MAORI COURT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 December 1939, Page 8

MAORI COURT

OPENING CEREMONY SHORTLY AT EXHIBITION RITUAL CELEBRATIONS. On December 14. at the Centennial Exhibition, the Prime Minister, the RL Hon. M. J. Savage, will officiate at the opening ceremony of the Maori Court. The ceremony will be accompanied by traditional Macri ritual and celebrations. The construction of the court, which has been in progress since opening day; has been under the supervision of I Sir Apirana Ngata. It was originally proposed to hold the opening in front of the meeting house, but it has now been decided to hold the preliminary part of the ceremony in one of the band shell areas, so that there will be seating accommodation for 2,000 people and standing room for many thousands. This part of the ceremony will take the form of a reception to the Prime Minister and other distinguished guests, who. in the afternoon, will be the guests of the Maori people. ftmong the visitors will be 80 to 109 members of the Arawa tribe, from Rotorua. to whom will be given the Kawa, or Maori ceremonial opening. Entertainment will be provided by the Ngati-Poneke, or Maoris of Wellington and suburbs. , Officers and men of the Maori Battalion training at Trentham will form a Guard of Honour and, if military regulations permit, they will perform the appropriate war dance. It is expected that about 300 Natives will take part in the entertainments connected with the opening ceremony, and speeches of welcome will be made from the band shell by prominent Maori chiefs.

Before the Primo Minister declares the building opened, a noted tohunga of the Rotorua district will perform the ancient Kawa ceremony of removing the tapu from the building. It has been impracticable to observe strictly the laws of tapu connected with the decoration of such a building on account of tile peculiar circumstances at the Exhibition. It is intended, however. io close the hall to the public on Monday, December 11, and to keep it closed till the opening ceremony. The Rotorua party will spend about a week in Wellington and during their stay entertainments will be given in die Maori Court and in the Assembly Hall. The preparation of the court is rapidly advancing, the roof is being thatched and the great carved barge-boards have been set in place. Yesterday, a great heap of beautiful paua shells, collected from the shores of Port Nicholson and Cook Strait below the low-tide mark, wore awaiting shaping and fixing to the eyes of the figures in di? wooden carvings of the house. The building will be finished in ample time for the ceremony.