Naa, ka tae ki te urupaa. Kua kore e taea te pupuri o te aroha. Kua maringi mai ngaa roimata peenei i te awatere. Kua umere ngaa waha ki te tangitangi i te tangi a ngaa tiipuna mai noa ake. Kaatahi ka haere mai te aawangawanga, kei tuupono kei te hee taa raatau mahi. Kua kore e hamumu ngaa waha. Kua timu te tai te roimata E oaa too hau he wini raro He hoomai aroha Kia tangi atu au i konei He aroha ki te iwi. (71) Ngaa Mooteatea. Kua roa ahau e whai ana i te huarahi o aku whakaaro inaianei. E tatari mai ana taku hoa ki taku whakautu moo aana koorero. Ka mea atu au, “He aha anoo eetahi tikanga hei whakakore atu?” Katitiro mai ia, ka mea. “He pai ake pea me whakakore atu ngaa hui. Mehemea hoki he huitoopuu kei te Waipounamu ka haere te Maaori. Ka whakareerea ngaa Mahi. Mehemea he hura koohatu, he huaki whare hou raanei kei Wharekauri, ka whakaeke te Maaori. Ka whakareerea ngaa mahi. Eenaa haere katoa he whakapau moni—pau katoa! Kua kore hei utu i ngaa nama. Kua raruraru i te toa, kua kore e hoatu he nama. Naa, pai ake te whakakore atu, kia kore ai e raruraru.” Ka haere anoo ngaa whakaaro. Ko aaku nama katoa e taea ana e au te utu. Ko ahau anake te Maaori e peenei ana? Ki taku moohio kaaore. Naa, waatea ana eetahi herengi mo te haere i te hui. Ko aua herengi naa i mate i te mate rangatira, kaaore i moumou, ana, ki tooku nei whahaaro. I whakarongo ahau ki ngaa koorero hoohonu e koorerotia ana i te marae; ngaa koorero e paa ana ki a taatau. I maatakitaki ahau i ngaa mahi whakangahau—te haka, te poi, me eeraa tu mahi aa ringa. Ka paa mai te ihiihi o te haka i a au maatakitaki ana, tae noa ki ngaa roro o aku wheua. Ka oreore te mana Maaori e takoto nei. Kua whaangaia. Naa, kua hiahia te arero ki te whaatero, ngaa karu ki te pukana ngaa uau ki te ohorere, te reo ki te whai i te rangi o te haka. Naana i tiki mai Whakawhiti te raa! Aa upane Aaa upane— Ka mea atu au ki taku hoa, “E hoa, he mahi uaua teenei, te whakakore i ngaa hui Maaori. Mehemea kaaore e piirangitia ana e te iwi kaaore raatau e haere. Naa, kei te moohio tonu koe, ki te tini o te Maaori e whai ana i aua hui.” Ka kii mai ano ia, “Ae, engari kei te hee tonu. Naa, ko te tino hara o aua hui naa te mea ka haere wehewehe taatau. Ka haere ngaa Maaori ki a raataunei hui, ka haere hoki ngaa Paakehaa ki a raatau. Ko te tikanga me haere tahi taatau, he iwi kotahi nei hoki taatau—te iwi o Niu Gently blows the wind from the North Bringing loving memories Which causes me here to weep Tis sorrow for the tribe. Nga Moteatea, No. 71. For sometime now I had been wandering along the path by which my thoughts were leading me. My friend was waiting for me, for my answer. To him I said, “Are there any other customs which you think should be abolished?” He looked at me, and said, “Well, it would be far better to abolish the huis. Now if there should be a hui-toopu at the South Island the Maori people will go to it. They leave their work. If a memorial stone is to be unveiled, or a new house opened at the Chatham Islands, away will go the Maoris. Those journeys consume money—the whole lot! None is left to pay the debts. This causes trouble with the shops who will refuse credit. Now it is better to abolish these meetings so there will be no financial troubles.” Away again went my thoughts. I am able to meet all my debts. Is it possible that I am the only Maori who can? I doubt this. I am able to spare a few shillings to go to a hui. Those shillings die the death of chiefs; they are not wasted, at least, that is what i think. I heard the wise and sensible words spoken upon the maraes, words touching upon our troubles. I watched the entertainments—the haka, poi dances and other posture dances. Then, as I watched, the strange spirit of the haka touched me, penetrating to the very marrow of my bones. The life principle of the Maori, lying quiescent here, was stirred. It was being fed. Now spontaneously my tongue wants to dart out, my eyes want to dilate, my muscles jerk and I want to plunge into the haka. Twas he who brought it here And made the sun to shine Aa upane! Aa upane! I said to my friend, “It is quite a difficult thing to abolish the Maori hui. If these were not wanted by the people they would not patronise them. But you know very well that hundreds of Maori people go to them.” He said, “That is so, but it is still wrong. Their greatest sin is that they separate us, making us go our separate ways. The Maoris go to their huis and the Pakehas go to theirs. We should really go together for we are one people—New Zealanders. It is right that we should stay close together, work together and journey together on the byways of the world.” Now this made me a bit angry. I felt like chiding my visitor. My wife must have noticed my anger for she shook her head at me, signalling not to be angry with our visitor. I spoke, “Yes, perhaps you are right.” But my thoughts denied this. It is not right. We all know that we are not one people. A Maori is a Maori and a Pakeha is a Pakeha. We have customs and