Taumarunui Conference

Te Ao Hou, September 1963, Page 32

Taumarunui Conference Maori Leadership Conferences, under the sponsorship of the Council of Adult Education and the people in the district concerned, have been held in many parts of the country in the last few years, and have proved very useful and popular. One of the most recent of these conferences, and a most successful one, was the Taumarunui-Tuwharetoa Regional Maori Leadership Conference held at Taumarunui last May. The people of Taumarunui and the surrounding district were the delegates' hosts, and the warmth of their hospitality certainly did much to ensure the success of the occasion. The really excellent meals were served in a dining hall at the Ngapuwaiwaha marae which had been completed and opened only a week before the Conference: the people of Taumarunui had made an all-out effort to have it ready for their guests. Mr P. T. H. Jones of Taumarunui was President of the Conference, and the Chairman was Mr S. R. Morrison, ‘Auld Lang Syne’ at the end of the conference. Conference delegates line up for a formal photograph before they leave.

One of the discussion groups considers a point. In the background is Mr E. R. Braithwaite, the Negro writer who visited New Zealand recently. Director of Adult Education, Auckland. The Organizing Secretary was Mr Koro Dewes. Other members of the official party included Mr T. Tihu, Mr H. Te Heuheu, and Mrs I. Ratana, M.P. The host and discussion group committee included: Mr P. T. H. Jones (Chairman), Mr D. Selwyn (Secretary), Mr B. Jones (Treasurer), Mesdames B. Rauhina, L. Matena, M. Bell, M. Cribb, C. Pokai, J. Hakaraia, H. Jones, B. Barton, and Messrs E. Clarke, H. Amohia, G. Cribb, T. Pihama, T. Hepi, J. Smallman and H. Tatere. The guest speaker on the opening night was Mr D. Jillett, of the Education Department, who spoke especially on the importance of parents' interest in their children's education. The next morning Mr A. Grey, pre-school officer of the Maori Education Foundation, spoke on play-centres—surely one of the most important ways in which parents can show a practical interest in the education and development of their children. The discussion groups of delegates spent much of their time discussing education and its administration. The points they made were many and varied and we have the space here to report only one matter, mentioned initially by Mr Grey, on which there was widespread agreement: it would be a very good thing for Maori children at Kindergartens if more Maori girls were to take up kindergarten teaching—and this is surely a field in which they would do very well. Among other subjects, delegates held discussions under the general heading of ‘Maoritanga’. This followed a data paper, ‘The Marae in the Modern World’, given by Dr A. J. Metge. Special interest was shown in the changing nature of the tangihanga, and the ways in which this is being influenced by modern conditions. Many of the people present, especially the elders, greatly regretted these changes, through most felt that the changes were, to a certain extent, unavoidable.

• In a new move to help young Maori people in trouble with the law, the Maori Trustee will finance the building of ‘family homes’ for Maori boys and girls discharged from borstals and detention centres or placed on probation when first coming before the Court. Large family homes will be built in areas where suitable employment can be found, and five or six boys or girls will live with foster parents in each home. The Department of Maori Affairs will help in providing suitable work and in other arrangements. The Maori Trustee is also looking into the question of loans to non-Maori families to buy existing homes on condition that two or three young Maori probationers are taken in as boarders. Maori families are already able to finance existing homes through the Maori Trustee. • The Maori Education Foundation has awarded a research fellowship to Mr R. A. Benton, of Russell, to study problems and methods associated with the teaching of English to Maori children. Mr Benton has taught Maori children at the Bay of Island College and in Maori district high schools at Te Kao and Motatau, and as well as having made investigations into the teaching of English to Maoris, he has made detailed studies of traditional aspects of Maori culture. Mr Benton's study of the teaching of English to Maori children will be concentrated on three main areas of difficulty. These are where Maori is used as the vernacular, where a mixture of debased English plus Maori is used, and where an elemental form of English has become the vernacular. Ans Westra Photo Some of the people who gathered at Tikitiki last May for the annual reunion of Maori World War I ex-servicemen. Their reunion coincided with the visit to Tikitiki of the Governor-General, Sir Bernard Fergusson, and Lady Fergusson, who recently toured the Bay of Plenty and the East Coast, visiting a great number of communities. Sir Bernard was given a ceremonial welcome by Mr Hamana Mahuika and Mr H. T. Reedy on behalf of Ngatiporou, and a service, conducted by the Rev. T. Kaa, was held in the Tikitiki Church. More than 400 people were present for the occasion.

Rehearsal time at the Wairoa Hui Topu last May: This party rehearsing for the cultural competitions is composed of the Maranga group (from Auckland) and the Tai Tokerau group (from Northland). They are in the famous Kahungunu meeting-house. Ans Westra Photo • At the quarterly synod of the Ministers of the Ratana Church (Nga Pou o te Haahi Ratana), held last July at Ratana Pa, there was unanimous acceptance of the fact that the Hon. Sir Eruera Tirikatene—who was chosen in 1928 by the late Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana as one of his four personal representatives in both Church and political matters (Nga Koata e Wha)—is, today, the foremost authority on the Ratana Movement in all its aspects. Sir Eruera gave the assembly a summarised history of the movement, and emphasised that there was a need to return to first principles by recognising and incorporating the Biblical teachings that Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana himself considered so important. Sir Eruera also pointed to the necessity of conducting Church services and business in both the Maori and the English languages so that the younger generation of Maori who could not understand the Maori language could gain a full appreciation of everything. One or two elders who at first did not wish to have the English language used withdrew their opposition upon solid and enthusiastic support for Sir Eruera by the younger members present. Altogether, some 200 Ministers attended the Synod, which was considered to be the most progressive and encouraging held since the death of the founder, T. W. Ratana