MAORI WELCOME

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 308, 31 December 1942, Page 4

MAORI WELCOME

FOR U.S. SERVICEMEN TO SEE NEW YEAR IN AT NGARUAWAHIA (P-A.) Auckland, Dec. 30. A ps*rty of 60 officers of the American Navy will visit lhe model Maori pa at Ngaruawahia to-morrow to take part in ceremonies which will usher in the New Year. The party will leave Auckland about 4 o’clock in the afternoon, travelling by busses and cars and escorted by Lieut. Waka Clarke. Upon arrival at Ngaruawahia the visitors will be welcomed by chiefs of the Waikato tribes and by Princess Te Puea. The visitors will be taken round the pa and shown the calvings for which it is famous. At 7 o’clock the visitors will be entertained at dinner, and preparations on a royal scale are being made. A bullock will be roasted on stones after the Maori fashion. The menu will also include pork and wild geese. The visitors will be greeted at 8 o'clock with the traditional Maori challenge, which will be accepted by the leader of the party picking up a taiaha from the ground. This will be followed by the well-known Maori war dance “Ka mate! Ka mate!” There will be more native dances as well as action songs by girls and poi dances. These will be concluded at 11 o'clock and all present will' then come out on to the marae, where at midnight the Ng;* uawhaia Town Band will be in attendance to play the New Year in. Ilakas, poi dances and harmony singing will continue until about. 1 o’clock, when the visitors will leave on the return journey to Auckland. It is the intention of Princess Te Puea to give similar receptions periodically to United States service-