WEDDING ABANDONED

Taranaki Daily News, 5 January 1935, Page 13 (Supplement)

WEDDING ABANDONED

RIVAL MINISTERS ARRIVE. ORATORY AND HEARTBURNING.

Te Kuiti, Jan. 3. A scene unprecedented in the tribal history of the King Country since the introduction of Christianity and pakeha customs was witnessed at Hangatiki on New Year’s Day. Five hundred guests assembled for a wedding and a wedding feast. The feast was held, but . not the wedding. Instead the day ended with bride and bridegroom bitterly disappointed, and much heartburning among the elder Maoris.

A niece of Princess Te Puea of Waikato was betrothed to a member of a leading native family of the district, and there was a widespread desire to do them honour.. Arriving promptly at 10.30 the bridal party, robed in valued native mats and headdress, received a tribal welcome according to real Maori custom. This formal part of the festivity ended with a few dignified speeches by noted chieftains. ■ ■ RATANA MINISTER WITH CHOIR. ; It had been arranged that the wedding should be solemnised by the Methodist Church, to which the bride belongs, but the local native Methodist minister, when about to take his place on the village green before the bridal party, found himself forestalled by the sudden appearance of a minister of the Ratana Church, clothed in purple robes and attended by a choir of Maori maidens. The Methodist minister, philosophical, stood passive. The silence was broken by the dignified grandfather of the bride, who made a dramatic protest, in which he refused to give the bride away unless the service was conducted by the Methodist minister. The bridegroom, who belongs to the Ratana Church, suggested that the grandfather’s wishes should be complied with, tut the Ratana followers remained adamant.

For a full hour the debate continued. Orators of the elder generation suggested that the ceremony be carried out by the chief, according to ancient custom. A minister of the Anglican Church suggested that the impasse might be ended if he performed the ceremony, whereupon one of the younger Maoris advocated the couple repair by car to the registry office at Te Kuiti and be married there. Nothing dismayed, the Ratana minister and choir conducted a religious service, in which those present joined. The discussion was then resumed, until it was finally adjourned for kai. During the feast a Maori wag proceeded to cut the three-decker wedding cake which adorned the centre of the huge table spread on the green, and portions of the cake were distributed among all present. Throughout the afternoon small groups on the marae continued to discuss the position, and it was finally announced that the wedding ceremony would be postponed indefinitely.