Flowers were Blooming

Te Ao Hou, Winter 1954, Page 44

Flowers were Blooming At Kawiu Pa, a small, neatly built meeting-house named Te Hui a o Kahukura was opened in March. In the Spring issue of Te Ao Hou, we described the efforts of this small community in establishing, for the first time in pakeha days, a fully fledged marae of the Muaupoko people. We saw Polly teaching the ladies of the pa how to make mats for the new house, and we saw the dining hall and the other facilities built up during the last few years. But of the crowning achievement, the meeting house, only the framework stood up and the marae grounds were still untouched. When we visited Kawiu Pa during the opening ceremonies, the house was fully completed, the marae grounds were in splendid lawn and lined with a lovely flower border. As one of the ladies explained, the flowers had been selected so that they would all bloom in March, for the opening. And March was also the right season for the puhi, which was served in great quantities. Visitors arrived from all over the Island, particularly from Wairoa and the East Coast, as a prominent Wairoa chief, Wiremu Waipuke, who died a year ago, had married a woman from Kawiu Pa. It was sad to hear that Polly was not amongst those who were celebrating the opening of the meeting house. She who had done so much to prepare for the great day, was lying in bed too ill now to come down to the marae.