MAORI MEETING-HOUSE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21533, 3 July 1933, Page 10

MAORI MEETING-HOUSE

CEREMONY AT MATATUA LARGE GATHERING OF NATIVES [from Ol?K own cokkespondkxt] HAMILTON*, Sunday About 1300 Maoris from all parts of the Rotorua, Gisborne and Urewera district gathered at Matatua, Urewera, on Friday and Saturday to celebrate the reopening of a large meeting-house that has been renovated and enlarged. The house was originally built in 1888 and has recently been improved. It has an iron roof and its front elevation is decorated with fine carvings. No fewer than 500 natives slept in it 011 Friday night.

A conference of natives belonging to several religious denominations was held yesterday, which was observed as a holy day. The programme consisted chiefly of religious services and feasting.

The organisation for feeding the unusually large company was excellent. There were Maori o\;ens in various parts of the meeting-house enclosure, and at signals from a bugler, who sounded his calls with a largo shell, the tables were laid and the food distributed in a remarkably short space of time. At 0110 stage there was a shortage of meat. The defect was soon remedied by four young men, who went armed with rifles and an axe, and accompanied by pack horses, into the bush. Within a couple of hours they returned with four wild pigs slaughtered and cleaned ready for the cooking pots. The gathering, which is likely to last for several days, is now dwindling in strength as various parties of visitors leave at intervals for their homes.