NEWS IN BRIEF

Te Ao Hou, June 1959, Page 73

NEWS IN BRIEF Building is about to start on Whakarewarewa's new dining hall. It is hoped it will be ready late this year. The hall will be located on leased Maori land in Tyron Street. ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ The Maori community hall at Motueka was opened at the end of March of this year, prominent visitors being Mr and Mrs C. F. Skinner and Mr and Mrs E. T. Tirikatene. The centre will serve the local Maori people as well as the Maori workers (900 this year) visiting the district during the harvesting season. It is hoped that the hall, named Te Awhina, will become a real centre of Maori culture and thought. ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ Patrick Savage, 16 years old, formerly of Whakatane High Schoo, arrived in London early this year to ‘see the world’ for a few months, after which he hopes to return to Te Teko. ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ Stone representations of the Matahuroa and Tainui canoes are being placed in the forecourt of the new departmental building in the Civic Square, Auckland. The sculptures were made by Mr Russell Clark, Christchurch, from Hiunera stone, obtained from the bed of the old Waikato river near Hamilton. For the Matahorua stone, the sculptor used as his model the stone at Paremata claimed to be the original anchor of the Matahuroa canoe in which Kupe discovered New Zealand. Likewise, the Tainui sculpture is based on the famous anchor in the Mokau river. At a veterans' reunion at Tokanganui-a-Noho Marae, Te Kuiti, held from February 27 to March 1, nominations were made for the membership of the Maori Soldiers' Fund Trust Board. Later these nominations were confirmed by the Minister of Maori Affairs, the Rt. Hon. Walter Nash. Appointees are: Mr Nathan, Tokerau; Mr Tom Hetet, Waikato-Maniapoto; Mr Kepa Ehau, Waiariki; Mr Turi Carroll, Tairawhiti; Mr Rata Ruru, Aotea; and Mr Barnett Otene, Ikaroa and South Island. Mr Nash is chairman of the committee, and Mr M. Sullivan, secretary for Maori Affairs, is deputy-chairman. The committee has set £3000 aside for overseas scholarships, is keeping the rest for the veterans, and may borrow money over and above its annual income if this is not enough for the veterans' present need, for it may be expected that calls on the fund from veterans of the first world war will diminish within a few years. ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ The only secondary school in the South Island for Maori girls held its founders' day and golden jubilee celebrations last March. The school, Te Waipounamu College, has had 400 pupils over the last 13 years and 120 of these went into teaching or nursing, for which the school particularly caters. The Rt Revs A. K. Warren and W. N. Panapa, and the Hon. E. T. Tirikatene attended the jubilee. ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ The Rangiatea Maori Girls' Hostel in New Plymouth was opened last March, in the presence of the Rt. Hon. Walter Nash. The hostel was described in previous issues of this magazine. ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ After a large-scale enthusiastic welcome ceremony, Rev. K. Elliott, V.C., the war hero who made himself available for the Anglican Maori Mission, was installed in the Wainuiarau pastorate.