TE WHITI'S TANGI.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 53, 26 November 1907, Page 9

TE WHITI'S TANGI.

Dlt. POMARTC'S ADDRESS. A-NEW CONDITION OF AFFAIRS. New ; Plymouth, November 25. Hundreds of visitors went from Now Plymouth, yesterday to witness the tangi pro- , ceedings at Parihake. One of the most in--1 tore«tmg. speeches made at the tangi was by Dr. Pomare, a full translation of which ' is. dow , available. Opening with the usual salutations to the dead and the people, ho , addressed the spirit as follows:—"Departto thine illustrious chiefs who have gone before to the brave comrades of old, to tho giver of war and peace. Return to that land where the foot of man has trodden, but from which < none ever returned. Thy words have come true. The lips of children speak of you as ' the rpan of poace , and- goodwill to all men on..the West Coast.' In thine own words thou saidst that war and peace, as life and'- death, were foreordained.' Thy sun was overshadowed at times with many troublesome clouds, but thy sun has sunk gloriously in the West, and thy people are left desolate." Turning to. tho people. Dr. Pomare said new; condition of affairs has arisen. It is not'.new.. It is old., Your predecessors Baw years ago,-long before the feet of white man had trodden on the land, that this would-be.-. The pakeha is not a stranger. He is one in- blood with us. In the twilight of fable we were separated from our Aryan Mother. ,'Our pakeha brother went westward' and had- the fortune to strike the metal, bad the fortune'.to come across superior races to his ■ own, from whom he acquired arts and sciences which to-day has placed him. in the leadership of the civilised-.' nations. Our ancestors went eastwards' towards the rising sun. , They had' tho misfortune not to strike : the metal -key ; which opens the vast door of knowledge, nor to come across superior the'.Maori was superior to' other, racek-he-met. He clung'.to stone, while his pakeha .brother was. advancing with metal. He journeyed; through the sea to the east, peopling different islands. . Ever bold, and venturesome,- the Maori conquered unknown waters,- while, his.'pakeha brother clung to the westward through" JSuropp, 2 fearing ; to cross unknown waters lest they-should;,tumble over the.edge of the squarq',world.... '.Oho >of the ancestors, long beforejjthe foot of the white man touched this soil, said, 'Weep not for me, but weep for,yourselves, for the time is come, and now is, when alien white feet shall - desecrate my Tiriwa, another of the ancestors, '~200 years before the white man came, said, 'Shadowed ! ' behind the tattooed face .the stranger lurks. He is white. He owns the earth".' Now the pakeha has. come, metal has taken the place of stbne: the lightning flash of the pakeha's wisdom (referring to tho telephone) speaks, from near and far. The old order has changed.. The ancestors said, it would change. When the net is old and worn it .is east aside, and a new net goes fishing. I do : not want to cast reflections or discredit, on the old net. It was good in its day,'and many fish were" caught' in it; but the old?net,is worn with time. We must go fishing inth the now net our brother brought us. we-must; advance by work, for therein lies our,: only salvation." FUTURE OF THE TARANAKI MAORIS. On- Friday' evening all." the Natives assembled in the Marae, where Waitara again • addressed them on To Whiti's teaching. His r utterances again ; r'oused the Tohu-ites, a notable _ speaker being an' Told Nativo, the only surviving ono of the four: who knew the secret of. Titikowarau's. burial place. Several young Natives urged • their brothers ; to end communism; and adopt the ways of the pakeha,,. Students.v&id well-wisliers of- the Native race hope', that tho Government will now end' .the inaction that characterised their dealings .with tho Taranaki Natives since the days of the war,- tho fear of Te Whiti's influence' with the Natives having restrained them from compelling innovations: .'f h ?lt'<is pointedvout that Twit'h'-- 3 . Hie ;;passinj£--'6f* Te Whiti the last enthralling. ihlluence' biiiHih'g the Natives of Taranaki to the . wheel of retrogression has been removed, arid for-the first time in- fifty years a splendid- opportunity is offered ; td humanitarians and legislators of raising the West Coast Natives. Signs havo not been wanting of late years, and • particularly .during the."last twelve s months, that the tribes around Mount Egmont desire, to be in a position to meet Europeans on a level. ' Numbers on the Southern slopes of Mount Egmorit are now firmly established- as dairy farmers, and. the factory . managers assert that they , are most ■ industrious workers, whoso milk almost invariably ' arrives first at tho receiving stations, and is always clean. The psychologic mohient ■ has now arrived for a deep in-vestigation-by. the Native' Land Commission or other., agency-into the whole question of 'Taranaki. Native lands, with a view to placing, the Maori on an independent .footing and.! individualising the tribal titles. 11l equipped to combat disorders arising out of new conditions" thrust on them by European civilisation,: ignorant of the treatment of diseases , introduced by the pakehas and which'.:.find ~easyvictims in. tho Maori kaiangas,.too poor' to afford the services of medicar'meh, death after death, very many preventive, .occurs with ceaseless regularity, and no one troubles. • Why are not Maori vital statistics made compulsory? Why are the benefits of. tho costly' Health Department not extended to those most in need of , them ?>• Te Whiti has gone, and there is now not one obstacle left to retard the Nativo / if he is given a small share of the care takeli of the Europeans by .the State.