for Western Maori Electorate in the time of Sir Maui Pomare and Sir Apirana Ngata, was a great leader of the local people. Mr Barber paid him an eloquent eulogy as the climax of the ceremonies finally centred around a new flag pole erected beside the Meeting House where Turau te Tomo was brought up as a child. Mr Barber fittingly presented a New Zealand Ensign flag to the local present-day leader Mr W. H. Paerata, and this was struck on the new flag pole as the Maoris burst into the classic patere ‘Poiatu taku Poi’ in honour of the Maori Queen, and the National Anthem was sung to mark Maori allegiance to the Crown. This day will long be remembered, as it was marked by the happy and spontaneous programme which marked the proceedings, commencing with the first speech of welcome by Hema Maniapoto, a famous All Black for the Maoris, with two sons so well known locally and nationally. The services were memorable for the sacred incantations recited by the Waikato elders who led their queen to remove the priceless feathered cloaks off each tombstone in turn. Tears flowed freely as the late Turau te Tomo's widow, Marata te Tomo, wept unashamedly for her late husband. The area was hushed save for the bleating of new born lambs, as all these lands, once bush and scrub, have been developed successfully by Maori Affairs. One could see the glow of pride among the many young Maori women serving food in the dining room and the young men in the cookhouse with their hangi and the aroma of roast pork and eels, etc. These people had gathered, scattered as they are by the need to seek employment in other places, and the reunion was memorable. They were happy to sleep again in the spacious Pakaetaiari with its ancient carvings standing in splendid but glorious isolation looking out on over 20,000 acres of rich farmlands now transformed by an imaginative and practical policy initiated by the elders and supported by the State. It was a pleasure to meet an old lady who told me that this house had been carved by Motu Heta, her tupuna, and it was with a heart full of thanks that on this day one could still hear the traditional laments and ballads — the pateres which are heard nowhere else in the world. It was a memorable day — Maori and European mingled and ate together. The slow process of acculturation received a hearty fillip this day and the future must bring nothing but good. Handsome young high school boys and girls sang songs dressed in their maroon and coloured blazers as the combined groups came from Taupo nui-a-tia and Putaruru Colleges. Farewell songs were sung, firstly by the Waikatos, and then the Tuhourangis not continued on page 56 Tangata whenua complement one of the speeches outside the meeting house at Mokai