she found the country not really suited to that type of breeding. She bred pigs also, getting a good beginning in the form of a sow and boar from Princess Te Puea. At that time she also had a timber mill of her own. During the development era her husband had died and she had later married William Cooper, a Maori from Hawke's Bay. When the war began she turned her immense energies to patriotic work being in charge of that work in the Panguru area. But their were other activities too. Mrs Cooper fondly remembers the great hui at Waitangi in 1940, when the whare runanga was officially opened. According to custom no woman could cross the threshold of the house till the priest had carried out the te kawanga rites of consecration or removal of tapu. The honour of being first woman to cross the threshold fell to Whina. During the war Mrs Cooper formed a Maori basketball association covering the Hokianga area. It was after the war that she became president of the Federated Farmers Branch and the Northern Hokianga Rugby Union. Both these organisations had pakeha members, the Rugby Union having more pakeha than Maori members. For the past few years Mrs Cooper has lived in Auckland where she has taken a leading part in looking after the welfare of the Maori community. Many pakehas too look to her for help and join the trek to the teko teko fronted homestead at 1 Cockburn Street to unburden their worries. Pakeha as well as Maori organisations have come to recognise her qualities. Her organising ability in particular has earned high praise from Auckland civic leaders. The crowning ceremony to a Queen Carnival which raised £2,900 for a hostel fund was hailed by Sir John Allum, a former mayor, as the greatest spectacle of the kind, he had seen. But the greatest commendation Mrs Cooper has had was when the Queen invested her with the M.B.E. during the Royal tour. Mrs Cooper's work since she became league president is better known than her early work though perhaps not yet fully appreciated. But the league has gone on from strength to strength. Not the least of the league's qualities is that of fighter for the advancement of Maori womanhood. Its champion is always Whina, who has fought and won so many battles in the cause of Maori progress; she who from the nikau whare has risen to the most honoured public position for a woman in Maoridom today. —Melvin Taylor

THESE MAORIS are seeking knowledge ABROAD When the Wanganui-born, internationally famous pianist Colin Horsley visited his home town recently, he was impressed by the promise of a young Maori pianist, Joseph Kumeroa, also of Wanganui. He said he thought Joseph was worthy of having the great opportunity of studying in London. This suggestion inspired Wanganui citizens to raise over £1,000 which with donations from elsewhere, has enabled Joseph Kumeroa to leave for a three year course of study at the Royal College of Music in London. * * * A young Maori woman teacher, Miss Gabrielle Rikihana, arrived back in Wellington in May after two years abroad. She went to England for the Coronation and taught in London schools. During the holidays she travelled on the Continent and in Scandinavia. Among highlights of Miss Rikihana's stay abroad, besides the Coronation, were a visit to Spain, Christmas in Norway, and a flying visit to El Alamein, for the unveiling of the memorial to servicemen who had lost their lives in World War II but had no known graves. At Alamein Miss Rikihana visited the grave of her aunt's husband, Second Lieutenant E. J. Ropata. * * * For the first time this year, American Field Service International Scholarships were made available to a Maori boy and a Maori girl student. The successful scholars were Tuhi Barclay, of Queen Victoria School for Maori Girls, Auckland; and Mervyn Taiaroa, head prefect of Timaru Boys' High School. Their scholarships cover the cost of a year's schooling and board and lodging in the United States. The fares are paid from the Ngarimu V.C. and Hereheretau Soldiers' Fund. * * * A young Maori woman, Miss Del Butt, recently returned to her home in Taneatua after three and a half years' extensive travelling abroad. Miss Butt made her headquarters in London where, with her school dental training background in New Zealand, she obtained a position with a dental hospital. She spent about a year of her time abroad on holidays on the Continent. During three months in Yugoslavia she travelled extensively through that country, and in one town she was told she was the first New Zealander the local people had ever seen.