N.Z. Council of Tribal Executives

Te Ao Hou, September 1962, Page 10

N.Z. Council of Tribal Executives When anything happens which is of great benefit to us all, we think especially of the children, tomorrow's citizens. That is why we have chosen this photograph by Peter Blank to accompany a mention of the newly-formed New Zealand Council of Tribal Executives. These particular children are at Punaruku in the north; they could be anywhere. They, and all the rest of us, will gain greatly through the formation of this new Council. For the first time, all the canoes are united; the tribes speak with a single voice. Twenty-four delegates from the eight District Councils bring to the New Zealand Council the experience and opinions of the people in their own area; there is a democratic, unbroken line of communication from the individual Maori, through the local tribal committee, to the District Council, and now on to the New Zealand Council of Tribal Executives: a vehicle for the formation and expression of Maori views on a national level. Though the Government has been of much assistance in its formation, the Council is completely independent of Government control. What it decides to do is entirely up to itself. At the inaugural meeting on June 28th, Sir Turi Carroll was elected President, Mr H. K. Ngata of Gisborne secretary-treasurer, Mr D. N. Perry associate secretary and Mr P. T. Watene of Wellington, representative on the Committee for Maori Health. Sir Turi was also elected representative on the Maori Education Foundation Trust Board.