No ‘Cash Maoris’

Te Ao Hou, November 1964, Page 18

No ‘Cash Maoris’ Mr Winter feels strongly that people of Maori descent should be genuinely interested in their Maori side, and glad to acknowledge it—especially if they are claiming any material advantage from the fact that they have Maori ancestors. This feeling is shared by the other members of the Ngaitahu Maori Trust Board, and the Board has often stressed that those people wishing to benefit from the Maori money which the Board administers should be proud of their descent; it is not sufficient to be merely a ‘cash Maori’, one who acknowledges descent only when such acknowledgement is likely to produce a cash benefit. One thing is certain: no-one could ever doubt the Winter family's pride in their ancestry — ‘Though perhaps it is not really correct,’ Mr Winter says, ‘to use the word “pride” in this context. The point is that like most, if not all Ngaitahu, we hold both sides of our ancestry in equal regard — and we naturally expect others to do the same. In this sense, I suppose that it would perhaps be right to describe us as being “integrated”.’