POLYNESIAN NAVIGATOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21560, 3 August 1933, Page 10

POLYNESIAN NAVIGATOR

MEMORIAL CANOE UNVEILED CEREMONY AT PATEA g - [by telegraph—pr?ss association] || HAVTERA.' Wednendty An event of historical importanca took place at Pate# this afternoon, when the handsome memorial canoe, fashioned in stone and erected in commemoration of Turi, the ancient Polynesian navigator, and his fellow-voy-agers, who took part in the Polynesian migration to Aotea-roa in 1350, was unveiled by the Hon. J. A. Young. There was a large assembly of Maoris and pakehas. As a part of the proceed- ' ings" a procession passed through the town. Halcas, poi dances, games and " other entertainments by the Maoris were included in the ceremony. The Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, m a, message, says: "May all success attend your historic assembly and may it help x in cementing even more closely the brotherhood of Maori"* and pakeha and fostering the pride of the. former in its raqe and its traditions."

A message from the acting-Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, states:—"ln sending greetings, I want to say how gratifying it is to observe the spirit of co-operation between Maori and pakeha. Maori goodwill has long been established, but there remained the same need for closer co-operation and for greater appreciation of the qualities, difficulties and aspirations of the two races, which together form the nation. It is greatly to be desired that the history of the Maori should be preserved by written records arid (by other means, and it is interesting to link up, as is being done -to-day, early Maori discoverv and settlement of various parts of New Zealand with colonisation by , Europeans several hundred years later."