Kua Wahangu te Pukorero When Chief Hetekia te Kani te Ua, O.B.E., died suddenly and peacefully at his home at Tower House, Puha, near Gisborne, a mighty totara fell in the forests of Tane and the reverberations of its crashing were felt through the worlds of the Maori and the Pakeha. Throughout Maoridom the news swept, accompanied by a sense of dismay which bordered on unbelief. He had been so familiar a figure on almost every important marae and on every important occasion for so long that he had come to be regarded as the very embodiment of Maori etiquette and ceremonial procedure and as an almost eternal figure impervious to the laws of change and age. By descent, by training and by years of constant and undeviating service, Te Kani was demonstrably of the upoko ariki—one had only to see him on the marae, his grizzled locks waving in the breeze, his mako ear-rings with their long, pendant, black ribbons, and his famous walking stick of twisted vine with its stag-horn handle flourished vehemently to illustrate some point he wished to drive home. He might—except for his modern clothes—have stepped from the more picturesque past. continued on page 32

Mr Hori Paki On his 101st birthday recently, Mr Hori Paki of Huntly made a donation to the Waikato University Halls of Residence fund, as a thanksgiving for what he has enjoyed in life. Mr Paki still reads and writes in the Maori language without glasses and takes an active interest in current affairs. He speaks very little English although he understands it. He encourages his family to avail themselves of all opportunities, as he realises that education plays a big part in a person's life. A member and principal orator of the Ngati Whawhakia tribe, Mr Paki served under four Maori kings and is proud to have seen the crowning of the new Maori Queen Te Atairangikaahu. Mr Paki, in a varied life, worked as a miner, a builder and a farmer. He still remembers the first mine and the first shop in Huntly and tells of the methods of transport of food and coal. He remembers his mother making big flax baskets in which to carry coal to the boats for transportation down the Waikato river. He has three sons and six daughters (all living), 39 grandchildren, 99 great-grandchildren and 14 great-great-grandchildren. His sons George and Brown have represented New Zealand as League footballers. With Mr Hori Paki in this photograph taken on his 101st birthday are: his son George and great - grandson Barry Maipi, grand - daughter Joyce, and great-great-grand-daughter Ngaronga Hohaia