The Forgotten Men

Te Ao Hou, June 1965, Page 2

The Forgotten Men The Editor, ‘Te Ao Hou’. In the March issue of ‘Te Ao Hou’ I read with great interest the article ‘Where is the Love of my People?’ written by a former inmate of Waikune Prison. I am myself an inmate at another prison. I agree with his views. I have seen many of our boys stranded through lack of assistance from our own Maori people, and this is not easy to live through. Many of the men released from prison have nowhere to go, and own only the clothes they stand up in, with maybe a few shillings that they earned during their sentence. It is understandable that we feel shy of Europeans who offer assistance—but who can we turn to, if our own race rejects us? We are told to keep our culture and Maori-tanga close to our hearts—but as I see it, we are not being given much help, because of this whakama of our Maori people. In the few months I have been here, I have noticed how many of our Maori boys have come back a second time. They haven't been able to find suitable accommodation and employment, and the alternative has been coffee bars, beer houses, and roaming the streets. Nobody wants them, so they commit crimes, returning to the dismal walls of prison and to the only friends they know. There is an understanding among these so-called friends, insincere though they may be, which too often we cannot find elsewhere. A Welfare Officer of the Maori Affairs Department is doing a great job at the prison where I am, and there is also a kind Maori lady who is a regular visitor. But these two good people cannot do everything by themselves. I beg those readers of ‘Te Ao Hou’ who may have sons and mokopunas in these places, to help them by visiting them in prison, meeting them on release, assisting them to become rehabilitated with their families, and assisting them to find employment and accommodation. Above all, I beg them to find some way of preventing this heart-breaking sight, the repeated return to prison of so many of our young people. MOKOPUNA O TAHUPOTIKI (Christchurch)