NATIVE CHOIR

Timaru Herald, Volume CLV, Issue 22791, 15 January 1944, Page 6

NATIVE CHOIR

New Zealand Soldiers Entertained ISLAND HISTORY DEPICTED An entertainment presented on Boxing Day by natives of one of the Pacific Islands, and including four scenes representing the history of the island, is described in a letter to his family by Lance-Bombardier L. U. Hughes, of Remuera. “The native choir sang several hymns and did a few dances,” he writes. “Then they put on the historical scenes. First of all two of the old chaps came out dressed in their “war paint.” They sort of slid across the stage, armed with longhandled axes and shields. They were rather frightening, and about the last sort of people you’d want to meet in a lonely part of the jungle. “The second scene showed the effect of the coming of the missionaries on the life of the natives, and they sang the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s “Messiah.” It was great and they got a wonderful hearing from the boys. “Then the Japs arrived on the scene, and the main idea seemed to be for the natives to answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to every question. Finally came the New Zealand and American ‘armies of liberation,’ and the natives sang ‘Onward, Christian Soldiers.’ “This was all translated by a padre who apparently had been a missionary here for years. They finished up by presenting the natives with gifts, mostly useful things, such as medical supplies. It was really a good evening ,and one the natives will remember for a long time.” The writer adds that the native choir sang another excerpt from the "Messiah” at church one Sunday. He concludes: “The natives were there again at the swimming sports with their war canoes. It was just like watching a scene from the film ‘Sanders of the River.’ They sure make those canoes travel, and their timing is great.”