A Tough Struggle

Te Ao Hou, March 1963, Page 44

A Tough Struggle Horohoro's pioneers lacked many of the things that the modern generation takes for granted. They had no trace elements, no tractors, no electric power, no knowledge of how to ‘bring in’ the pumice. Most of them had been educated only to primary school level. Their pioneering was a grim, hard, trial-and-error struggle. They made mistakes, and some of them lost heart and pulled out of the scheme. Others came as replacements, and some of them failed also, but the battle was eventually won. The hard, barren land turned greener year by year. Horohoro today is an Eden, and the pioneers have left a rich legacy for the new generation. The things the pioneers lacked most—education and trees—they provided in double measure. Horohoro is studded with shelter belts and plantations and forests, with hedges and orchards. Horohoro boasts one of the best endowed Maori schools in New Zealand. The leaders of the Ngati-Tuara and the Ngati-

Kahungunu settlers built a new agricultural community, but they preserved the best of their ancient culture. The new Horohoro sprang up around two tribal meeting-houses—the Ngati-Tuara's ‘Kearoa’, brought back and re-erected on a new central site, and the Kahungunu's ‘Rongomaipapa’, built nearby.