PEOPLE AND PLACES

Te Ao Hou, September 1964, Page 30

PEOPLE AND PLACES Mr Te W. T. Morete (see photo at right), the first Maori to qualify in dentistry, recently retired from the position of principal dental officer with the Department of Health, Dunedin. Mr Morete was born in 1902 at Kakariki near Ruatoria, one of a family of thirteen children. His mother was Ere Takina of Ngati Kanohi and his father, a dairy farmer, was Rapata Pahoe Morete of Whanau-a-Rakai subtribe. After attending Waiomatatini Maori School and Te Aute College, Mr Morete entered the University of Otago dental school in 1924. After qualifying in 1928 he joined the Department of Health and was posted to Tikitiki, Ruatoria and Te Araroa to start a school dental service there. In 1939 he was transferred to Rotorua and in 1945 to Gisborne. In 1950 he was posted to Dunedin as principal dental officer. Mr Morete retires from his profession enjoying the respect and warm affection of the very many people, Maori and Pakeha, amongst whom he has worked in the course of his career. He is also highly regarded as a participant and administrator in sport, having taken a prominent part in rugby activities in many parts of the country. The Reverend Hemi Potatau (see photo lower right), is the first Maori Presbyterian Minister to become Moderator of the Maori Synod. After attending Otago University and Knox College, Dunedin, Mr Potatau was appointed to te Maori mission field as Assistant Minister at Taupo in 1933. Since then he has been minister at Te Whaiti, Taumarunui and Opotiki. For five years Mr Potatau served overseas with the Maori Battalion during the second world war. The group of people in the photograph on the opposite page are students this year at the University of Auckland; six of them are of Maori ancestry and one is Rarotongan. They are among the 65 who are enrolled, 39 of them full-time students, 21 part-time and five of them graduates studying for higher qualifications. In addition there are about 75 Maoris at the three Teachers' Colleges in the Auckland area. Because three or four of the student

teachers are also on the roll of the university, the total number of Maoris at institutions of higher learning at Auckland is about 134. This total, though certainly not as high as racial population proportions would indicate as a figure comparable with other students, is nevertheless most encouraging after hearing that Victoria University of Wellington this year had only seven first-year Maori students and that Wellington Teachers' College had no Maori students. Those shown in this picture are, left to right, front row: Maree Papesch, Te Awamutu; Mary Perenara, Whakatane; Sherill Beattie, Dargaville; and Rangi Moekaa, Rarotonga. Back row: Kingi Houkamau, Hicks Bay; Wite Smiler, Te Karaka; and Patrick Heremia, Patea. Miss Polly Hopa (see photo at left), who comes from Gordonton near Hamilton, has gained a diploma of anthropology at Oxford University. She is believed to be the first Maori woman to graduate there. Miss Hopa received her secondary education at Queen Victoria College and Epsom Grammar School. After two years at Auckland University she attended the Auckland Teachers' College, spent a year in Maori welfare work, then taught at Auckland

photography by Ans Westra Girls’ Grammar School. While there she received her B.A. degree as a part-time student. As well as her academic studies, Miss Hopa has always had a keen interest in sport and music. She intends to stay at Oxford for another year. A moving and impressive ceremony, the opening and dedication of the 28th Maori Battalion National War Memorial Community Centre at Palmerston North took place on Saturday, 27 June (see photo above). Visitors to the meeting began arriving at the Palmerston North showgrounds from midmorning on the Friday, being welcomed and ably catered for by the tangata whenua, Ngati Raukawa. In the evening there was a ball at which the successful candidate in the fund-raising Queen Carnival, Miss Thelma Hape (see photo at right) was crowned ‘Miss Aotearoa’ by Mr Mason Durie, O.B.E., chairman of the Raukawa Maori Executive Committee. Next morning, after the great crowd of visitors was assembled in front of the Memorial Hall, some 800 members of the Battalion made a proud and splendid showing as they took part in a march past. Official guests included the Minister of Maori Affairs, the Hon. J. R. Hanan, deputising for the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. A. H. Nordmeyer, the Mayor of Palmerston North, Mr G. M. Rennie, the Secretary for Maori Affairs, Mr J. M. McEwen, the president of the N.Z. Maori Council, Sir Turi Carroll, the four Maori members of Parliament, and chiefs of the three Armed Services. After their welcome, and the arrival of Their Excellencies the Governor-General Sir Bernard Fergusson and Lady Fergusson, a Guard of Honour composed of members of the Battalion Association (see photo above) was inspected by His Excellency. Then followed the traditional challenge to His Excellency, speeches of welcome, and speeches by distinguished visitors. In his speech Sir Bernard, after speaking of the solemn memories which the occasion aroused, urged his listeners to ‘call to the height and depth of your Maori past, to summon the whole strength, all the power and sinews of the Maori people, mental as well

H. R. Jones photo Geoff Henry photo as physical, to brace your people to their full share of the future’. It was on education, he said, that the whole future of the Maori race depends. After this the building was dedicated by the Rt. Rev. W. N. Panapa, Bishop of Aotearoa Then His Excellency declared the building open, and unveiled the Roll of Honour. Later, two thousand people gathered for an official luncheon. A marriage of great interest took place on 20 July when Horowai Ngahuia (Bubby) Ngarimu married Huriwaha Maniapoto at Hiruharama near Ruatoria (see photo at left). Bubby is the youngest daughter of Mrs Maraea Ngarimu of the Whanau-a-Apanui and the late Mr Hamuera Ngarimu, who was a member of the Ngati Porou tribe. Huri, who comes from Tokaanu, belongs on his father's side to Ngati Tuwharetoa and on his mother's side to Te Arawa. Bubby was formerly secretary of the Maori Women's Welfare League and later taught at the Correspondence School, Wellington. She is the sister of the late Lieut. Te Moana Ngarimu, V.C. Huri, well known as a Maori All Black, is a sheepfarmer. The couple will make their home on his farm near Tokaanu. The Auckland diocese of the Catholic Church plans a Maori religious, social and cultural centre on a site near Newmarket. Miss Mary Shelford of Panmure (see photo, upper left) was crowned Queen of a carnival held recently, which altogether raised £8,000 toward the cost of the centre. The people in the photograph above are some of the members of the Ataahua Maori Club and the Auckland University Maori Club who entered three floats, representing stages in the history of the Maori people, in a city procession held during Auckland's ‘half a million population’ celebrations earlier this year. The floats portrayed the pre-European history of the Maori, the time of first contact with the European, and the present day.