TE AO HOU THE NEW WORLD

Te Ao Hou, October 1956, Page 1

TE AO HOU THE NEW WORLD published quarterly for the maori purposes fund board by the maori affairs department No. 1 (Vol. 4 No. 1) MAORI STUDIES The Recent Maori students' conference in Auckland was a pointer to the ambitions of many among the younger generation of Maoris. For that reason it is worth while to look closely at what was discussed by these students, and we have reported the meeting at some length in this issue. To put their ideas briefly, they would wish to see knowledge of Maori language and culture spread far more widely than at present, not only among Maori but also among Europeans. They would like to see the European and Maori cultural stream flow together in New Zealand, so that ultimately we have an art and literature based on both traditions. It is natural for educated Maoris to have such as ideal and to work for it. Why do the students want Europeans to learn the Maori language? The conference report suggests that the students' main purpose was to improve race relations. On this, some might disagree. We suggest that there is only one reason why we should wish to learn about a culture different from our own. It is to widen our outlook, to understand more about how people think and what they are like. A person who knows only his own culture and is ignorant of every one else's, is a limited person. For that reason New Zealand needs students of ancient and modern European languages, in Oriental and Poly nesian cultures. The study of Latin and Greek shows us the wonderful birth of our modern European civilization, and Oriental studies give us an insight into mystical thought unique in its depths and wisdom. Polynesian studies carry us back to an earlier phase in the history of man, when still living very close to nature, he made the first great discoveries in the technique of making things and of using words. It is often forgotten that the craftsmen and poets of those old stone-age days were as original and inventive as those who make atom bombs today. Inventing the mere was as hard as inventing the radio. Perhaps many people, and not only Europeans, are unaware of the importance of Polynesian studies and the beauty of Maori poetry. In that case there is only one remedy: to convince by argument and example. The neglected beauty and value should be uncovered—and the very students who were at the conference should be challenged to make a contribution. We need translations, poems, stories, scientific articles, books—that is the way to change attitudes. If the community gets enlightenment and inspiration from Polynesian studies, naturally it will ask for more.