KNOTTY ISSUES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19885, 11 March 1939, Page 4

KNOTTY ISSUES

DISTRICT HISTORY PROGRESS OF RESEARCH P.B. COMMITTEE'S WORK FUNDS FOR PUBLICATION Though the field to be covered is extensive, and the greater part of it.; work still lies ahead, the historical research committee for Poverty Bay, appointed 'by the '.National Centennial Council, appears to be making good progress towards the compilation of the historical review of events which influenced settlement and development of the district.

Knotty issues of considerable import • ance are debated at each of the regular meetings held by the committee, and in respect" of many of these, approaches are being made to sources of information not available in Gisborne.

One Of the subjects discussed at last night's mooting, the first of two scheduled for March, was the plotting of ancient tracks used by the 'Maori tribes in their comings and goings before the initial settlement of Poverty Bay by, (> white men. Information on this mafYer'nas bYerr aSked'for by the National Historical Research Committee, with headquarters in Wellington, and already, through the agency of the local committee's chairman, Mr. J. A. Mackay, most of the principal tracks of this district have been traced. As it is intended that the maps showing these routes will be incorporated ki the centennial atlas, one of the national objectives, further information is being sought regarding the more remote avenues of travel in preEuropean days.

Wide Range of Topics

One of these is the inland route from Tolaga Bay which has been traced as far as Tutamoe, and which presumably branches northward and westward from that landmark. Another was the route followed 'by Maoris between Papuni and Wharekopae, along the fringes of the Urewera. Illustrative of the range of topics discussed by the committee are frequent references to the actions and motives of Te Kooti Rikirangi, the controversy as to whether the date nominally celebrated as the anniversary of Cook's landing is the actual anniversary, and the evidence of European infiltration of the East Coast before the earliest recorded visits. The committee works under the disadvantage of a lack of source materia] in the form of official records, and has had to conduct a voluminous correspondence with national headquarters, with individual research workers in other parts of the Dominion, and, through the enterprise of. its own members, with curators of collections abroad.

It will be understood that if the committee's objective is achieved, and the text of an authenticated history compiled, funds to cover the cost of publication will require to be found. In this connection, the committee has received assurances from the provincial centennial council for Poverty Bay and the East Coast that certain money will be allocated, but a further suggestion is that many Poverty Bay residents may wish to contribute directly to the cost. A proposal to issue an invitation to those interested in the historical aspects of the centennial celebrations will be debated at the next meeting of the committee.