CENTENNIAL PLANS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23226, 21 December 1938, Page 14

CENTENNIAL PLANS

MAORI LEADERS TO MEET CO-OPERATION INTENDED CONFERENCE AT ORAKEI To devise the most effective means of assisting the authorities in the Centennial celebrations in 1940, a conference of Maori tribal chiefs is to take place at Orakei on December 28. Among the Maori people, it was stated yesterday, there had been a keen desire to play an active part in the preparations and it was intended that the assembly at Orakei should enable proposals for full co-operation to be developed. The principal tribes throughout the "Dominion will be represented at the conference, which it is expected may extend over several days. It is anticipated that about 50 chiefs may be present and invitations have also been issued to the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. W. E. Parry, and the Mayor of Auckland, Sir Ernest Davis, who it is hoped will address the gathering. The conference is being convened under the auspices of a local tribe whose territory is stated to extend into both the Waitangi and Auckland zones, and it is considered that it will be widely representative of the leaders of the race. It will also include delegations from the Maori race committees which have been appointed under the Act, and it is likely that valuable decisions will be made on such questions as the native pageantry to take place in conjunction with tho Auckland and Waitangi celebrations.