III. ON THE ROAD

Te Ao Hou, March 1961, Page 23

III. ON THE ROAD Church College We had borrowed a guitar in a huge wooden case. The bus was so full that the case had to stand in the aisle of the bus. On our journey down to Hamilton, very soon the guitar was released from its formidable coffin, the playing and singing being interrupted as from time to time the head teacher pointed out important points in the landscape, a dairy factory, or the power scheme at Meremere. For a while there would then be questions asked about things seen from the road, notes would be written in the exercise books, after which gradually the music would start again. Although some of the Punaruku people had visited the L.D.S. Temple, the religious settlement near Hamilton was to most only a legend of sacrednes and splendour. We had our dinner in the college cafeteria, a large brightly lit hall in the spacious and opulent architecture of the recreation building. For our accommodation we were given two large recreations halls tiled with highly polished plastic. A Mormon elder came into the boys' quarters to mention a college rule: no shoes to be worn in this hall. The boys were obviously thrilled to be asked to observe a rule at this college; it established a sort of familiarity. We went through the huge gleaming gymnasium to the swimming pool, of Olympic size, fully tiled, and walled with glass. Above the pool was a large spectators' gallery. Few Church College students were at the pool, for Wednesday nights are given over to homework. Those who did swim were not exuberant like our back-country invaders; they were restrained and deliberate. The clear blue pool, the dressing rooms, the showers, the gallery above, all helped to give

our pupils the feel of this American-styled College. As they walked back to their dormitories they saw, commanding the whole view of the college settlement, the floodlit temple, silvery on its dark hill. Some of our party had relations among the pupils or among the families living in the Temple View settlement. They were all with us at breakfast time and separated from us only when the college principal, Dr Boyack, took us on a conducted tour of the college and of the precincts of the temple itself. Coffins Above the Ground We spent our second day studying the Waikato district, the hydro-electric dams and the forests, with a late afternoon visit to the geysers and hot pools of Whakarewarewa. The deepest impressions children take away from such visits are never predictable. After our return, one girl remembered Whakarewarewa mainly in this image: “As we were walking along the track we came across the coffins of people who had died: these coffins were under the concrete, built above the ground. This was done because it would prevent steam from getting at them.” Maori Welcome Takinga marae, on the southern tip of Lake Rotoiti, is one of those monuments of modern Maori culture created by those who believe there is still a worth-while future for Maori tradition. There was a fully carved and decorated meeting house on this marae, opened earlier this year; by its side stood a well appointed dining hall, while the sanitary and washing facilities were also thoroughly up to dtae. The carved house, executed in the best Arawa style, was erected under the inspiration of the Ngati Pikiao chief, Major Reiwhatu Vercoe, a prominent champion of Maori culture. It was here that our school party was invited for the night. Staying in a carved house was a strange experience to our Northland children; so we found to our surprise, was the ceremonial of our welcome. The Major met us at the gate and told us he would like us to enter with proper ceremony. He wished this partly to preserve the respect due to his marae, but also undoubtedly to give the children an educational experience which he considered important for them. We waited while the people on the marae got ready for our welcome. Then, led by our elder, Waitai Pita, we moved in slow procession towards the meeting house while the women standing on its porch raised the traditional wail, which in this case was brief, for we were an unknown tribe with whom the people of Takinga shared no dead. This Powhiri was followed by the hongi—our party slowly passed in front of the row of hosts and rubbed noses with all. We were then motioned to the seats by the side of the marae to listen to the speeches of welcome, which were brief, the Major explained, because dinner was ready. In slow, clear Maori, the Major spoke the usual words of mourning for the dead, then made some pleasant references to his young visitors. Waitai Pita replied, after which we filed in to a splendid dinner, served in the usual Maori style with little side dishes and bottles of fizz on the tables. Later in the evening there were more speeches in the dining hall, as well as an improvised concert. Major Vercoe told our group that the people of Takinga wished to help them because they were Maori children on an “instructional tour”. We watched the practised movements of the Ngati Pikiao, and gave our own items, the Hawaiian ones being, as expected, immensely popular. By far the greatest ovation was for a performance of the “double long poi” by two of our girls. This poi dance is the hardest and most spectacular of modern Maori dances. The performer, accompanied by music, rapidly twirls two poi balls, each attached to a long string; and each ball executes a quite distinct, highly complex figure at great speed. During the climax of the dance, the two balls, still moving in distinct courses, are controlled by one hand, in perfect beat with the

music. Only very few people have the rhythmical sense and wrist control to perform this dance. What added to the impressiveness of our performance was that the two girls, who were sisters, happened to be the only Europeans in our group. Exhausted, we fell asleep on our snow-white embroidered pillows, dimly regarded by the redochre ancestors of the Ngati Pikiao. The next morning we further experienced the generosity of our hosts when we were all invited for a cruise over Lake Rotoiti on a luxury yacht. Before leaving the marae our elder presented, with an appropriate oration, the cheque (“poukai”) which the school committee had prepared as a donation, but to our surprise the elder of our hosts handed it back again as a final gift, thus ending brilliantly the lesson his people had given us in “modern Maori culture”. to be continued