Henare Gilbert Comes Home Again photographs and text by Ans Westra It is eleven years since Henare Gilbert left New Zealand to try his luck in show-business overseas. They've been eleven very successful years; and now he's back home again. And he hopes to stay. Henare comes from Te Putere in the Wairoa district. He came to Wellington in 1948, and worked for a while as a welder. In 1950 he formed a quartet with three other Maori boys, and they toured Australia as ‘The Brown Bombers’. The other members of the Quartet were Mac Hata from Opotiki, Pat Rawiri from Ruatahuna and Joe Ward from Takaka in Nelson. After this they moved on to England. They did very well there, in shows, on television and in films. They were known now as ‘The Inkspots’, and stayed together until 1956 when Mac Hata married and returned to New Zealand. A tour of Europe followed with Henare, Pat and Joe. In East Germany Henare left the others. He met his future wife there, and decided to make his home in East Berlin. He was very successful as an entertainer, singing both Maori and modern songs on the radio and T.V., and in films and on the stage. From time to time he left East Germany for engagements in other countries; among the films in which he appeared at this time were two in which Inia Te Wiata starred. Henare liked Inia very much—he says he is a really nice fellow and still very much a Maori. Then, last September, after the wall between East and West Berlin was closed, he and his family finally got permission to leave East Germany and go back to New Zealand. Henare wanted to see his relatives again, and perhaps build a new future in his own country, where life will be safer for his family. Whether he will have the same opportunities here as he had, and still has, overseas, remains to be seen. Since he has been here Henare has received many invitations to go back to Berlin. But he tells me that he hopes to form another Maori quartet and to perform in his own country. Henare's wife Gabriella was a well-known German actress before they married. Their daughter is Oana Gabriella, and the small boy on our cover photo is their son Tui.