MONSTER REGATTA

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 419, 31 December 1932, Page 4

MONSTER REGATTA

NEW YEAR'S DAyJ OHINEMUTU SCENE Op INTBRJ-TRIBAL DISPLAY INTERESTING CANOE RACB Redolent of olden times will b6g canoe races and th% uncovering! the monster hangi at Ohinemutu! New Year's Day when the re^ organised by the Rotorua jRetutu Soldiers' Association and the Kgj Whakau ehapu of the Arawa tribe V be held. . - v .. Canoe races are sufficiently rare? these mqdern times to bear a aped interest even to those who have sg them * before but to many the swj and rhythm of the flashing paddles; the brpwn skinned. warriors strivej | victory will have a thrill of adjf joy since it will hring back the % [ of which their fathers told them ^ tribe met tribe in the struggle {, mastery. Canoe races are diffetfi to the ordinary run of competitj athletic events for the cadencesi the chants sung by .the leader and ti terrific energy of the contestants nui them stand in a class of their. o® races. There is so.much purposegty the. paddling, so much verve and h ahout the contest that it thrillj pei'haps no other water event doti Then there is another facet to ti regatta .... the revival of some ! the old-time Maori ceremonials wh are rarely . if ever seen these dat Many have seen the opening of | hangi (the Maori oven) but very f( the cefemony of "Huke Hangi." Ti is the uncovering of the cookedfo followed by the presentation offe fo'r consumption. This ceremony I most interesting and is an occasj upon which special songs and diad handed down from olden times s used. . These are to he given on Xr Year's Day. * So much for that part of the pa gramme, but there are other ifc which are of a different type. For instance someone is goi: around in , the crowd with a "fivg in his pocket and what is more kai prepared to hand it over to thefc person who approaches hira with ti correct passwords and signs. Heas be known as the "Mystery Man,"aj quite correctly so, since it is proba! a mystery to most of us how he ua ages to have a "fiver" left on N? Year's Day. The aquatic programme is a fi one and in addition to swimni races there are various diving evec and races for children. The purely native side is catei; for by hakas, poi dances, and actii songs, all of which are full of intere to Maori and Pakeha alike. InJ connection the famous poi team i Princess Te Puea of -Ngaruaivak is to be present and as each tribe h its own traditional method of presei l ing the dances, a comparison willl of value to those who are interesli in native customs. As the funds are to be used for 6 upkeep of the Maori Returned So'i iers' Cemetery at Ohinemutu andt! Anglican and Roman Catholic Churd es funds and Returned Soldiers.' ii sociation's funds there should hei hesitation in the public mind in i tending. There could hardly be a b?. ter cause . . . there is almost certak! little chance of there being a bettt programme anywhere in the provin#