III. THE GREAT DISPLAY

Te Ao Hou, Royal Tour 1953, Page 22

III. THE GREAT DISPLAY The brawny warriors were in full war costume, their own buff relieved by the ‘piupiu’ round the waist, white ‘toroa’ feathers in their hair — all but the Ngati-Porou, who were in their white, purple and black. Their arms were spears, ‘taiahas’, ‘koikois’, ‘tewhatewha’, and ‘meres’. The chiefs, in characteristic array of rich feather cloaks and huia plume, carrying their ancient weapons proudly, were the great martial figures of the pageant. In front of all, in the space between the pageantry and the stand, was seated the venerable figure of the veteran Pokiha Taranui wrapped warmly in rugs; on his shoulders a rich cloak of feathers, on which his full beard descended picturesquely, his head covered with a fur cap; at his side his great ‘taiaha’, ornamented with feathers and dogskin, his sword of honour in its red scabbard across his knees. On one side of him was the handsome model of Arawa canoe, which, with other gifts lying upon it, he was to present later on to the Duke, and on the other side stood his wife in rich feather mat and ‘piupiu’, with feathers in her hair. The ‘painful warrior famoused for fight’ sitting there broken and spent, waiting for the son of his King, gave a finishing pathetic touch to the scene. The tribes gave the Duke their best in wardance, ‘haka’, ‘waiata’, ‘powhiri’, ‘poi’, and every dance and chant of their elaborate ceremonial of welcome. The manhood of Maoridom went through their dances, doing justice in whole-souled fashion to their various moods. They gave all the war-cries of their race, many ancient ‘waiatas’, laments on the death of the Queen, and verses composed for the occasion. ranging over a variety of subjects: war, welcome, politics; the relations of the races; loyalty to the Throne. In vehement, athletic action, frankness, detestation of the enemy, humour, pathos, courtesy, generosity of sentiment, and facility of expression, it was a splendid display of Maori manhood. The graceful ‘poi’ girls on the other side, a spectacle abounding in rhythmic accord of movement, in elegance of rippling words, in brightness of colour, in halo of twirling raupo balls, was a beautiful presentation of Maori womanhood. This mixture of martial manhood and feminine grace made a scene the like of which will never be seen in New Zealand again. Some invisible hand moved those masses of colour with kaleidoscopic rapidity, keeping the living picture ever restless, vibrating at one moment with the quiver of the ‘pois’, at another with the fierce whirl of brandished spears. Now the scene was dominated by coy glances from soft dark eyes and fascinating

smiles, and now the leading note was of warriors frowning savagely in mimic war. Love succeeded battle, and war gave way to mirth, each time changing the broad face of the scene in a twinkling; and then the frenzied ranks subdued their wild song and action to the moderate stateliness of the ‘haka’ — ‘finest physical drill in the world’, as one of the soldiers in the Duke's suite put it — with military enthusiasm. And ever amid the yells of the ‘peruperu’ and the triumphant chorus of the ‘haka’, ever amid the broad humour of the chants and the playful musical phrases of the women, there was a note of sadness woven into the restless fabric of sound, just as the tone of mourning ran right through the ever-changing masses of colour. It was the ‘irirangi’, as the Maori calls it, growing fainter as the martial cries rose in volume, only to return as they fell away; and as the other sounds decreased it rose higher and higher, until it became the pervading wail of the tribes, the song of mourning for the Great Queen, the ‘tangi’ that every section in its turn raised with mournful cadence and sorrowful expression. THE GIFTS OF THE MAORI One of the great events of the day, this ceremony began very unceremoniously. An ancient warrior, leaving the ranks of his ‘taua’, marched solemnly up to the rail of the stand, flung a big flax mat, yellow and brown, and rustling, over the rail in front of the Royal Party, turned without further sign, and marched grimly back to his station. But no one had time to reflect other than that the reality of this very prompt politeness was greater than its appearance; for at once a stream of presents set in with a rush from all sides — mats, cloaks of fur and feather and flax, ‘piupiu’ and ‘korowai’ floated up in willing hands, and were piled in front of Their Royal Highnesses. The donors approached, making smiling obeisance, deposited their presents, throwing in a pleasant word of goodwill, and, departing, made a stream of diverging figures which, mingling with the stream of present-laden people converging on the grand-stand, filled the space in front of the ‘marae’ with a dense, hurrying crowd. The feathers of these mats and cloaks were of the weka, the pigeon, and the kaka. The flax was made up in many ways, and the skin of the Maori dog (kuri), extinct for forty years, was much in evidence. The weapons were of a emery kind—ancestral ‘mere’ of ‘pounamu’ (greenstone), spears, ‘koikoi’, ‘wero’, ‘tewhatewha’, Enjoy a ‘Royal Tour’ this holiday! for carefree motoring equip your car with- Reidrubber MOTOR TYRES & TUBES WIDER * SAFER * TOUGHER

‘hoeroa’, ‘timata’, ‘taiaha’, ‘toko’ of the greenstone with rare carvings, ‘tiki’ and ornaments of every class, variety and degree. Tribe vied with tribe to swell the crowd of donors; Hauhau warriors jostled fragile ‘poi’ girls in the throng; veteran and boy struggled along in equality of fervour. During the presentation an ancient chief, with orthodox and plentiful tattoo, made up for the bluntness of him who had set all these gifts in motion. He advanced bearing a priceless polished two-handed whalebone sword (‘hoeroa’), gave the Duke the magnificent bow of hospitality, together with the broad smile of kindness, and deposited the weapon with great reverence in his hands. His Royal Highness having reciprocated the courtesy, the old man retired backwards, smiling broadly and repeatedly bowing. He gave us the rare spectacle of courtesy not only spontaneous, but finished — a combination probably rarely found in any Royal or Imperial Court of the civilized world. The gifts came from everywhere, and the Maori drew largely on his ancient treasures to furnish them. Moreover, many gifts were spontaneous — the chieftainess and other women suddenly tearing off their precious ornaments to lay them on the growing heap.