“SAVAGES” AND CULTURE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18590, 28 December 1934, Page 13

“SAVAGES” AND CULTURE

THE UREWERA TEAM

WELLINGTON COMMENT

When the Maoris danced bpfofg Royalty at Rotorua, .Sir Apirana Ngata'nmde picturesque reference to the Urewcra team as “the last savages in ’New Zealand, having been tamed only since 1900* v Certainly the earlier years of this century found the Urewcra practically untouched. There, on his camp at Haepipi Cicck, was living at that time, and over a period of years, the lfctq Klsd.ou Best, who may yet prove to be the best remembered ,New Zealander of his period. Almost unnoticed,, he worked heroically to save something of- that great mass of Maori loro that was slipping rapidly into obliyiop, disregarded by the younger generation of Maori, whose contact with Eurqpeanism was soon to be complete. Much that Best saved has been printed, and much has probably gone for ever. In place of the IJrev r era that was, and of its Urewcra. culture, we have now the system produced by contact with whites, one bright result of which is ; ‘hat the haka leader of the Urewerns is, according to Sir Apirana, holder of a Lincoln College diploma of agriculture. Let it be hoped that his inherited instinct for forestry will be at least as great as his acquired skill in agriculture, for the Urewcra needs its old forests .if it is to support its new farming. It is probably not true to say that, the Urcweras of 1900 were the last savages in New Zealand. The last savages are white as well as brown, and still can bo found in various parts of the country, halting or burning the native vegetation on land the grass value of which is negligible or nil.—Wellington. Post.