MAORIS GO TO TOWN

New Zealand Listener, Volume 10, Issue 236, 31 December 1943, Page 12

MAORIS GO TO TOWN

Children From Tokomaru See The Sights

UT on the playing field the children were gathered together -Maori and Pakeha-playing cficket, chasing about, finding a place in the sun. The children were the pupils of a Wellington public school and the members of the Tokomaru Bay Native School Choir, and they were all getting together as though they were life-long friends-which really was one ~ ae

of the objects of the visit: to encourage greater understanding and friendship between Maori and Pakeha. Tokomaru Bay is 60 miles north of Gisborne on the East Coast and the native school there is'one of the largest in New Zealand. Over 200 pupils attend. They are members of the Ngati Porou Tribe. It was the pupils from this school who took part in the celebrations at Ruatoria, where they were so successful with their singing and dancing that the idea of a tour took root and grew. The fruits of the tour are obvious. Everywhere the children have gone they have been met with understanding and kindness. "This is a goodwill tour as well as an , educational one,’ the Headmaster told us. "Many of the children had never seen a train before and none of them had ever slept away from home. We left Tokomaru Bay at 6 o’clock and travelled to Gisborne by motor. There were cars waiting for us there: they rushed ‘us all round Gisborne in the, 25 minutes we were there and just about showed us everything. Then we went. on to Palmerston North by train and the children were all billeted in private homes. We had to leave next morning but the children seemed to have seen all Palmerston in that time. Now they are billefed in Wellington and they are loving every minute here." A crowd of little boys came clambering round a Maori boy. "Shake hands, shake hands," they were yelling. The (Continued on next page)

(Continued from previous page) Maori boy solemnly shook hands all round and the little boys beamed with pleasure. Some older girls came up, arms round a Maori girl. "We had to stop them giving autographs for a while. It took all their time signing their names, without doing anything else. But they will certainly take some new ideas back with them," said the Headmaster. "They’ve broadcast over the wireless, they’ve been to Parliament Buildings, they’ve performed at the Opera House. They’ve been entertained by Lady Pomare and other Maoris. They've seen most of the public schools, and they’ve been over the woollen mills. They’ve been filmed at the Miramar Film Studios and they’ve been to the Zoo. And those are only some of the things they’ve done." A recording of items made by the Maori children while in Wellington will be heard from 2YA on January 6. -_-_---- -,