Young Leaders' Conference

Te Ao Hou, March 1962, Page 39

Young Leaders' Conference by E. G. Schwimmer Young leaders' conferences, like action songs, are hybrids—crosses between Maori and European custom. The first such conferences were held by Te Aute old boys in 1897 and the years following. The idea of the younger generation of Maoris trying to influence the older ones was at that time most unusual, in fact revolutionary. It was remarkable that the young men, returning to their village after the conferences, and preaching their message, were given a hearing at all. Still even at that time, the Maori elders wer getting a little accustomed to the spectacle of the young preaching to the old, for various religions had made use of young Maori missionaries and pastors whose message was listened to with respect. When the members of the Young Maori Party became Members of Parliament, and ceased to be young, but remained leaders, nothing was heard of young leaders' conferences for quite some time. In fact the first major one to be held this century, as far as I know, was the Auckland one in 1939, organized by Sir Apirana Ngata, Professor Sutherland and Professor Belshaw. Over the last two years, young leaders' conferences have become quite a fashion—they are being held in different places every few weeks. The fashion started with a conference called by the Auckland Regional Council for Adult Education in August-September 1959. This was very carefully prepared; adult education tutors did the bulk of the planning, with the guidance of Professor Belshaw. Those who attended were very enthusiastic and considered similar conferences should be held in every district of the country. Since then, some twenty have been held in just about every important centre of Maori population. The two permanent tutors in Maori adult education, Messrs Te Hau and Parker, have devoted much of their time organizing them and on each occasion they sent away some 50–100 customers completely satisfied. The conferences fall into two types, national and regional. There have so far been two national ones, both in Auckland, and these two have drawn delegates chosen by adult education tutors from all tribes. The former of these conferences lasted a full week. The regional ones, which drew delegates from particular tribal areas—also by invitation—usually last only a weekend. These regional conferences are usually organized by committees of local leaders—the adult education tutors invite the committee which takes fairly full charge of the proceedings with some help from the tutor. Finance for the conferences comes from the Adult Education Councils, but the Maori Purposes Fund, some Maori Trust Boards and some Maori incorporations have also made contributions. Delegates have on some occasions been asked to pay a fee for board. Who are the delegates? A rule that dates back to the 1939 conference is that ‘young leaders’ must generally be no older than 35. A small group of older people is also invited; they sit in a separate room and form an ‘elders’ round table! This is done so the younger people are not overwhelmed by the presence of the more experienced elders. Indeed there is quite a difference in tone between the two groups—the older ones, usually experienced in public affairs, tend to be severely practical, whereas the younger groups get more deeply involved in general principles while they are usually much less informed on matters of administrative detail.