Wairarapa Times-Age TUESDAY, JULY 25, 1939. OPPORTUNITY FOR THE MAORI.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 July 1939, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age TUESDAY, JULY 25, 1939. OPPORTUNITY FOR THE MAORI.

♦ TT is a sad fact, and one for which the white people oi tho Dominion cannot disclaim a serious measure of tesponsi u , . that some sections of the Maori race have lor j eats P ,IS ' ‘ , . into rather aimless ways. Although there aie 1011 ‘‘ , exceptions, both in the careers and achievements o. inc i • and in those of tribal communities, the race as a Y ho . e , I ’7 7 at present acquitting itself in a manner worthy or i s in qualities and of the traditions of its.great past.

Happily, however, there are indications that the. qualities of courage and enterprise in the .Maori race qualities fl ue enabled its members, in the days of their Polynesian migration, to rank with the world’s boldest voyagers, explorers and settieis of new lands—are far from being extinguished, loday tne reviving spirit of enterprise amongst the Maoris finds expiession both in' efforts to rehabilitate their tribal organisation and m demands that it should be made possible for them to take a full pari in national life in professional, commercial and other activities.

At the noteworthy gathering of Maoris and pakehas at Pa.pa.wai Pa on Sunday, it was demonstrated that representative members of the white community are in full and hearty sympathy with the progressive aspirations of the Maori race. It. may be hoped that the gathering marks a stage m progress, not only towards the restoration of tribal buildings at 1 apawai, but towards the larger objective of enabling the Maoris to hud an unhampered outlet, in various fields of activity, tor the qualities of ability, energy, and enterprise of which their race in its past history has given signal proof.

While he did not undervalue pakeha eo-operation, and assistance where it is needed and justified, Sir Apirana Ngata, in his address at Papawai, called upon his Maori hearers confidently for self-reliant effort and initiative. This is the true keynote (if Maori progress.* There is plenty _of room for co-operation between the two races, but the Maoris as a people are by no means reduced to a condition.of helpless. dependence. Their greatest need probably is working opportunity.

Aii all-important section of the many-sided problem of Maori rehabilitation was touched upon in Parliament the other day by the member for Northern Maori, Mr Paikea, in a speech in which he emphasised strongly the need of giving effective vocational guidance to Maori adolescents. Acknowledging that a good deal was being done in providing both general and technical education for the youth of his race, he observed that there was still the danger point of adolescence, when Lick of encouragement to enter the right field might result in all the money spent on education being wasted. The possibility of not money only, but lives, being wasted in this way is the more easily appreciated since the self-same problem exists, and is far from having been brought to solution, in the case of white New Zealanders. That the problem is thus widely extended most certainly should not be taken as an excuse for withholding special consideration of the needs of Maori adolescents. It can hardly be doubted, indeed, that anything accomplished* in opening up adequate fields of economic enterprise and activity for the youth of the Maori race will strengthen the total economic and social life of the Dominion. Maoris have every right to engage, with their white fellow-citizens, in professional, industrial, commercial or other activities for which they are fitted by their individual aptitudes and abilities. It has to be admitted, however, that the proportion of Maoris doing so is not yet very large. With the principle of equality of opportunity affirmed, there are obstacles of circumstance and detail which have yet to be removed and undoubtedly ought to be. At the same time, it seems likely that the happiest solution of the problem of the Maori adolescent may be found in many instances in developments closely associated with the tribal organisation and traditions of their own race. At the stage of neolithic culture in which they were found by the first white settlers, the Maoris had developed high standards of craftsmanship—demonstrated in their canoes, whares, weapons and garments —and something more than an elementary sense of art. They are an undoubtedly gifted race and it should not be difficult, in the right conditions of organisation, for them to develop standards of commercial craftsmanship which would open up a profitable market lor their labour and its products. In these days ■when mass production by machinery is carried to an extreme, it is likely that an increasing market could be built up in this country and elsewhere for articles of many kinds, such as furniture and items of interior decoration, textiles, toys and various other things, produced by skilled craftsmen and distinguished agreeably .Irom the monotony of repel it ive uniformity. Possibilities of this kind do not concern the Maori people alone, but a revival and elaboration, with modern adaptations, of the art and craftsmanship for which the Native race was noted in the days when it had an unchallenged tenure in New Zealand suggests itself as one means of providing profitable occupation for its youth of the present day.