MEMORIES OF MY VALLEY

Te Ao Hou, December 1958, Page 61

MEMORIES OF MY VALLEY (continued from page 35) they must have their wool ready for the New Zealand or overseas sales, and the men attend the sheep and stock sales either to sell or to buy; and this means travelling away from home. The men attend to the farm needs, while the women attend to the family and household needs, and for the women, stocktaking is an important task. Isolation has its restrictions, and thus flour and sugar are bought by the bag, and also other cooking ingredients for home baking are procured at the same time. Travelling in Winter is difficult and sometimes dangerous, and one must have enough supplies for the family to last the whole of winter. For these purposes, the women travel to Kawhia, Otorohanga, Te Awamutu or Te Kuiti. Most families attend the annual Coronation Celebrations of the Maori King at Turangawaewae Pa in October, and on these occasions, they learn of new policies of the New Zealand Government affecting the Maori people; they renew old acquaintances, and take part in the activities of old Maori institutions concerning their culture, their arts and crafts, at which the Maori King is the figurehead. The families also attend the Maori Land Court sittings in Kawhia; especially when there are applications of interest to them such as that of application for a Prospecting Licence over their ancestral lands—the sand dunes. There are no problem families in Taharoa and seldom any problems that cannot be generally discussed and solved by the people themselves. Time for them is regulated by the seasons of the year, by the phases of the moon and by the sun and the stars. They are the descendants of ancestors who have lived in the environment of economic resourcefulness. Their circumstances have favoured them, as is evident from the obvious contentment of the families, in their free relationships, and in their high standard of living.