WHIRIWHIRIA E NGA MAORI KATOA (THE CHOICE OF THE MAORI) Sells so fast because it's always FRESH!

first-hand experience of such difficulties. There has always been, and probably always will be, a stigma attached to a low standard of living, though nine times out of ten the causes lie beyond the control of the people concerned. For these reasons Maori women, especially in rural districts, wanted an organisation held together, not by racial bonds or even cultural background—that varies in the Maori population almost as much as in the European—but simply by the feeling, well, here we are, all in the same boat, what can we do about it? I can remember that I first heard of the M.W.W.L. with some surprise, because it seemed to shoot into prominence without any warning. It was suddenly laid before us, tailored to fit the occasion, apparently ready-made, for us to step into. But in actual fact that was not the case at all. The M.W.W.L. is the last link, and 1 may say the most important one, in a chain of events stretching back to 1936. In that year the Maori Health League was formed in Rotorua under District Nurse Cameron, and carried out valuable work in that area. The next step was in 1945, when the Maori Welfare Division appointed women's welfare committees as sister organisations to the tribal committees. The Health Leagues and the welfare committees joined forces under a central committee at Rotorua, but could not agree on constitutional and administrative matters. So the Health League remained a separate entity and branches formed by Welfare Officers combined under a revived constitution in September, 1951. This organisation, entitled the Maori Women's Welfare League, held its first annual conference in the Maori Community Centre at Auckland. The League took for its motto ‘Tatau Tatau’, which, translated, reads, ‘let us be united’. It is a motto peculiarly suited to the main aims of the League: to promote fellowship and understanding between Maori and Maori and Maori and European; to take an active interest in all matters concerning the health and general well-being of Maori women and children; to preserve, revive, and maintain the teaching of Maori arts and crafts and to perpetuate the Maori culture. In 1951 the League had a total membership of 2503. This has steadily increased, till in April of this year it stood at 3758, an increase of 1255 in two and a half years. This encouraging response indicates how great was the need for such an organisation. (It should be noted here that the League is by no means exclusively Maori.) The League is organised on three levels; first, the League (Continued on page 55)