‘marked the beginning of the policy of prohibiting the use of Maori in the schools, with the aim of replacing Maori by English as the language not only of the school but of all situations…. The Education Department declared total war on the Maori language’. He describes the present situation, discusses the thorny topic of the long vowel controversy, and considers the future of the language: ‘As its general use declines it may well be that its ritual and ceremonial use will become more important. It is certain that scholarly study of the language will increase, for it seems in the nature of things that we value our treasures most as they pass from us’. Katarina Mataira discusses the changes taking place in Maori art forms, and describes the work of some contemporary Maori artists. Bill Pearson traces Pakeha attitudes towards the Maori as they are reflected in literature during the years 1938–65, and also discusses recent writing by Maoris. Arapera Blank, in an essay that is also a short story, provides a vivid memorable account of culture conflict within an individual. In an article entitled ‘Maori Kings’, Pei Te Hurinui Jones has written a most valuable account of the Maori King Movement. This is an important contribution to Maori history, and will be of permanent value. The Maori People in the Nineteen-Sixties contains so much excellent material on such a wide range of subjects that it will be an indispensable book for the serious student of Maori matters.

THE END OF THE HARBOUR by Elsie Locke Longman Paul Ltd., $1.95 reviewed by Geoff Lawson Elsie Locke has made a good show of turning the history books' pages into real people whose words and actions will catch the imagination of youthful readers. The story is seen through the eyes of a young English lad, David Learwood, whose father and mother have come from England to work in the hotel in Waiuku, at that time a British Trading Post on the fringe of the Pakeha settlement in the Manakau Harbour. The book is about the growing pains of the new settlement and their effect on Pakeha and Maori. The Pakehas' wish to extend their holding is balanced by the Maoris' fear that their land will be taken by force as rumours of fighting in Taranaki cause mounting tension throughout the colony. Matters are brought more to a head when Eriata is found, shot dead. Evidence points to a British settler and it is only after a display of reason and oratory by an elder that the young Maoris are restrained from seeking their own revenge. The Maoris pin their hopes on the British law which they accepted with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and they are sadly disillusioned by it. As the book closes, the Waikato people and the British are headed towards an inevitable war. The author is unobtrusive, allowing the story to unfold itself through the happenings witnessed by David Learwood. For example, the narrator does not directly describe the effects of European diseases on the Maori population; we see for ourselves as David does when he goes out in the middle of the night to help the doctor tending the sick. More subtly revealed are the ideas and attitudes of the people amongst whom David lives. These are mostly brought to our understanding through snatches of conversation overheard by David, and a good deal of the Maori viewpoint becomes increasingly clear as we follow the adventures of his friend Hona. Attitudes are also brought out by such things as the Pakeha reluctance to allow the Maori congregation into their church, the uncomprehending feeling of hurt this produces and the Maoris' gradual realisation that some ostensibly religious people are in fact hypocritical. We see the ignorance and fear of a section of the Pakeha community through the reactions of David's mother who won't go outside the hotel because she is scared of the natives and doesn't like her son to mix with them. We learn of Maori social values and customs when the compassionate Maori-speaking Dr Topp talks to David of his medical practice among Maoris and Pakehas and when the patient old Ahipene thinks aloud to David.