He Maramara Korero

Kaea, Issue 3, 1 June 1980, Page 26

He Maramara Korero

WORK INTEGRATION ISN’T WORKING

A study just published by the Labour Department reveals that a

disproportionately large number of Maori are employed in areas like production, transport and labouring.

The study, which looks at the

integration of Maori people into the “mainstream” labour force from 1951 to 1976, is based on an American study which argues that the lack of such integration in the workforce stems from prejudice and discrimination.

While the report claims that the differences between Maori and non-Maori participation are not of great significance, it nevertheless makes the following observations:

PLAYWRIGHT’S DILEMMA

Remember Joe and Koro? Well, Rawiri Paratene (and no prizes for guessing which part he played in the popular TV series) is about to demonstrate that he can do more than just act. He has written a play called Saturday Morning, and he’s producing and directing it too. Billed as a comedy, Saturday Morning is not without its serious side, set as it is in the local lock-up “the morning after the night before” with a bunch of predominantly Maori characters chatting as they wait to go up before the magistrate.

The actors are mainly amateurs (the exception is Jim Moriarty, best known as Riki in Close to Home), and ironically enough the main part is played by Rawiri Rangitauira, who is a lawyer in real life!

The problem, says Rawiri Paratene, is where to stage it. He sees Saturday Morning as a very Maori play, and for that reason he thinks it is a play that Pakehas ought to see. He’s been offered Wellington’s smart Downstage Theatre, but not many Maori people go there. Or he could put it on at Newtown

Community Centre but then not many middle-class Pakehas go there. Either way, Wellingtonians are urged to keep an eye out for what Rowley Habib has described as “a marvellous slice of life”.

• Maori men are most integrated in groups which anyway have the greatest share of male employees, such as agricultural, labourers, transport, production and equipment operators. They are least integrated in the clerical, technical and professional areas. • Maori women also figure in clusters in the production, transport and services fields. While differentiation has lessened in the clerical and sales areas, the position of Maori women in the professional technical group has worsened.

• Although there are more Maori women than men in the so-called professions, most of them are working in the “female” areas of teaching and nursing. • By 1971 the production and transport occupations had become disproportionately high employers of Maori women. The study concludes that in a truly egalitarian society there would be no differentiation at all, and that “economic integration among New Zealand’s various ethnic groups is far from complete.”

RUKABROUGHTON Mr Ruka Broughton, who recently took up his new post as lecturer in Maori studies at Victoria University, Wellington. From Whanganui, Ruka belongs to Nga Rauru. He has had a busy and fascinating career to date: he was a farmer and in 1961 embarked on theological studies which led to him becoming the first Maori ever to become ordained in St Paul’s Cathedral, Wellington. He has played a major role in the preserving and continuing of Maori traditions. His waiata compositions have won prizes, he has judged at several Polynesian competitions, and has supervised the carvings for the Maungarongo marae at Ohakune as well as the model pa in the church grounds at Putiki. He was awarded his M.A. degree from Victoria last month, having presented a thesis on the history of the Nga Rauru people.

MAORI ART OVERSEAS Auckland Museum ethnologist David Simmons has spent six months researching the collections of European museums to build up information on historic Maori artefacts. As a result, Auckland Museum now has records of ninety per cent of all known Maori artefacts. He says: “The aims of my period of research in Europe were to make a record of collections not otherwise recorded; to study collections made by early navigators; to obtain information from these sources on regional variations in material culture, both geographically and chronologically; and to record, particularly, information on tribal carving styles for the use of present-day carvers

wishing to inspire themselves for the future.” During his tour, which was partly funded by the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council, he visited sixty-nine museums and recorded about 5,000 artefacts. In the course of his work some surprising discoveries were made. The Hunterian Museum of the University of Glasgow, for example, holds items which Captain Cook had given to his friend William Hunter. Some of them have been kept in cupboards and never exhibited, and the staff thought they came from the northwest coast of Canada! Among these items were dogskin cloaks where the fur is still fresh, in rich reddish-brown and white. In most known cloaks as old as these, the fur is grey or has disappeared altogether. Similarly, the

taniko has all the freshness of its original colours. And in Florence David Simmons discovered the prows and sterns of eight war canoes carved by Ngati Tarawhai before 1860. After that date Ngati Tarawhai, who had traditionally been canoe carvers, turned to carving houses. No clear examples of their canoe work has been preserved in New Zealand. Otago Museum was not established until 1862, and Auckland was not active in this field until some years later, so in David Simmons’s words, “We are in some ways fortunate that so much was preserved overseas.” Are there plans to repatriate any of these items? The aim of the trip was not specifically to consider bringing artefacts back to New Zealand, but the possibility of returning certain objects is being considered. For example, in Florence are the halves of six house carvings from Rotorua. They were given by Auckland Museum in around 1890 in exchange for an Egyptian mummy. The other halves of the carvings are still in Auckland.

NGARIMU SCHOLARS The seven Maori students who will hold the 1980 Ngarimu and 28th (Maori) Battalion Memorial scholarships for undergraduates have been announced by the Fund Board’s chairman, the Minister of Education, Mr M. L. Wellington. The successful scholars are: Garth James Pickett, of Papatawa, Woodville. A former pupil of Tararua College, Garth will study industrial engineering at Massey University; Mark Tuariarangi Milroy, of Glen Eden, Auckland, who will study law at Auckland University. He attended Kelston Boys’ High School where he helped to train and teach the school’s Maori culture party during its tour of Canada last year;

Annabel Lucy Jacob of Pahiatua. She plans to study law at Victoria University. Annabel attended Tararua College and Samuel Marsden College where she was Head Girl. Four of this year’s Ngarimu scholars will study medicine. They are: Fear Taitimu Brampton, of Mangere. As a pupil at Penrose High School, Taitimu took a special interest in Maori art and carving; Suzanne Mary Crengle, of Pakuranga, who attended Mana and Pakuranga Colleges, gained very marks in her science subjects and pursued her interest in Maori by taking evening classes; Guy Claude Naden, of Gisborne, who studied at Gisborne Boys’ High School. He has represented Poverty Bay at golf. He was the Tairawhiti region representative at the national finals of the Korimako Speech competition at Otaki; Sallyanne Tanya Patchett, of Blenheim. Sally took a special interest in Maori culture and distinguished herself at sport. She was Head Girl at Marlborough Girls’ College in 1979.

BELLS APPEAL Mr G. W. Stuart believes that most old bells have a story to tell, and is busy compiling a register of the bells of New Zealand. He is interested in the origin, metal, size, age and sound of the bells to be found in churches, schools, museums, farms, ships and marae. Many of our marae bells have an interesting background they may, for example, have come from a shipwreck. Mr Stuart would be pleased to hear from anybody with information, and you can write to him at P.O. Box 730, Nelson. Or you may prefer to give him a ring...

CULTURAL COMPOST Api Taylor, vice-president of New Zealand Maori Artists and Writers (Society Inc.), sends us the following message: If you are on our mailing list, you receive a newsletter designed to inform, turn and enrich the topsoil of your mind. If you are not on our mailing list, send your address to Tapu te Ranga Marae, 44 Rhine Street, Island Bay, Wellington.

RACIAL HARMONY IN NEW ZEALAND

If you thought you’d heard the last of the Auckland haka party incident, you’re wrong. A while ago, as a result of the strong opinions expressed over the incident, the Human Rights Commission invited the public to make submissions on what it thought were the main issues under the general heading of “Racial Harmony in New Zealand”. Now a report of the same name has been published by the Commission. It contains some very challenging views, and suggests a diversity of thought which needs further discussion. Says Hiwi Tauroa, Race Relations Conciliator and Human Rights Commissioner, “It is time we stopped sweeping problems under the carpet and started being honest with ourselves ... we are now publishing this material so that the public can discuss it fully.” Anyone is encouraged to read the report (which can be obtained by telephoning collect the office of the

Human Rights Commission in Wellington, 739 981, or the Race Relations Office in Auckland, 771 295). Anyone is encouraged to make further submissions in writing to these two offices, or contacting their officers who will be touring the country according to the following schedule: Wellington (Polytechnic) 26-7 May; Upper Hutt (Central Institute of Technology) 27-8 May; Palmerston North (Technical Institute) 9 June; New Plymouth (Taranaki Polytechnic) 16 June; Napier-Hastings (HB Community College) 23-4 June; Hamilton (Waikato Technical Institute) 30 June-1 July; Rotorua (Waiariki Community College) 1-2 July; Auckland (Manukau Technical Institute) 14-5 July; Auckland (Technical Institute) 16-7 July; Whangarei (Northland Community College) 21-2 July.

KEEP ON TRUCKING

Tairawhiti District Officer of Maori Affairs, Harris Martin, is pictured here with members of the Mongrel Mob Tu Tangata Co-operative. From left, they are Boris Hurinui, Eddie Karini, Nicki Tu and Ikadie Miringaorangi. The occasion is the handover of a new truck, bought with the aid of a loan from the Maori Trustee. It will play an important part in a new venture set up by the Co-operative for gathering seaweed along the East Coast. First-grade agar commands good prices, and the fifteen-strong Co-operative, previously unemployed, are keen to make the most of the opportunity. Mr Martin has since been appointed District Officer for Waiariki.

After meetings around the country, and the taking of further submissions up to 1 August, a final report will be prepared. To aid analysis of the submissions, the Commission asks that any specific points and recommendations are made with a view to eliminating racial misunderstanding and discrimination in New Zealand. The full report will make appropriate recommendations to government and other bodies, says Hiwi Tauroa, and he adds: “We are hoping for a vigorous response so that all the people of New Zealand can work together for a just and harmonious society.”

INTERESTED IN JOURNALISM AS A CAREER?

The Department of Maori Affairs is organising a four-day course to be held in Wellington towards the end of August for young people (aged 15-24). The idea is not to train journalists, but to give an introduction to the profession. Successful candidates will visit newspapers, radio and TV stations and meet Maori and Pacific Island journalists. The Department hopes that this course will enable more students to consider journalism as a career, and ultimately to boost the number of Polynesians in the news media. The proposal has the support of the Journalism Industry Training Board and the Polynesian Advisory Committee to the Vocational Training Council. If you’re interested, get in touch with a community officer at your local office of the Department of Maori Affairs.