NATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE ROOM. REPORT OF PROCEEDING AT THE OPENING CEREMONY.

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1922 Session I, I-03b

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1922. NE VV ZEA L A N 1).

NATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE ROOM. REPORT OF PROCEEDING AT THE OPENING CEREMONY.

Laid on the. Table of the. House of Representatives by Leave.

Wednesday, 23rt> October, 1922. A most interesting Maori ceremony was held at the formal opening of the Native Affairs Committee room in the new Parliament Building. The committee-room, which faces on Museum Street, is large and finely proportioned, and its walls are tastefully decorated with Maori carvings, the wall behind the chair occupied by the Chairman (Mr. J. A. Young, M.P. for Waikato) being adorned with especially fine carvings, representing the entrance to a whare runanga, or Maori meeting-house. The committee-room has a door at either end, the architraves of which are also adorned with fine Native carvings. The carving was all carried out by Te Kiwi Amohau, of Rotorua, one of the paramount chiefs of the Arawa Tribe, assisted by Te Ngaru Ranapia of the same tribe. The ceremony, which took place in the corridor outside the committee-room, was conducted by Mita Taupopoki. of the Tuhourangi Tribe, Whakarewarewa, assisted by Te Naera Houkotuku, of Rotorua, and other chiefs, consisting of various chants or incantations, accompanied by the, appropriate Native posturings and dances. First came an incantation to free the building from all evil influences ; then a chant to clear the meeting-house of the tapv, so as to enable ladies to enter it; every Maori meeting-house being to them a holy house and barred to the entrance of women. The next chant was connected with all implements that were used in hewing the trees from which the timber was obtained for the building ; and the final chant related to the laying-down of the mats for the building by the womenfolk. The Prime Minister (the Right Hon. W. F. Massey) and his colleagues in the Ministry, together with a large number of members of both Houses of Parliament, their wives, and others, had gathered to witness the ceremony, which was followed with the keenest interest. The " Kawanga " Ceremony. As a newly carved house the Native Affairs Committee room was by the Maoris considered lapu. The tap>i. must be disposed of, or its dangerous powers averted, before the chamber could be safely occupied. And so it was arranged that the elders of Te Axawa Tribe, whose expert carvers, Te Kiwi Amohau, of Ohinemutu, and Te Ngaru Ranapia, of Mourca, Rotoiti, had executed the fine carvings and the reed panel-work of the room, should have the honour of performing the ceremony. The actual ceremony was performed by Mita Taupopoki, of Whakarewarewa, and Te Naera Houkotuku, of Ohinemutu ; the old chief Te Kiwi Amohau, though present, was indisposed. They were assisted by W. K. Wi Hapi, of Te Puke, and Tiiui Maaka, of Matata. Tlie following are the incantations used in the ceremony : — 1. Karakia Waere (addressed to the building as a whole, and to lift the tapu off the same) : — Waerea i runga, waerea i raro, Waevea i a Rangi, waerea i a Papa c tv : Waerea i waenga, waerea i nga tapu, Waerea i nga mana, waerea i nga wehi, Waerea i nga makutu. Tukua atii tama kia puta i waho Xi te tawJiangawhanga : He putanga ariki no Kongo kite ata tauira, Ea mai te tipua ! Mai ea mai te tawhito, ko Tuwhakaheke-nuku, Ko Tuwhakalieke-rangi to manawa Ko tahu manawa ka irihia Whano, whano, haramai te toki ! Haumi c . . . Hui c . . . Taiki c . . .

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2. Te Kawa (an incantation addressed to the building as a whole and to each part of it in detail. The injunction in the invocation " Kukutia " calls upon the powers to ruruku, or bind together for strength, the uprights and rafters and the other details of the structure) : — Takina te kawa, he kawa tuatahi, He kawa tuarua, he kawa tuatoru, He kawa tuawha, he kawa tuarima, He kawa tuaono, he kawa tuawhitu, He kawa tuawaru, he kawa tuaiwa, He kawa tuangahuru : Ko te kawa o te Whare o Rangi tv nei, Ko Hau-te-ua-nui. Rukutia ! Rukutia i nga maibi, I nga poupou i nga heke, i nga tuparu, Kia ninihi atu ai a TJanui a Uaroa. Whakarongo iho ra o Mata te irihia Te hauhau no Tv marangai he tana c Karia te pq i Rarotonga Te whare o Ueuenuku, o TJeuerangi Te taka mai tv, tona whaiawhano Whano, whano, haramai te told ! Haumi c . . . 3. Te Toki (or. The Axe. This is the incantation addressed to the tree in the forest whence with the aid of the toki, the material for the carving, was obtained) : — Kotia te pu, waiho i konei: Kotia te kauru, waiho i konei: E ai hoki au ko te umu a te Tuhi, Kihai i tae ki nga pukenga, Xi nga wananga, ki nga tnuira. Patua a kuru, patua a whao, Patua te toki a Taifaaruru, Piki ake hoki au ki runga nei Xi te whare bukahuka nui c no Tangaroft, Tangaroa i whatiia ai c Nukutaimaroro, Nukutaimaroro kaore ko an ko Hinetuahoanga, X kimi ana c hahau ana i te whanau a Rata, Ko Rata i mate atu i te awa i Pikopikoiwhiti, Mate maungarongo ! Whano, whano, haramai te toki ! Haumi c . . . Hui c . . . Taiki c . . . 4. Then followed the lifting of the last great tapu, the admission of woman into the sacred house ; for until this moment she- could not step across the paepae, or threshold. Her admission was the final act of wlml'avoa (making common the occupation of the house). The symbol of occupation was the spreading of the mat, which served the olden Maori, and still serves many of his descendants, as mattress and couch. AUuuiwa mai. ai hoki to he ariki, Manawa mai ai hoki to putanga he tauira. Takapou hotunukii, hofiirangi, hotuwawahia : Tβ mata i tukitukia, te mata i heiheia ! Oi i whiwhia, oi i rawea, Oi taku tiipiina c tv nei, Oi ko laku tupiina He tupuna kimi naku Xi te whakarua atu, Xi te marangai tv, Whakairihia mata o takapou He takapou taonga, he takapou tangata ! Whano, whano, haramai te told haumi c ! Hui c . . . Taiki c . . . This completed the Maori portion of the, ceremony of te Itqwanqa. There were necessarily lacking the concomitants of the sacred act —the hakas and war-dances which were wont to resound at the marae when the tribes celebrated the completion and dedication of a celebrated carved whare — When our whare in its beauty Tukutuku, pukana, c korirari, Duly to the gods in heaven Willi our war-dance must be given. But the small Arawa contingent made the most of their modest number by their stentorian shouts and fierce gesticulations in their concluding haJca — Kaore c hoki te rongo o te whare whakairo E hau mai ra i Poneke, a ha ha ! Kai te tutaki te haumi o te waka Kai te tutaki te haumi o te waka ! Ko an anake te uri o Rangitihi T takaia nei kite akatea, X takoto nei papa tahuaroa, Hei a, her', hei ha !

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Speech by the Native Mixisteh, After the chants were finished, the Native Minister (the Hon. .1. G. Coates), addressing the Maori chiefs and ladies and gentlemen present, said that it gave him great pleasure to be there for that important occasion. He thought that all parliamentarians who had studied Maori history and the history of New Zealand would recognize the significance and importance of the ceremony opening the meeting-house of the Native Affairs Committee. Prior to 1867 there was a Native Affairs Committee composed entirely of pakehas, but since JBf<7 the Maoris hud had the right of representation in Parliament, and had elected four members to each Parliament. One could readily understand the wealth of history and tradition that had been built up and that surrounded the doings of the Native Affairs Committee, in view of the amount of work its members had to do, and the knowledge they must have of Native Affairs. The Committee was governed by the highest traditions of justice and fair play to both races in the administration of its affairs. Great importance attached to Maori affairs in Parliament, and to the Native Affairs Committee, which was the final court of appeal in regard to matters affecting the Maoris. Every Maori had. the. entrance, to the, room to have his difficulties and his grievances inquired into, and to endeavour to get justice and right and fail , play there. With that, of course, went Maori sentiment and atmosphere ; and he thought that he voiced the, feelings of all present when he expressed the hope that the Native Affairs Committee would always keep that atmosphere and sentiment, and hold to the law that the Maori, too, had got rights — that he had the right to walk on the same track and at the same pace as the pakeha. He was very glad the Maori chiefs had removed all evil spells from their meeting-house. He was also glad that Mrs. Coates had not got to climb the ridge-pole, cut a hole through the roof, and enter the meeting-house that way. He did not know that she would feel quite up to it. He hoped that the race that owned the country previously, the race that we were proud of as fellow-citizens and as brothers, would long continue to flourish, and that the two races, Maori and pakeha, would always live together in unity. When they entered the room as members of Parliament they entered it as equals, and as men who had to deal with matters that were very difficult ; and it was part of our history and well established that the Maori had fair play and justice. He hoped, that the high traditions of the past would always remain with the room they were about to enter, and that they would always retain the history he had referred to as part of our social atmosphere here in New Zealand. At this stage Te Kiwi Amohau handed the key of the committee-room to Mrs. Coates, who then entered, after which a further incantation took place, and the other ladies present entered the room followed by the Prime Minister. As Mr. Massey passed in a spirited haka was danced, and tiie others present were afterwards admitted. The Chairman's Speech. On behalf of the Native Affairs Committee, Mr. Young extended a hearty welcome to the Prime Minister, the Maori chiefs, and other visitors. The opening of the meeting-house of the Committee, called the Whare Runanga, was an event unique in the history of our Parliament; and he thought it only fitting that the Government had provided a room for the Native Affairs Committee so much in accordance with Native ideas and traditions. He, had learnt to the best of his ability during the past eleven years that he had been connected with it the great traditions of the Committee and how to uphold them, and so far as they could they were carrying them out to-day. He expressed the appreciation and thanks of the Committee to the Maori chiefs who had come there to lift the lapu and remove all evil Influences, if any, from their meeting-house, so that they could feel that Divine Providence would guide them in their deliberations for the good of the Maori people and of the Dominion as a whole. Ex Native Ministers. The Hon. Sir James Carroll, K.C.M.G., M.L.C., who was called upon by the Chairman, referred, to the harmony that had always characterized the relations between the two races since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. The true import of that treaty, he said, might not be known to all. According to international law, a treaty could only be made between two sovereign races ; so the kindly feeling of the British mind led them to raise the Maori race to an equality in order to arrive at that treaty. The Native Affairs Committee had always been marked in the selection of it by Parliament by the appointment of men adaptable to and fitted for the consideration of matters which were inseparable from the conduct of the two races in their dealings with land and other property. Both pakeha and Maori had often had to appeal to the Committee in regard to their grievances, and in all his experience the Committee had set itself to weigh with an even hand the question of right and wrong between the two races without any friction whatever. That had been the case right down from the first, and might it always continue. Might they never forget tin; high traditions of the past. A haka, spiritedly performed by Sir James Carroll, the Hon. A. T. Ngata, and Mr. Tan Henare, M.P., rounded off the speech. The Hon. Sir W. H. Herries, K.C.M.G., M.P., followed, and said that as one who had been nine years Native Minister and 'twenty years a member of the Committee, he was extremely pleased to be present at the ceremony. He was especially pleased to see the Hon. Sir James Carroll present, who had had a much longer term than himself both as Native Minister and member of the Committee. He was very pleased that the Committee had at last got into a permanent home, and one in keeping with the traditions of the Maori people. When he first entered Parliament the Committee met in a room in the old wooden building where the present Library stood, and when the Library building was erected in 1898 it sat in the Sociology-room, while the Mines Committee sat in the present Newspaper-room. Then the Committee migrated to the room in the old wooden wing that had formerly been the

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Library, and again had for neighbour the Minus Committee. Here it remained til] the fire took place in J 907 ; then it sat for two years in the Museum, and then in the small, inconvenient room that it vva.s just leaving, which room was on the site of the old lobby. There was a tradition that they never had party rights in the Native Affairs Committee ; but in the old days, especially when the late Mr. Seddon was alive, they had strenuous fights, though not always party ones. He remembered one session, early in the present century, in which the Government wanted to put through a clause relating to timber leases —an extremely knotty subject. This clause was strongly opposed, not only by Opposition members, but also by Government supporters, and a sort of stonewall took place. Mr. Carroll (as he was then) told the late Mr. Seddon that he would not be able to get the clause through, and Mr. Seddon, who was a member of the Committee, said that he would settle the matter. Mr. Seddon therefore attended the next meeting and lectured the Committee, and told them to put the clause through. All his lecturing, however, had no effect—so he retired in disgust. In the end a compromise was effected by which the clause was modified and timber was classed as a " usufruct "■ a word suggested by Mr. Skerrett, which no one knew the effect of, and it therefore satisfied every one. While this contest was going on a similar contest was raging in the Mines Committee next door, where the redoubtable Mr. " Roddy " MeKenzie was opposing Mr. McGowan, the then Minister of Mines. Mr. Moss, the member for Ohinemuri and the speaker were members of both Committees, and it was arranged that Mr. Moss would look after the mines while he looked after the Natives, and whenever he wanted a vote he would knock on the partition, and Mr. Moss would come in and give his vote, and vice verm when a vote was required in the Mines Committee. The Hon. Sir James Carroll would also remember the dramatic resignation of their Chairman on one occasion, and would also remember the fracas that took place when a dissatisfied petitioner got into the committee-room and assaulted Sir .lames, and was promptly thrown out by the younger members of the Committee. It was popularly believed that the Committee opened proceedings every day not by prayer, but with a haka. He could assure the audience that that was not the case. There were, certainly, traditions which were still maintained, though perhaps not in their pristine vigour. The Committee was certainly the hardest-worked in the House, and was looked on by the Natives as their Parliament to which they could all appeal to right their grievances, It was certainly, as far as Native matters were concerned, the highest Court in the land. One legal gentleman once had the temerity to appeal to the Committee against a judgment of the Privy Council : the Committee, however, drew the line at this. The result of the labours of the Committee was seen in the annual " washing-up " Bill ; and, now that members of the House knew that all evil spirits had been exorcised from the room, he had no doubt they would accept all " washing-up " Bills in the future without question. No other Committee of the House could make a similar claim. He believed that on the blank spaces of the walls scenes depicting the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi were going to be painted. This treaty was the palladium of the Maori people. It was one of the shortest ever signed, but it was one of the most important, and was pregnant with great possibilities for the good of both the pakeha and the Maori. He heartily congratulated the architect on the designing of the room, and the carvers on the way in which they had carried out the work of decoration. The Committee had now a home, which he hoped would be permanent, in which they could store their archives without fear of destruction by fire. He had to thank those present for listening to him so patiently. Symbolic Caevings. The Chairman, who said the carvings had a symbolic purpose, then called upon Mr. Elsdon Best (Government Ethnologist, Dominion Museum), who stated that the principal features in the carvings were grotesque human figures, and a, peculiar-looking figure having a weird body and a head something like that of a bird. This figure, appearing in profile, was very prominent in Maori carvings, and was known as the manaia. There was no doubt that all the figures in the carvings were symbolic of something or other ; but, unfortunately, they dated back so far that the Maoris had forgotten what they represented. In some cases they saw the single manaia facing outwards, and sometimes the double manaia figures, with a human figure between, and with the beaks of the manaia on either side touching the ears —sometimes the shoulders —of the human figure between them. In the carvings of western Melanesia they often saw the human figure, not so conventionalized as in the Maori carvings, with a distinct bird on either side, with the beaks at each ear of the human figure. The same figures were seen in the stone sculptures of Java ; and passing on to India we- would find perhaps the origin of the double manaia in the figure of Vishnu, with the garuda, or bird, on either side with its beak in the ear of the figure. These two birds represented the qualities of good and evil, each of which was addressing the god, as it were, very much like the system of party government. In Indian teaching the good eventually prevailed over the bad. The Banquet. A banquet was afterwards given by the Native Affairs Committee in the old temporary chamber of the House of Representatives, the Native Minister (the Hon. J. G. Coates) presiding over a large attendance. The usual loyal toast having been duly honoured, the Prime Minister gave the toast of " The Native Race," coupled with the names of Mr. Tau Henare, M.P., and Mr. Wi Hapi. He had had great pleasure, said Mr. Massey, in attending the important ceremony that had taken place that morning, and he believed that in the times to come it would be regarded as historical. He hoped that the work done in the new committee-room would be for the benefit of the Maori race and the Europeans, and of the community as a whole. We were all proud and fond of our Native race. That was no mere lip sentiment. He noticed returns of population, for example, were often given in this form : " Popula-

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tioji so-and-so, not including the Native race." But wliy should any distinction bo made ? He hoped that for the future such discrimination would cease. He thought that, as citizens of the British Empire, we had reason to be proud of the treatment that the Native races throughout the Empire had received. That the Native races were satisfied with the treatment was shown by the fact that there was not a single tribe that had not responded to the Empire's call at the time of the Great War ; and the Maoris were not the last in offering their services. Sir Jamks Carroll : And there was no compulsion. Mr. Masse y : Yes ; no compulsion was necessary so far as the Native race was concerned. The question, he added, was sometimes asked, What was going to be the future of the Native race ? Were the Maoris going to die out as had the Native races in other parts of the world ? He did not think they were going to die out in the ordinary sense of the word, but that they would be merged with the European race, with the Anglo-Saxons, if they liked ; and he did not think that the Europeans would be any worse when the merging took place, because, intellectually and physically, the' Maori was the equal of the European. He could hold his own in athletic sports, in the schools, and so on. The Maoris had got their faults, of course ; and so had we. They had just as much reason to point to our faults as we had to point to theirs. We had known them for nearly a century- —known them both as opponents and as allies ; and nobody could say that they were anything else than gallant foes, and as allies there was nothing but good that we could say of them. He was sure that those who came after us would be as proud of being descended from the great Maori chiefs of the past as were those at Home who had " come over with the Conqueror." The Leader of the Opposition (Mr. T. M. Wileord) said that he would like to support with all his power the remarks that had fallen from the Prime Minister. He echoed the sentiments Mr. Massey had expressed with regard to the Native race ; and he, as a native-born New-Zealander, was able to say. that the toast included not only the Maoris but the young New-Zealanders born here. With the Prime Minister, he wished to see a real fusion of the two races. Each had much to gain from the other. If there was one thing that struck him about the Native race, it was the inherent dignity that characterized individually the Maori men and women. They had distinguished themselves in music, artistry, sculpture, and politics. They had not only come up alongside the pakeha, but had often excelled them. In Parliament speeches had been made by members of the Native race that had seldom been equalled and never beaten by the pakeha. The toast, which was drunk with musical honours, was suitably responded to by Mr. Tau Henare, M.1., Mr. Wi Eapi, the Hon. A. T. Ngata, M.P., and the Hon. Sir Maui Pomare, M.P. Mr. Tau Henare said : In prefacing my remarks I wish to say that I am sorry to note that while this luncheon has some relation to us the Maori people -the food which we have before us is that of the pakeha, and hence we do not see before us samples of that delicacy of Maori feasts of the past — the delicious dried shark. Personally, I very much appreciate the kindly and complimentary references of the Prime Minister and previous speakers, and the toast to the Maori race that has just been drunk, and on our return to our people we will have great pleasure in acquainting them with the complimentary references made concerning them. I also wish to pay my tribute to the good work done in the past for the Maori race by my old friends the ex Native Ministers, the Hon. Sir James Carroll and the Hon. Sir William Hemes, and hope that the present Native Minister, the Hon. Mr. Coates, will emulate the example and follow in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessors in an effort to do that which is right and just as between the Maori and the pakeha. I also desire to take this opportunity of publicly expressing the pleasure I have felt by the entry into the Parliament of this country of one of the descendants of the illustrious Henry Williams, who was instrumental, often at the risk of his life, in suppressing the warlike troubles of the past, and whose actions brought peace and good will to our people and these fair isles during those turbulent times. We have just seen one of the rooms of the new Parliament Buildings decorated with samples of the carvings of our Maori ancestors, and I hope to see the day when the Chamber itself of the House of Representatives will be similarly adorned with Maori carving. I wish, to take this opportunity of complimenting the Chief Judge of the Native Land Court, and his Judges, and his Department, for the indefatigable industry they have displayed in the searching and furnishing of reports on petitions by Natives, by which the Native Affairs Committee are enabled to mete out justice. As one of the Maori race that has just been toasted, 1 want to compliment the Chairman, the members, and the clerk of the Native Affairs Committee for the integrity and perseverance they have shown in dealing with matters affecting the Maori race. I would also urge the Government that, should the welfare of the inhabitants of the islands of the Pacific be menaced, their rights should be protected. In conclusion, may 1 tender to those of you in this room whose equanimity of mmd may have been dUturbed by rumours of want of confidence in you, the merits of an old-time Maori advice—that you disport yourself in public in such a manner as will display to advantage your manly qualities, and the poetry of your movements so as to attract their admiration and regain their confidence in you. Kia ora. Mr. Wi Hα pi, in a brief speech, then thanked those present for the kind things said of the Maori race, and for the enthusiasm with which the toast had been honoured. The Hon. Mr. Ngata said that he felt from the bottom of his heart that the Maori race of New Zealand were fortunate in having come under the nag of England : most fortunate in having come into contact with this branch of the pakeha race. The relations between the two races had been of the best, and the good opinion held by the pakeha towards his Maori brother had been recently exhibited in the most signal manner, when a Maori refereed the All Blacks v. Maoris football match at Athletic Park. That was not only a great honour, but a splendid recognition of the prowess, fairness, and equality of the Maori with the pakeha in the field of sport, the greatest test, according to the canons of the pakeha, of the fitness of any people to live upon the earth. The function they were celebrating

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was no less significant of the good fortune of the Maori people in that their lot had been thrown in with the British, and not with some other civilized peoples. The: Hon. Sir Maui Pomare, K.8.E., C.M.G., M.P. (member of the Executive Council representing the Maori race) said : Mr. Massey and gentlemen, I have to thank you for the very kind and complimentary remarks which you have made in regard to the race: to which I am proud to belong. Ethnologists tell us that away back in the twilight of fable our ancestors were rocked in the same Aryan cradle. From that common source we sprang. Your fearing to fall off the edge of a flat and square world, stuck to land, and. they have been grabbing land ever since. Our ancestors, not believing in the flat-world theory, ventured to sea, and have been at sea ever since. Here in " Ceid's own country," after the lapse of countless generations, we have again met, and meeting, have fuse:d and arc fusing, so that the unborn to-morrow will find a new race in. these southern lands, having the virile blood of both races coursing through its veins —a race proud of its traditions, proud of its origin, and proud of being a member of this great and glorious Empire. There was a time when misunderstandings happened misunderstandings which resulted in an unfortunate rupture between pakeha and Maori; but with all these blunders we: fought each other as gentlemen. I need only bring to your mind two instances in the late Maori war. When Hoke's men captured the' British transports with ammunition and stores on board, he reprimanded his Hying squadron for depriving his foe, of their means of sustenance and their means of fighting, for, said he, " How do you expect me: to fight men without ammunition and with empty stomachs ? " Then again, at Gate Pa, the: British men-or-war landed time-fuse shells into our pa ; our men unscrewed the tops, and thus were supplied with powder and lead, and we thought the pakehas were " playing the game." My friend has referred to Mr. Henare. He is the type which the future is going to produce, for not only does the blood of Maori chiefs run in his veins, but also that of the pakeha, his grandfather being Colonel Wynyard, at one time Governor of this country. Again thanking you for the enthusiastic manner in which you have referred to us, I say to you, in the language: of the country, Kia ora. On the call of Mr. Wi Hapi, the health of the pakehas was, with music, honoured in the Maori tongue:; and the proceedings terminated with a haka led by the Hon. Mr. Ngata and joined in con amore by all the Natives present.

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