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Te Ao Hou, September 1968, Page 51

Continued from page 29 many modifications of Maori-Pakeha customary practices. This was exemplified in the way one speaker would communicate in the two languages of New Zealand, and this speaker was not in every case a Maori. Both the Rt. Hon. Mr Hanan, and the Ambassador for the United States of America, Mr J. F. Henning, opened their mihi with greetings expressed in the Maori language. Speeches were followed by a ‘relish’ which took the form of action songs and poi dances. The sight of the black-garbed kuia eating alongside tailor-suited Pakeha men and women is becoming ever more frequent. When the formal programme ended, the official party took their leave, the elders retired and simultaneously a five-piece band moved onto the stage with steel guitars, amplifiers, several microphones and their own very good version of Engelbert Humperdink. Tables were whisked out of sight, the floor was cleared, mini-skirts and mods appeared from somewhere and the beautifully groomed musicians, looking as poised over their instruments as are their elders when springing into a powerful oration, swung easily into the big sound of Tom Jones and company. -K.H.