawera, or Ngatiruanui, tribe. W. Tupito and his people from the Pareroa pa, near Kakaramea, then treated the crowd to an exhibition of the poi dance; a different one from that given by the natives in the vicinity of Hawera. The haka team from the same pa joined the poi girls and a haka concluded the item. The girls and men from the Whenuakura pa and the town of Patea gave another version of the poi and haka, Piri Kahu leading them. The Waitotara visitors repeated their haka at the request of a section of the gathering. Panenui's dozen hula girls, Piri Kahu's people and a haka by the boys of the Ngatiruanui tribe, under the diminutive but vigorous Pat Korau, followed in succession, and then came the grand climax—a combined haka by 47 sturdy Maori men, under Tairoa and Tupito. A Hula Hula Danes. One of the most popular items was that contributed by a bevy of Hawaiian hula hula maidens, trained by Chief Panenui. Of Hawaiian origin, the hula hula had an affinity with the Maori kopi kopi and illustrated the racial affinity of the native of Hawaii with that of Aotearoa. The dance called for gracefulness and rhythm and the girls were accorded rounds of applause. Hawera, Patea arid Waitotara maidens and wahines vied with each other in many excellent performances.

In (he cliant, to which tho poi was swung, the history of the arrival of the tribe in its ancestral canoe, "Aotearoa," was recited, the chant being composed during the heyday of the prophet Tohu, of Farihaka, some 50 years ago.