working in Maori communities are Europeans. Many are Maoris with a European education. It would be hard to assess the influence of these Maori mediators, these men-of-two-worlds, who have been the main Maori leaders for the last two or three generations, but undoubtedly it has been immense. Obvious examples are Sir Apirana Ngata and Sir Peter Buck. In the life of Ngata one can distinguish three important phases: in the first phase, he is given a good European type of education. In the second phase he advocates health reforms and modern farming methods among his own people. He encourages the Ngati Porou to take up sheepfarming and organizes institutions like co-operatives, all on European lines. He launches land development as Minister of Maori Affairs, makes pleas to all tribes to utilizeland along mainly European patterns. The third phase, starting in late middle life, was to champion the revival or preservation of the traditional Maori culture. We see a similar pattern with Sir Peter Buck who started off by working on health reform, then took up anthropology and in the evening of his life was concerned only with the study of Polynesian (traditional) cultures. Obviously in these cases and many others less eminent, the Maori mediator begins by absorbing some aspect of European civilisation fairly deeply and then returns to his people to impart this knowledge which will help their progress. Such Maori leaders are naturally very influential because of their knowledge of the Maori mind and their clear sense of the sort of reforms that may be needed. In fact they have all the advantages over European mediators except that of number: it is impossible to find enough Maoris even today for the many tasks demanding the services of mediators. It follows that the European mediator becomes less important, as progress of other races is accelerated. This is true for Asia as well as for the Maori people: at the outset the European is indispensable, but gradually the intrinsically more suitable native mediator can take over. What is, then, the best way of improving race relations in New Zealand? I would say it would be fruitful to concentrate on the comparatively small group, both Maori and European who are likely to act as mediators between the two cultures. This means that Europeans who may teach Maoris or work among them as officials, social workers or any other way should be given the best possible preparation to understanding the Maori, and therefore other races in general. New Zealand has produced several brilliant anthropologists—even before any New Zealand University offered a degree course in the subject. Yet it is surprising how little the average man knows about other societies. Courses now introduced into the teachers colleges will bring some of the necessary knowledge to school teachers which is a necessary first step. Nonetheless, I think that more effort could be made to increase the sophistication with which the average person moves into a Maori—or other alien—community. The important problem of increasing the number and efficacy of Maori mediators is more complex. The raising of Maori educational standards would naturally be a great help. It should be realised however that many of the more talented children will not, on leaving school, be particularly interested in returning to their own communities for any purpose whatever. Many desire nothing so much as to become absorbed in European life, learning the necessary skills and rising beyond the limitations of their childhood environment. The lives of most of the important Maori mediators contain a phase, sometimes of many years, dedicated solely to this purpose. There is of course a place for Maori youth clubs and similar organisations, and it may be valuable to many to attend huis and similar gatherings. None-theless, many talented young Maoris will wish to keep their distance from this side of life, at least for a time. Past evidence shows that these young people are not necessarily lost to the race. I have heard Maori elders say that it is futile to give their young people a good education for they will only drift away and be no help to the tribe. On the other hand, if they were not so well educated, they would stay. Fortunately this is not typical of the attitude of Maori parents. In any case, taking a long view it is not true. It is really surprising how few educated Maoris do not at some phase in their life feel a strong urge to return to their own people. Once they have assimilated as much as they want of the European way of life, they gradually take up the old contacts again. They look for an opportunity to meet their kinsfolk and gradually let themselves be drawn into community activities. In old age, this atmosphere becomes more and more attractive and there is an unpleasant saying that a “Maori will always go back to the mat”. If this means anything at all, it means that one cannot have one foot in two cultures for ever, one must in the end make a choice. This choice is for most mediators—both Maori and European—to go back to their own people. For nobody is really at his best in a strange culture. For instance there are few Europeans who can emulate the Maori in oratory or action song; there are few whose minds function as elearly and brilliantly on Maori issues as they would in the context of the culture in which they were brought up. The foot one sets in the strange environment is always the weaker foot. And it is wise for the European watching his Maori compatriot to realise that he has not really seen the Maori's strongest foot, that this strongest foot is in the Maori's own environment about which Europeans know so very little.