The Pouto school committee, left to right: Messrs Wright, Kapa and Baker and Mrs Thompson. (Photo: Peter Blank.) The person who first turned the minds of the people towards land development was Brown Kena, of the prominent local Kena family, who was a consolidation officer with the Department of Maori Affairs in the eary thirties. On his advice, Pouto was gazetted in 1933, although at that time the people hardly understood the significance of the great changes that were suggested to them. In 1939 the road went through; by 1954 2,500 acres were in grass. In that year, the owners of the land agreed to a scheme of sub-division and to the establishment of Maori dairy farmers on leasehold tenure. Today, these scattered families are returning to their ancestral land as houses are built and areas become available for settlement. A new community is forming, but with the same tribal affiliations as the previous inhabitants. In this community some of the stories of the Ngati Whatua ancestors are still known. The visitor is told that Kaipara Harbour was first settled by two birds which came from Waikato—Reitu and Reipai, Reitu being the older. One of these birds stayed behind, the other flew farther north. The people of Pouto say that it was Reitu who stayed behind, but further north they say it was Reipai. In any case it was from these birds that the tribe descended. Another ancestor was the whale Pokopoko. He was the youngest of three brothers. The two older ones drove him away from Hokianga Harbour which used to be their habitat; they pursued him to Kaipara where he fought back and drove them off. Whenever a chief of the district died these whales were seen off Kaipara Harbour—one black, one black and white and the third spotted; and the spotted one was always behind. I was told that since the Ratana movement started, the whales have never shown up. The people still own an old marae at Waikaretu, eight miles from Pouto, at the southern tip of the peninsula. Nobody lives there now, but important tangis are still held there, although the meeting house is becoming rather old. Since the new settlement began, various modern institutions have grown up, such as a tribal committee(Chairman, Mr Henare Kapa, secretary, Mrs A. W. Thompson), a school committee (Chairman, Mrs Wiki Wright, secretary, Mrs A. W. Thompson), a Maori Women's Welfare League (Chairman, Mrs A. W. Thompson, secretary Mrs Mary Taylor) and a youth club. The latter has been particularly active lately, and occasionally uses the old meeting house. It organises sports, horse events, athletics, socials and dances. The chairman is Mr Maurice Kena and