"TATOU TAOU."

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15222, 21 May 1920, Page 9

"TATOU TAOU."

-*» ___. GREETINGS TO' THE PRINCE. REWim TE KOHERE ON USE OI MAORI WORDS. , (Special to the Herald;) CHRISTCHURCH,. this day. Writing from Te Araroa, East Gape, to the Mayor of Christchurch (Di*. H. Thacker, M.P.), Rfewet-i Te Kohere, a well-known Maori chieftain, says : I was much amused wheh on my return from Rotorua. l read m the Poverty Bay . Herald how the press of the Doniinion. m its ignorance has been laughing at you because you sent the Prince of Wales the Maori greeting "tatou." The newspapers kindly suggested that before sending your message you should have looked up a -Maori dictionary or consulted a Maori authority. I have no doubt you consulted that authority, for your greeting to our future King was both a very happy one as well as being couched m first-class Maori. The newspapers evidently had studied Williams' dictionary of the Maori language, ior j they translated "Tatou Taou" as "Wo j We," which is ridiculous. The verb "to i be"' is not expressed iv Maori, so if they knew this they might with pardon have translated the phrase "we are we,-" which' is meaningless. "Tatou" includes both the person addressing and the person addressed, so the greeting means, "We and you are one/ and m your case it meant, "We, the people of Christchurch, are one m heart and soul with you, the Prince of Wales." Can anyone conceive of a happier phrase to greet our Royal guest? The greeting is genuine Maori, and is, very much used by the tribes at the present day. I heard Sir James Carroll use it at Rotorua the other day when he was addressing the Ngapuhi, and they fully understood what he. meant, and received his words with evident appreciation. Your critics further suggested you might have used the -taproom greeting, "Kia-ora." I would like to suppose it was Dr. Poittare who .had put you up to welcoming the Prince iii the happy manner you did. Tlie doctor and I should both feel proud, as we do, that Christchurch had thought it good enough to greet Royalty m Maori, the tongue of the original owners of New- -Zealand, for we both can. lay claim to being old Christchurch , "boys," for m your fine city we received a portion of our education.. I walked up Queen street and felt worried at seeing nothing but "Welcome" Avritten everywhere, and disgusted when on the arch just outside the railway Station at Rotorua I read on one side "Welcome," and on. the other "Farewell." Can you wonder it raised cats, dogs, and strikes It was giv,en to you arid your English city of _ Cliristchurch the happy knack of greeting m Maori the Prince of Wales in' "Maoriland."