Te Rahui— “Coming Together”

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 73, Issue 6, 16 December 1946, Page 603

Te Rahui— “Coming Together”

“JJAEREMAI! • email” were the first words && which greeted me as I neared the threshold of Te Rahui, the Maori Centre and Girls’ Hostel in Hamilton. It was indeed an appropriate welcome to the centre of Maoridom, for in Polynesian mythology the North Island was known as Te Ika a Maui, the Fish of Maui, and the Waikato is the Heart of the Fish. Situated on the western bank of the winding, tree-fringed river, the Te Rahui property was given its name (which means “coming together” and is often mentioned in ancient waiatas)

by Princess Te Puea Herangi, member of the advisory committee.

C.8.E., leading

THE focal point for social gatherings and communal activities is the assembly hall, and it is so admirably equipped that there are even sleeping quarters for visitors who wish to stay overnight. The hostel, formerly a doctor’s residence, is a handsome, high-gabled building which is not only architecturally pleasing but particularly suited to its present use. It provides accommodation for 18 girls, the ages of the current group of boarders ranging from 10 to 20 years. The wide entrance hall has a long, cushioned seat and chairs enough to convert it into a comfortable sittingroom if the need arises. The windows are curtained in silk the colour of sunshine, and a similar touch of gold is repeated here and there, in the carpet. The picture of a venerable chief, by the gifted portrayer of Maori life C. F. Goldie, smiles happily from the wall, his tattooed features

and greenstone eardrop presenting a striking contrast to his conventional European garb. The adjacent rooms .contain some fine examples of the work of Bessie Blomfield, outstanding among them being a river scene . with wan canoes in the foreground; a bullock wagon toiling along a mountain road; and a seascape solely in tones of blue save for a pale yellow moon breaking through the clouds. Broad frames of dark wood set. off these oils to advantage, and I greatly admired one carved in a design of leaves and acorns.

The far end of the room has its own fireplace and radio, and forms a convenient dining alcove with its complement of small tables for 4 or 6. These can be arranged end to end to make one big table when a birthday or some other, event' is being ■ celebrated. Both here and in the lounge the flower bowls were freighted with colour and fragrance. In fact, the only empty vases I could see were the bronze pair guarding the portrait of Princesss Te Puea. These were brought from Egypt, as were the other ornaments on the mantelpiece— a pottery jar with a lizard for a lid;'.the head of a Pharaoh modelled in stone; two tiny bronze obelisks; a graceful jug; and- a little ebony elephant with a medium-sized companion. A third elephant, much more amply proportioned than the others and with a mahout and passenger on his back, was quartered next to a . large globe in the room of the principal. Her most prized possession, however, is a much-travelled korowai, a cloak woven from muka (flax fibre) and adorned with twisted thrums dyed black in the Maori manner by being buried in a special kind of mud for 2 or 3 days. Before going upstairs I peeped into the kitchen with its twin gas stoves, artistically-grained rimu cabinets, and a work-table

scruooea to a spotlessness' that would delight the heart of any housewife. The window above the stair landing looks out on to a boundary trellis covered in honeysuckle and climbing roses, and every room has its garden vista. The generous closet space allotted the girls for their clothes results in a high standard of tidiness, but there were sufficient of their personal belongings about to counteract any suggestion of austerity in their : surroundings. In one room a piu-piu and plaited headband were utilised as a wall-decoration; in another, a scarlet and white lei suspended from the lamp-bracket rivalled the striped woollen coverlet for gaiety; in a third, shell necklaces from Hawaii and a gold-framed photograph of Princess Te Puea and King Koroki and his wife indicated the identity of their owner, the daughter of the Maori King. The 16-yard length of tapa cloth serving as a bedspread in the neighbouring room, had been used long ago in a

ceremony connected with the reigning house in Tonga. Soft to the touch and warm as a blanket, the tapa “quilt” had among its geometric patternings of reddish-brown birds and palms the inscription in Tongan: “Honoured by Your Majesty.’’ - It originally belonged to a cousin of Queen Salote, and he presented it to his daughter on her sixth birthday. This girl, I discovered, was the maker of the leis. So expert is she at the art that she can complete

one in as ; little as 15 minutes. She proudly showed me some of her latest creations which, being of cellophane, in bright reds and greens, or pink and blue combinations, are not only as .pretty but much more lasting than the customary flowers. I should like to have spent longer in the reading room' under the eaves the numerous tables with their opened newspapers looked so inviting. The Encyclopaedia Britannica made an impressive array in the main bookcase, and volumes of Dickens and Burns and

George Eliot' rubbed shoulders with those of Conan Doyle, H. G. Wells,, and H. V. Morton. Further along the shelves I noticed Cowan’s “Folk Tales of the Maori,” Shrimpton and Mulgan’s “History of Slew Zealand,” and several of Rita, Snihrden’s books. Before I said my farewells I was escorted round the grounds. Such is the gardening enthusiasm of the staff that not a weed was to be seen, even in the big vegetable garden with its orderly rows of beet and cabbage, peas and beans, lettuce and onions, and all

the flower beds were a riot of colour. At the far edge of the lawn the land dropped • suddenly in a steep bank which-had been planted with hydrangeas and lilies, variegated pinks, and African daisies, whose vivid blooms were enhanced, by leafy cuttings of chrysanthemums set out ready for' autumnal flowering. Truly a beautiful meeting-place where our Maori friends may “come together” in happiness and harmony is Te Rahui, beside the green waters of the Waikato.

THE SINGING HOUSE

Everywhere there was the sound of sing- _ ing, / Silver-sweet as the breath of dawn Flowers that swayed with laughing music, Grass astir on the dew-bright lawn. Loud was the chorus of birds at evening, But in the silence, all night long, Dream-like, hushed as a starlit river, Gently rippled the stream of song. ■ Gossamer music, soft as slumber, Notes from a thousand muted strings, Soul of the dancing light and shadows, Filling the home of the heart that sings. \.

Jean H. Mather.