OF TWO RACES by HARRY DANSEY The writer of this essay, who belongs to the Arawa tribe, is chief sub-editor of the Taranaki Daily News. He has written widely on Maori subjects and foreign affairs; he is also a practised artist and did the drawing on this page. How many people in New Zealand come of a union of the country's two races—European and Maori? No one can be sure. Perhaps it is 30,000, perhaps 50,000 or 100,000. The exact numbers do not matter greatly, what does matter is that there is a section of our population by birth so constituted. They are really not Maoris in the full meaning of the word although for practical purposes many regard themselves as such; they are certainly not Europeans in the full meaning of that word either. But beyond doubt they are New Zealanders, and perhaps, without stretching the argument more than its latent logic will allow, truer New Zealanders than those of full blood of either of the other races. To be of one and yet not of one, to be of the other and yet not of the other is a situation which on the surface would appear to offer to all caught in its grasp little but perplexity, anxiety and confusion. And yet in fact this is not so. Indeed and emphatically it is not so. It is pertinent to ask why. Let me make it very clear that in examining this question I am not on the outside looking in. Because I am proud of the blood of both races which has been handed down to me from European and Maori ancestors, I am very much on the inside looking out. But before I can look out clearly and speak out coherently, I must look in impartially and look round carefully. This is what I see. I see all sorts and conditions of men and women. They vary physically, they vary culturally, they vary by virtue of their educational attainments, they vary by way of their station in life and in society, they vary in their attitudes to this life and to this society. Physically the differences are striking. On one hand there are men and women who are practically indistinguishable from Maoris of pure blood, on the other there are those who would pass almost anywhere as Europeans. And between them there are as many shades, grades and variations of face, figure, limb and colour as there are mutations of light and shadow in a cloudy sky at sunset. Depending on their appearance they tend to move towards one pole or the other. Thus those who most appear to be Maori are very often those who are indeed closer to the Maori side of their ancestry than to the European. The converse is equally true. If in appearance the man or woman of part blood is European, the tendency is for him or her to live the life of a European New Zealander rather than that of a Maori New Zealander. This is of course not only understandable, but is no more than would be expected. Like has ever called to like and has ever been listened to, if not always obeyed. I have said there is a tendency one way or the other according to physical attributes. Let us now consider the position of the man of two races who, while physically closer to one people, is nearer to the other in his mode of life. The principal factors influencing this position—which is not a rare one—are temperament, environment and employment. By some genetic arrangement quite beyond our control—even if we did wish to control it—the man of mixed blood sometimes comes among