U.S. NAVAL OFFICERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 1, 2 January 1943, Page 6

U.S. NAVAL OFFICERS

ENTERTAINED BY MAORIS MEMORABLE NEW YEAR’S EVE. (P.A.) Auckland, Jan. 1. A New Year’s Eve which they said they could not quickly forget was spent at the Ngaruawahia Maori Pa by a large party of officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. They went there at the invitation of the Maori King Koroki, who was represented by his aunt, Princess Te Puea. The visit lasted from about 6 p.m. until some time after 1943 had oeen gladly welcomed, and the way in which the Americans had appreciated and enjoyed hospitality so freely offered to them by the Waikato tribes was to be judged from the farewell songs exchanged by visitors and hosts at their parting. The American party was led by Captain S. D. Jupp, Senior United States Navy officer, in New Zealand, who, with all his officers, showed the utmost pleasure at being given a chance to enjoy an experience which was completely new to them. They equalled the Maoris in their courtesy and paid them very high and sincere compliments on their singing and dancing, and were amazed at the standard of native craftsmanship they saw in the carved meeting house, Mahinarangi, and in the King’s house, Turango, which is joined to it, representing in their junction the friendly reunion of Waikato and East Coast tribes.

Chief Te Po Kingi represented the Waikato tribes and made a speech of welcome. The speech was in Maori, and was interpreted by Lieutenant W. P. Clark, who, with Captain Werohia, was in the uniform of the Maori Battalion and so gave the Americans a hint of the reason for a very noticeable lack of young Maori men on the marae. The dinner was served on a table long enough to accommodate all the vistors and astonished the Americans in its excellence and variety. After coffee the party attended a concert of Maori action songs and dances by warriors and women. Supper, on the same lavish scale as dinner, was served in the King’s dining loom. The Americans left the marae shortly before 1 a.m.