HISTORIC ASSEMBLY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22022, 3 August 1933, Page 10

HISTORIC ASSEMBLY

ANCIENT MAORI NAVIGATORS A MEMORIAL UNVEILED (Per United Press Association.) HAWEBA, August 2. An event of historical importance took place at Patea this afternoon, when the handsome Turi memorial canoe fashioned in stone was erected in' commemoration of Turi, the ancient Maori navigator, and his fellow navigators who took part in the Polynesian migration for Aotearoa in 1350. The memorial was unveiled by the Minister of Health (Mr J. A. Young), and the occasion attracted a large assembly of Maoris and pakehas. The proceedings were marked by a procession through the town, hakas, poi dances, games, and other entertainments by the Maoris. A message from the Governor-General (Lord Bledisloe) stated: May all success attend your historic assembly and may it help in cementing even more closely the brotherhood of the Maori and the pakeha and the fostering of the pride of the former in his race and its traditions. Picturesque Maori ceremonies and dancing were followed by the Minister’s address, in which he expressed the admiration of the pakeha for the prowess of the early Maori navigators. A message from the Acting Prime Minister (Mr J. G. Coates) stated: In sending greetings I want to say how gratifying it is to observe the spirit of co-operation between the Maori and pakeha. Maori' goodwill has long been established, but there remained the game need for closer cooperation and for greater appreciation one by the other 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 and by other means, and it is interesting to link up, as is being done to-day, the early Maori discovery and settlement of various parts of New Zealand with the colonisation by the Europeans several hundred years later.