i mahupuku the maori 'peacemaker. '

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1090, 31 March 1911, Page 6

i mahupuku the maori 'peacemaker. '

;'"..' J, _ - ■ i ' '. . MONUMENT UNVEILED. | A STIRRING DAY AT PAPAWAI. i .■ — | INTERESTING SPEECHES. ; HOWiPEACE WAS PRESERVED. ;.' Yesterday tho Maoris of Papawai To. | (near Greytown) made high festival and ; kept open house in honour of the nnvcil- • ing of a monument to their lato Chief, ; Tamahau Mahupuku. Prom an early I hour in the morning the couple of miles ; ; of dusty roadway that separato Grey- ; town from tho pa becamo a populous 7 thoroughfare. Hundreds of people, brown i and white, in traps, in motor-cars, and ; ; on foot were making their; way, in bright [ sunshine and through clouds of smotherj ing dust, towards the Maori village. | -The scene at tho pa in tho early fore's • noon is not easy.to describe. Like every Maori establishment Papawai is -rich in quaint contrasts. In its prominent features ancient barbarism and modern civilisation stand face to face and mingle without blending. The most conspicuous object as one approached Papawai, was the great meeting-house, a roomy weather-board structure with the lofty gables and open front that-the Maoris nf- . feet in- their buildings, big and little. , . Fronting tho meeting-houso is a palisade- .' of red-painted stokes, surmounted at intervals by carved idols gross of figure . and with heads of disproportionate magni- ; tude. Near this survival of savage days,. . to the right of the main entrance, stands ; the monument which was the inspiration '.- of the day's proceedings. It would be dif- . ; ficult to imagine a sharper contrast than ;' that between the monument in its simple '. classical beauty and tho rough-hewn-Udeities that surmount tho palisade. \ ■ notes of colour were everyF where visible. On . tho- left of • the ' entranco . stands a flag-pole i !'. from which fluttered a stream of flags. | A.couple of white-bordered ensigns flew | at the top, and below them-a number, of i banners, gay of line, bearing British and I Maciri emblems in conjunction. Hawkers' j stalls and refreshment tents outside the J. pa gates lent another strident note of • colour to tho animated scene. White'' [. bell, tents and marquees pitched alongside 'the meeting-houso. struck a .quiet note j'--' amid the prevailing medley of colour. :, The living actors in the spectacle com- ; bined to form a throng instinct with life, : movement, and colour. In and out-of the t great meeting-house, and about the ground i-.of tho pa, in the forenoon, moved a ■ jostling throng of Maoris, in every variety : of fantastic garb, and Europeans in more ' conventional attire. Tartans, red and r white, were colours much in favour with .- tho wahines, and tartan was worn too ! by many of tho younger Maori men. The brown v skins of the Natives, and the. [clothing of tho Europeans, supplied the ; darker notes of the.,colour scheme. An : ; impressionist painter; with a love for .sharp contrasts and bold colours, would ; have found at Papawai Pa yesterday-, an .'admirable subject for his brush. [' ; A Representative Gathering. 1" .'ln aj(-about lSOO^..Natives attended tho - unveiling ceremony. -Less than . three ; hundredwere local' Maoris; the great ma- ;. jority Were visitors from tho various dis- : tricts of this Island and from the South ; Island..., Among chiefs present,; \ with'-fheir parties,' were:—WiPere (Nga--i tiporori), To Heuhcu (Tnupo), Eketono ■ (Waikato), (Taranaki),i. Kauiki and Haerehuka (Waitotara). Tho j foregoing are all North Island chiefs. ; Visitors from the South Island were "■Jlorepukekohatu, Tainui Love, and HokctuiiiLove, daughters of tho late Hon. W. Toko, M.L.C. ; Members of the late Tamahau 'Mahu'puku's family who were present were:— i'l'e Mahupuku Naata Makirika (grand (laughter), and her baby son, now chief of the Ngakahungtmgu, Hamuera Tamaha)i Kingi; Niniwa-i-teJiangi-Houana, Kingi Edward Kingi and family; James Kingi; Eangi Kerehoraa; and Eaukura Maitini. Besides the Hon. James Carroll (ActingPrimo Minister and Native Minister), there attended Major-General Godley and Mrs. Godley, Mr. f. AV. Fisher, tindersecretary for Native Affairs and Judge 'of the Native Land Court, Judge Wil!an, of the Native Land Court. Captain 'Spencer Smith, staff officer to the .Oom- ■: mandant, Messrs. ,W. C. Buchanan, M.P., : ( W.-S. Wardell, J. T.'Hornsby. Mr. Nel- | son Illingworth, who designed the monu- ;. ment, was another visitor. He was, ac- ■ companied by Mrs. Illingworth. : The Hon. Joan Dickson-Poyuder visited I the pa during the forenoon. The Acting-Prime Minister arriving at - the pa was greeted with a haka of wel- : come, in which some fifty warriors and a ; number of wahines took part. [ ' A religious ceremony, which preceded tho unveiling, was conducted by tho Rev. ■ A. 0. Williams (Anglican superintendent ■ of Maori Missions), assisted bv the Eev. T. H. Spencer, the Bev. H. T. Parata, and the Rev. E. T. Ngara. The service opened with a Maori hymn, sung by a : choir of wahines, and the same choir ■ afterwards sang a hymn in English. .-, The service concluded, the monument (was unveiled by the Acting-Premier.. I . Interest then centred on tho verandah 5 of the great meeting-house (Aoetearoa), i Mr. Carroll and other appointed speakers ' now 1 took part. The opening address' was ; a ■ Maori oration, delivered by Mr. H.' j.T. Whatahoro. Sorrow for the dead and hvclcome to tho living wcro the themes j upon which the orator dwelt. 'Mr. H. IMangakahia, who followed, contented [himself with endorsing everything that I the previous speaker had said. • •' ' . , A Maori, Peacemaker. ; .Tho. first .European, to. address : tho . gathering was Mr. "W. C. Buchanan, M.P. ■ He laid stress on the fact that the relations of European settlers with members the Native race in the Wairarapa had been 'always of the happiest nature. The chief whose monument had just been unveiled had been prominent in maintaining,these happy relations. All honour, should be paid to the memorv of chiefs who'met Europeans in the enrfy days and preserved peace when war was rifo in other parts of New Zealand. While standing thus for internal neace, tho Maoris of this district had been among tho very first to offer to fight side by sid« with their white brethren when war broke out in South Africa. Mr. Buchanan concluded by expressing the pleasure it gave Europeans to come here and join with their brethren in doing honour to tne dead: Next to speak was Mr. W. S. Wardell, who was for many years stationed as a magistrate in the Wairarapa. He recalled the early troublous days of European settlement. In those days arms were carried by both Natives and Europeans, defences were put up, and barricades prepared J hero was even something of an exodus from the Wairarapa. The speaker remembered seeing on one occasion fwentvthree wagons with wnrtcn and children aboard, bound for Wellington. That no bloodshed occurred in the Wairarapa was due very largely to the fact that the speaker, in his official capacity, had received ready support from the chiefs of the day To these men he paid tho horn-' ago of Ins heart, and he congratulated Wairarapa that it had brought forth such heroes as the chief whose memorv tbev had assembled that day to honour Mr. J. T. M. Hornsby, in a brief address, bore testimony to the excellent qualities of tho late Tamahau Mahumiku and also to tho important part that Mr' Wardell. in common with Tamahau and ■other chiefs, had played in maintaining peace in tho Wairarapa. " President Bowles (of the Mormon Church) read in Maori a letter of greeting from the Mormon Church in America. Hon. J. Carroll's Speech, The Acting-Premier was received with cries of wolcomo when lie roso to speak. "Wo aro_ assembled here to-day," ho remarked in opening, "to greet each other 'IS".' tc. mourn .the . doparted. Aa .we

mourn we think not only of Tamahau Mahupuku, but ot all the other great ones whoso memory is kept green and pleasant by the presence here of their representatives." In the course of a lengthy speech delivered in Maori, Mr. Carroll described the ninny useful activities' and meritorious qualities of the late Tamahau Mahupuku. He was a promoter of peace and a protector of tho weak, often in troublous early days the sole protector of early European settlers. His was an interesting personality, for he stood on the border-lino which divided the old. and the new. As he himself put it, "The past century has belonged to us of tho old school. We have now run our course. Tho coming century is for you young ones of the new order." Tamahau's mission was to awaken his people to a sense of modern needs and reforms. He was loyal to the Throne, and a true friend to the pakehn. Besides encouraging and urging his people to adopt the best hygienic methods of the pakeha, he established a sanatorium in his village. Realising the necessity for having the Maori youth instructed in modem technical arts and handicrafts, he urged the establishment of a system of technical education for his people. He was the guide philosopher and friend of his • people, and ho came to bo trusted and looked up to as a humanist. The public and philanthropic spirit of the late chief was shown by his magnificent gift of a large, and invaluable Maori-carving meeting-house, together with its furnishings of historic interest, to the Government and people of New Zealand. AVith his disinterestedness and his largeness of. heart apparently neither race, colour, clime, nor creed mattered. "He must. surely," concluded Mr. Carroll, "have his' reward in that better land, where friends no more part." At the close of his address, Mr. Carroll led the visiting Maoris in a compliment--ary chant to their hosts and entertainers. ' When the speeches had concluded, the visitors were invited to attend a banquet, which had beeii prepared on a lavish scale by their Maori hosts. Festivities were continued until a late hour last evening, dancing and singing being carried on with great vigour. ,■ To-day the Acting-Prime Minister, who remained overnight at _ Papawai, will meet the chiefs of the district in order to .discuss local affairs and hear their views. To-day and to-morrow a Maori Council meeting will be held. On Monday it is pronosed to hold a sports carnival. This last will lie the concluding feature.of the gathering.