rangi me Ngāti Ranginui o te moana nei, o Tauranga. Kia ora rawa atu rātou. Nā te Kaunihera Māori o te motu i riro mai ai ki Rotorua, te whenua o ngā uri o Hinemoa rāua ko tana tahu, ko Tutanekai. Mau ana te ihi me te wehi o ēnei rangi e rua. Ko te ārikarika o te tangata me te ahuru o ngā marae maha i nohoia a ngā manuhiri whakaeke. Ko Tahu ki Muri, ko Rongo ki roto, ko Tū ki marae-ātea, ka eke ki tērā whakataukī—‘Kaiponutia te tāonga, manaakitia te tangata’, koira i mea ai te Tiamana o te Komiti o te Whētiwara kia hoki mai ano ā tērā tau, ki te kāinga o te ngawhā. Ko te pōwhiri ki te Kāwana Tianara, ki a Te Porete, me tana tira, he mea tuku ki te tangata whenua. Koinei a Tū ki maraeātea. Ka oti tērā kāore i whakaroaroa, e tū putuputu mai ana ngā puhi wāhine o te motu me ā rātou toa huruhuru. Kātahi ka kitea ‘tā te Aitanga-ā-Tiki pai, tā te kotahi a Tū-tawake pai’, arā, ōna whakataukī, o te rangatira, ‘He riri ano tā te tawa uho, he riri ano tā te tawa parā; he taka ano tā te rangatira, he haka ano tā te ware, he porahu noa iho ngā ringa’. Ēngari ki tāku titiro he papai katoa koutou. Ahakoa ko te Waihīrere o Tūranga, me te Aitanga-ā-Māhaki, te tīma i karaunatia tuatahi, ko Ngāti Pōneke o te Ūpoko-o-te-ika te hēkene, me Waiōeka ki Ōpōtiki me Ngāi Tai ki Whakatōhea te tuatoru. E hoa ma, nā ngā mea hei whakanohonoho i ngā tīma i pai ki a koe tonu ake. Ēngari me tautoko te kōrero ā Bub Wehi o te Waihīrere rōpu i mea ai ia, ko ēnei whakangahau katoa he mea tō mai no ‘te pōuriri me te pōtangatango’, otirā i pērā tāku rongo atu i a ia e whakamihi ana ki ngā Tiati mo te hōnore i ūhia ki tana teretere. Na te ngākau-nui o ngā tīma nei i tau ai ngā whakamihi ā te Paepae-whaka-matautau ki runga ki a ratou. Ko te mea nui kē, ko te tū, na me taku mōhio tonu ko ngā ‘paina’ kāore kē i tino mātaratara rawa. He ‘paina’ kotahi, he hawhe ‘paina’ ranei, koiaraka noa iho te rahi o ngā whaka-wehewehenga. Kia ora rawa atu ngā Tiati nei! is Tu of the marae. When that was completed no delays ensued and in rapid succession the maidens and the warriors of Maoridom were on their way, ‘the select of Tiki's progeny, and the elite of Tutawake's’ with all their royal symbols, ‘The tawa of sound heart and the tawa with ailing timbers, fight each to his own; the chieftain his style, the plebian his—his arms and fingers are flaccid’. But in my estimation you were all excellent. Waihirere of Gisborne and Mahaki's kin was the team crowned as first, and Ngati Poneke of the Fish's-Head second, with Waioeka from Opotiki, Nga Tai and Whakatohea third. Well let's be fair, this was the judges' verdict, but you yourselves are free to place the teams in the manner you fancied. But at least, we do affirm wholeheartedly with Mr Bub Wehi of the winning Waihirere team when he referred to these games and pastimes as having originated from the ‘very bosom and depths of our heritage’, for that's how I interpreted him in his thank you to the judges, for this distinction to his gallant band. The painstaking devotion of these groups brought them the panel of judges' well deserved nods and becks and wreathed smiles. The important thing is the participation, for it can be righty assumed (from the glittering standards of every group) that the points separating them all were infinitesimal—one or a half, no more, that was all. Congratulations to the judges' panel for a truly herculean task. As for the individual groups, it would be National Publicity Studios Ngapo Wehi of Waihirere receives the Tairawhiti Trophy for the best ancient item