THE KAAPU-TE RANGI PA

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 294, 16 April 1941, Page 4

THE KAAPU-TE RANGI PA

Sir,—Congratulations to the BEACON for "floodlighting" the historic Kaapu-Te-Rangi. Pa on the heights above the town of Whakatane. Now that the BEACON has reminded citizens of the historic nature of these hilltops let lis hope that some thing will be done eventually to restore Kaapu-Te-Rangi to something like what it must have looked centuries ago. No doubt this could be done at no great expense under the direction of those versed in Maori traditions. Why not make the most of Whakatane's notable Maori history ? Then travellers seeing New Zealand first, and also tourists, will want to come here to view the sights on the heights. All over New Zealand there are Maori earthworks overgrown with fern and scrub (or ploughed up by Pakeha farmers). This does not seem right. Let we people of Whakatane set an example to the rest of New Zealand by preserving in the best way possible that wonderful example of ancient Maori engineering, the Kaapu-Te-Rangi Pa. Perhaps some of the Pakehas. who have amassed considerable wealth from farming and speculation on the land that was for centuries the domain of the Maoris, will'be smitten with a feeling that they ought to give a little back by contributing to the cost of restoring Kaapu-Te-Rangi Pa. Itn the United States one of the richest millionaires has expended some of his surplus millions on restoring the town of Williamsburg to the condition it was in two hundred years ago, in "the old Colonial days," and it is now a "show place" that attracts countless sightseers. That is an idea for some < f our Whakatane "near millionaires." Yours etc., HISTORICUS.