EXCITEMENT AT WAIUKU

Te Ao Hou, May 1957, Page 22

EXCITEMENT AT WAIUKU The Maori community on the Manukau peninsula in the Auckland-Waikato area, is raising money to renovate Tahuna Pa, Waipipi, near Waiuku—one of the oldest inhabited pas in the Auckland district. The ancient meeting-house and dining-hall are falling to pieces and are almost beyond repair. A committee has been formed to raise funds to replace these buildings, and if there is sufficient public support a cultural centre for Waiuku Maoris will be incorporated in the new pa. One aim is to provide suitable premises for a youth club for Peninsula Maoris—a need which leaders of the Ngatiteata tribe have long felt necessary. The campaign opened recently with a sports day and a feast prepared in the traditional hangi. Mr Sonny Kaihau, a chief of Ngatiteata, heads the campaign committee. He hopes to provide a Maori queen carnival in Waiuku later this year, and believes that if this first sports day is a success it may become an annual feature of Anniversary Day weekend and be broadened to include a full track and field athletics meeting, combined with a full-scale Maori concert.