Waitangi Day, 6 February 1964

Te Ao Hou, June 1964, Page 4

‘Te Ao Hou’ publishes here the text of two memorable speeches made last February by His Excellency the Governor-General, Sir Bernard Fergusson. The first is the speech which he made on 6 February, before a large crowd of Maori and Pakeha gathered at Waitangi on the occasion of the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Speech made by the Governor-General, Sir Bernard Fergusson, on Waitangi Day, 6 February 1964 E nga iwi o te motu, mai i te Rerenga Wairua ki Murihiku, whiti atu ki Wharekauri, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou! E nga mate o te motu, Haere, Haere, Haere. Tena tatou e Whakanui nei, i te Hainatanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi, i te ra i kiia ai te korero nei, ‘he iwi kotahi tatou.’ (To the Maori people throughout the land, from the North Cape to the Bluff and those on the Chatham Islands, Greetings, Greetings. Greetings to all of us who today commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the day on which the expression was made, “We are one people”.) Here once again we stand on this historic ground. One hundred and twenty-four years ago today Captain Hobson and his party came up that path, over there, from the beach that bears his name, to meet the assembled Chiefs and people and to bind us all into one. Here once again are gathered many of the descendants of those who made history on that February day. Here are the children's children's children of such men as Kawiti and Henry Williams, Rewa and James Busby, Pomare and Richard Taylor. Though not descended in blood from any of these, I feel I have some link; for there died in London less than a month ago my aunt, Lady Fergusson, Henry William's grand-daughter. And only this morning I met a man aged 94 whose father, aged ten, was present at the signing of the Treaty. I am one of those countless thousands of others, Maori and Pakeha, who, though not descended from the men of Waitangi, have cause to bless their memory for what they achieved on this sacred ground. Whatu-nga-rongaro he tangata, toitu he whenua. ‘Men pass, places remain.’ Here in this place we recall the men who have passed, and dedicate ourselves afresh to the spirit that inspired them. Their hopes were high for us who follow them. In a great measure their dreams have been fulfilled, far more perhaps than they ever dared to hope. There still remains something to be done. Some of you may have heard my broadcast to the Maori people at the beginning of this New Year. You may remember how I told you of the Maori chief who gave me his mere as a patu to be wielded, not in strife, but in the campaign to bring Maori and Pakeha still closer together. Here it is. To that cause of Kotahitanga, which is dear to my heart, I dedicate it once again in your presence. And as the Representative of Her Majesty who was here herself in person last year, the great-great-grand-daughter of that Queen whose mangai or mouthpiece Captain Hobson was, I greet you all, and commend to you, and through you to all New Zealand, the spirit and tradition of Waitangi. No reira kia ora ano tatou katoa. On 5 February at Otiria Marae near Kawakawa, Sir Bernard Fergusson opened the great carved meetinghouse ‘Tumatauenga’ as a memorial to those New Zealanders, Maori and Pakeha, who died in the two world wars. Here is the speech which he made on this occasion.