THE NGATIPONEKE YOUNG MAORI CLUB

Te Ao Hou, September 1955, Page 29

Billy Rourangi directs an evening rehearsal of the Ngatiponeke concert party. THE NGATIPONEKE YOUNG MAORI CLUB by J. C. Sturm The Maori scroll designs decorating the entrance to Ngatiponeke hall at the bottom of Lambton Quay are something of a landmark in Wellington, and I think that the majority of the Maoris who live in the city or pass through it pay a visit to the hall for some reason or other. Although the hall is not, strictly speaking, a meetinghouse, it serves the same purpose and has become the recognised centre of Maori activities in the capital. Photography: Charles Hale In 1936 a group of young Maori girls came to Wellington from different parts of the country to make the tukutuku panels for a meetinghouse being built near Waitara in memory of Sir Maui Pomare. These girls worked under the direction of Sir Apirana Ngata, who, with the help of Mr Kingi Tahiwi, senior, and Mrs Heketa, organised and trained a concert party to give a concert to raise funds for the Pomare memorial ceremony which was held at the opening of the meetinghouse. This party named Ngatiponeke by Sir Apirana Ngata, delivered the tukutuku panels a few days before the opening and then took part in the competitions at the big hui that followed. Meanwhile, Lady Pomare and the members of her Welfare Committee were becoming more and more concerned about the young Maoris who had come to make their way in the city. Early in 1937 they decided to form a club, with the 1936 concert party and its leaders as a nucleus, to try and keep the young people off the streets and to arouse their interests in Maori culture. And so in 1937 the Ngatiponeke Young Maori Club came into existence and began its regular Monday night practices. Undoubtedly the Club owes everything to Mr Kingi Tahiwi, senior, Mr Henry Tahiwi, and Mrs Heketa. It suffered a great loss when these leaders passed away, but their influence is still felt, and the standard of work they aimed at remains the goal of the Club to-day. Mr Fred Katene, well-known in Wellington for his, welfare work among the young Maoris in the city, at-

An American visitor looks on while Mr Rourangi teaches the junior group the words of a Maori action song. tended, to the business affairs of the club; Mr Kingi Tahiwi conducted, the singing and language classes; while Mrs Heketa and her daughter, Miriama (now Mrs Scott of Wellington) took over the arts and crafts work and coached the action songs. Miriama, club leader from 1937 to 1947, designed the red, yellow, black and white bodices which the girls worked themselves in taniko. The club soon got under way, but they were greatly handicapped by not having a meeting-place of their own, and practices had to be held in what ever vacant rooms or halls they could find. In spite of this by 1939 the club's performances had reached a very high standard, and during the war years they became widely known as a first class concert party. In 1943 the American Red Cross Club vacated their headquarters in the Hotel Cecil Buildings and the government gave the people of Ngatiponeke the use of the hall rent free. The club had found a home at last. If the club had a written constitution (being modelled on a tribe, it has no written constitution, but acknowledges the full authority of its tangata whenua, or elders) it would certainly have in capital letters this main aim: to recapture and develop our knowledge of Maori culture, and to bring the young people together. The word recapture is very important, for it must be admitted that many present members have little or no knowledge of the Maori language, and many of them have never attempted an action song or a haka or swung a poi before joining the club. To some critics this initial ignorance may seem a weakness to the club's work, but no one is born knowing how to do an action song or the poi, and there is only one way to learn, by trial and error and practice. I once heard one of the coaches, Mr Nan Amohau, persuading a would-be member to get up and join in. Come on, he said, we are all learners here. And that is quite true. One has to have a desire to Children of the city who go to these classes will not grow up ignorant of the arts of their ancestors. At their most impressionable age, their natural sense of rhythm and movement will be developed along with their normal European education.

learn, a wish to be one of the group, before one can find the courage to stand up and flounder through the first action song. But what a feeling of satisfaction when one can at last go through it without a mistake. One can then say, I have learned this and acquired it, and made it a part of me, so that it is mine for good, and nothing can take it from me except a loss of memory. Whenever that happens that person has helped to recapture and preserve, for himself and for others, some of the elements of Maori culture which a prevailing European way of life threatens to push into our historical background. For what has been learned once can be remembered again and passed on to others. About a Ngatiponeke hall has a name in Wellington for its well-conducted dances. month ago, I arrived a little early at the hall on practice night, and as I walked up the short concrete path beside the small patch of carefully tended grass and garden (I have never seen a city hall with a more pleasing entrance) I could hear the sound of a guitar and voices singing. That's funny, I thought, there must be something on, or else they are making an unusually early start. I opened the door and steeped into the scrupulosuly clean and comfortable hall, its walls hung with photos of the club taken at various stages in its career. Hoki Hoki Tonu Mai, sang about twenty children on the stage, all staring at a blackboard where Billy Rourangi, one of the coaches, was tapping out the beat as he pointed to each word. I sat down beside several adults who were watching the children. We should have started this years ago, one of them said, turning to me, this is the time to get them and teach them, while they are keen to learn and too young to feel self-conscious. As they launched into Manu Rere, there was no doubt about their enjoyment and enthusiasm. This children's club was Mr Katene's idea and it has been formed in the hope that when they grow older their interest will carry them into the senior group where they will be able to take their places easily and naturally because of their early training. Some of them have parents who are ex-members of the Club, and in the senior group itself there are one or two who are taking over where their parents left off. So now it can be said that Ngatiponeke Club, with Mr M. Jones as its present chairman, has passed into its second generation, and the work will continue, and the tradition be carried on. But it would be a mistake to say that the club's activities are always intent on recapturing the past. Situated as it is in the capital city, one of the country's most important ports, it is not surprising that the club has developed into a well-known Maori concert party that can be relied on to give a good performance at very short notice. Time and time again the club is asked to welcome prominent overseas visitors with a powhiri according to Maori custom. This year they have entertained tourists at the National Park Chateau, passengers aboard the liner Orion, officers and men of the Australian aircraft carrier H.M.A.S. Sydney, and have given a concert in Ngatiponeke hall to welcome the new American ambassador, Mr Hendrickson, and his staff. Every year they supply half the concert given by the Tin Hat Club in Wellington some time during Anzac weekend. Many of the returned servicemen of World War II remember seeing the club in action during the war years, when they gave concert after concert (in one year they gave 257 performances, a staggering record) welcoming and farewelling troops and helping to swell the patriotic funds. During this period they made several recordings which included action songs written and composed by Mr Kingi Tahiwi, and this year they have made a tape recording which will be used in Mr Ulric Williams' Session, “Song and Story of the Maori.” Besides these larger engagements the club very rarely turns down requests to help out at concerts given to raise money for charitable purposes or to assist a project such as a free kindergarten service in an outlying suburb. And, of course, the Club always gives its time and talent voluntarily. To most people then, especially Europeans, the club is know soley as a ‘concert party, and I think many have the mistaken idea that all the training and practising is a preparation for concerts only. In actual fact the greatest stimuli to work and the most important events for the members themselves, are the competitions usually held at big huis. I joined the club at a time when they were preparing for a competition, and I was rather taken back to find them doing at least six hours practice a week, something they would not think necessary for an ordinary concert. Having to appear before a highly critical Maori audience and Maori judges, puts them on their mettle and brings out the best they are capable of. This doesn't apply to Ngatiponeke (Continued on Page 59)

One of the most popular ‘double short poi’ dances—that is, danced with two short poi—is the so-called waka poi, the canoe dance. The girls sit behind one another like rowers in the canoe and the dance has two figures; the first (above) being called ‘toea’, hauling. The left hand is laid on the shoulder of the girl in front and the right arm moves backwards and forwards, while the poi keeps on twirling. When the arm is right back, the poi is made to hit the back of the hand; when the arm is right forward, after a deft twist with the wrist, the poi hits the back of the hand again. Beginners at Ngatiponeke always start with the single short poi. Before they are taught any of the movements, they learn the fundamental art of twirling the poi. They start by holding the poi suspended (left). Then with a swift wrist movement the hand is swung upwards and the poi follows, tracing a graceful circle through the air. It comes to rest by beating gently against the back of the hand (right). Bouncing off, the poi is swing back to its starting point and so on throughout the dance. The so-called ‘movements’ of the poi are with the arms and sometimes the legs, for the whole body participates in the poi dance. But whatever else is done, the twirl of the wrists continues throughout the dance and does not distract the skilful dancer from imitating the fluttering of a fantail or the diving of a shag.