What I Want for Myself and My Community

Te Ao Hou, 1970, Page 57

What I Want for Myself and My Community Tena Koutou Katoa. I te tuatahi, me mihi au ki nga aitua. Haere nga mate, haere, haere nga mate o ia marae, o ia marae, o nga motu o te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa hoki. Haere ki tua o te arai. Haere ki Te Reinga ki te okiokinga. Haere Haere Haere. Tena koutou a huihui mai nei ki tenei o a tatou marae. E nga tiatia, tena koutou. My theme will be the understanding and tolerance of multi-racial peoples needed for a more integrated society. It is my hope, in fact I am confident, that within the next two or three generations the present gap between the attainment of Maoris and non-Maoris will be smaller than it is today. There seems to be a greater awareness today than ever before (and this awareness is very recent) concerning Maoris and their education. The experts maintain that a fully planned programme must be

undertaken to avoid educating minority groups into second class citizens. The awareness is there, too, among the Maori parents who are keen to see their children go to secondary schools. What is lacking among them is that they do not fully understand the intricacies and demands of our post-primary system. Many Maori pupils are unable to receive much help from their parents by the time they reach the fifth or sixth form because they are usually more highly educated than their parents. Also at secondary school despite the large amount of individual attention and help the Maori pupils receive when they get home, usually to a large family and parents who work, they have very little privacy for study and homework. It is hard to concentrate in these conditions but we must never give up because education is most important in our modern world — we are not only learning for self-benefit but also to help the rest of our people. The present generation of Maori students will became better parents and so the process will build up in this way, each generation an improvement on the previous one. Education is also the basis of improved race relations. Never before in New Zealand's history has the impetus of the Maori been as shattering as today. The Maoris are moving to the cities and especially to the city of Auckland. In fact, at the last census of April, 1966, over half the Maori population was urban — 52% urban and some 48% rural. This is progress when we consider that five years earlier the figures were 33 ⅓% urban and 66 2/3% rural. This rapid urbanization will never reverse, and I predict that it will grow faster. What is the consequence of this? For the first time in our history we have the situation of Europeans coming into direct and real contact with Maoris. Though there has been some contact over the past 100 years or so, this contact has been fairly superficial — on the surface only. Today we have real contact. For the first time we have large numbers of Maoris living in the same street as non-Maoris, unlike the days when Maoris lived in the country and were further apart. Here is the testing ground for race relations, here is where a great deal of understanding between the peoples is required — and it is my belief that our future as a nation living harmoniously depends on our tolerance of each other. It is my hope that such an understanding will eventuate, but it will require concerted effort by all and not by one segment of the people. We Polynesians want it, the Europeans must want it; in fact for our own good, everyone must want it. Rapid urbanization has consequent problems — so many of these problems are not typically Maori — in fact they are mainly un-Maori and are a consequence of several factors, among which are socio-economic changes, over-crowding, large families and a lack of understanding of the needs of a modern urban community. But we are improving, and if the improvement continues as it has over the last ten years or so, I can see that the Maori urban dweller will quickly forget much of the life he once took' for granted in the countryside. I feel that many Maori children take on too much. Numerous Maori culture groups have sprung up in and around Auckland, for instance. The more senior children haven't got time for these activites. Take, for instance, a person who is a prefect at school, who may be playing in a school sports team requiring two practices a week, and who has two or more hours of homework a night. Only a very limited time is available for such cultural activities, though this is not the case in boarding establishments where after-hour activites seem to be better organized. It is my aim this year to get University Entrance and most of my time apart from playing hockey, carrying out my prefect's duties and swimming in summer, will be given over to this. If I achieve this I will go for a bursary and then probably go on to University, and after that … well I'll most likely follow in my dear old dad's footsteps and be a teacher. However, there must be a need for these culture groups, otherwise we wouldn't have them. The problem is where do we find the time for them? I believe we young folk must work hard at our school-work to get the qualifications needed to be a success and then concentrate on our cultural activities. But successful Maoris need to put some effort into their Maori side, not gain their qualifications and then sit back and gloat once they have achieved their ambition. Successful Maoris are often very busy, work-

ing for the usual European institutions and the Maori ones, hopping from one to the other. Success breeds leadership. You can't pick a person and train him to be a head — he might have no leadership qualities — in fact might not want to be a leader. Every day we are becoming a more integrated community. This integration is probably most noticeable in the high rate of intermarriage which is occurring at present. Here is good groundwork for further understanding — I welcome my Pacific Island friends and relations. We have here in Auckland the largest Pacific Island population and we must accept this. Some critics have stated that you should not be allowed here for various reasons, but it's your right to come here — we have a common heritage and here again a great deal of understanding is needed. Few groups don't want to be accepted. I do think my future and your future and the future of the country rests on greater understanding and tolerance for those less fortunate than ourselves. Ka mutu au i konei. Engari e hari ana au, no te mea kua tutaki au ki a koutou, me te whakaaro kia haere kaha tenei tu mahi. Tena ano koutou katoa. And finally, a description by Rapi Tane, Northland College.