NBS IS PLAYING PART IN PRESERVING AUTHENTIC MAORI CULTURE

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 36, 17 February 1939, Unnumbered Page

NBS IS PLAYING PART IN PRESERVING AUTHENTIC MAORI CULTURE

® Occasion is frequently found to lament the Europeanising of the Maori, the commercialisation of his arts and crafts, and the ever-lessening interest being taken by succeeding generations of Maoris in the proud traditions of their race, ® The remedy is- difficult to suggest off-hand. Certainly it does not lie in the commercialisation of Maori culture. @ Much can be done by careful encouragement and preservation of the authentic elements of ancient Maori arts, crafts, music and dancing. Most of this is perilously near extinction, and the greater praise is due, therefore, to the work which is being done by enthusiasts to preserve it. THE fine programme presented on Monday of last week from 2YA by the Wanganui Maori Party on the anniversary of Waitangi, illustrates the serviee radio can perform in this direction. Quite apart from the actual programme presented, a series of recordings was made during the party’s stay in Wellington, and the NBS showed commendable enterprise and foresight in arranging the visit. Probably no fitter party of Maoris could have been selected for the purpose in view. They are members of the Wainui-Arua tribe, and come from the Putiki and Kaiwhaiki pas in the Wanganui district, and they are almost completely unspoiled. ,

Musical director and manager of the party for many years has been Mr. O. Kitson, and every item the party performs is under the careful supervision of Ope Whanarere and Ngapaki Mete Kingi. Ope Whanarere, who is- the son of the chief of the WainuiArua tribe, is one of the Maoris’ few authorities on traditional culture. The very old incantations which have survived since the coming of the first great canoes from legendary Hawaiki, the paddling chanties with which the early navigators enlivened their long voyages, the chants of praise’ and thanksgiving for safe arrival, the games and dances of early communal life are all preserved in Ope’s brain.

None of it is in writing, The music, much of which is in quarter notes, is impossible to set down in ordinary musical characters. From father to son this culture has been passed down, and before Ope dies he in turn will pass it on again. First half of 2YA’s Waitangi programme was of especial interest, being a dramatic narrative of the coming of the canoe Aotea, with ancient chants and incantations interposed by Mr. Kitson’s party. ° The grand studio at 2YA presented an interesting scene while recordings were being made the morning following the broadcast. Pianos and settees were littered with Maori mats, paddles, pois and musical instruments,

Mr. Kitson’s party, some 30 Maoris altogether, were about to rehearse a double poi song. While they were waiting, a jovial Maori was extemporising on the studio piano, and a small group was harmonising a song with the complete enjoyment of born musicians. In carpet slippers and wrapped in a rug in an easy chair-he has not been in the best of health re-cently-Ope Whanarere sat quietly looking on, Good Record HE double poi song was rehearsed several times to ensure correct balance between the rhythmic beat of the pois and the voices of the singers. Followed a recording of the old stick game, tititourea. Heard over the air the night before, the stick game had been interesting enough, with the rhythmic clatter of the sticks, and an excited chant in the background, but to see it played was to make X many times more interesting. Two girls knalt on the studio floor facing each other, wooden batons about an inch in thickness and 20 inzhes.Jony in each hand. Other m¢gmbers of the party gathered to watch the players and urge them o2 with the chant which goes with the game. Tititourea is just as much a test of quickness of eye and co-ordination of mind and hand as boxing. From player to player the sticks are tossed with lightning rapidity, each player seeking at the same time to trick the other into dropping the _ Sticks. Next comes a fierce haka, led by T. Paamu, who, besides being an excellent leader of hakas, is an expert with the taiaha. Use of the taiaha, the spear with which the Maori warrior dispensed such quick and efficient death at close quarters, is almost a lost art, and to-day, Paamu says, there are

no more than ten Maoris in Nevw Zealand who are conversant with the 140 different figures the efiicient taiaha man must know. "Pikonae"’ ERHAPS the most interesting record the party made was of the hymn ‘‘Pikonae,’’ which Maoris know as the ‘‘Death Hymn.’"’ Ordinarily it is sung only at the Anzac Memorial Service held every year at Moutoa Gardens, Wanganui, the only Maori service held in New Zealand, and a belief has grown up that singing the hymn on other occasions inevitably presages the death of a prominent member of the race. The party agreed -to record "Pikonae" on condition that the recording is used by the NBS solely on memorial occasions as a tribute to the passing of some dig-° tinguished Maori. The hymn was sung unaccoripanied, and a strange silence fell .+ over the studio as the singers ¥" grouped together. The Eng?!x": translation of the first line is "When our heads are bowed in woe," and "Pikonae" must indeed be one of the saddest songs in any language. In distinct contrast was the final record made that morning, 2 gay action song, the words of which were written by Ope Whanarere, and the music by Mr. Kitson. Two guitars provided the accompaniment, and the sad. associations of "Pikonae" forgotten, the singers gave themselves whole-heartedly to the lilt and movement of the song. So ended a busy morning’s work, and after having their. ; graphs) taken, the Maoris. dispersed to their hotel to rest in pr eparation for the afternoon. It is a pity that there was no motion picture camera in -2YA’s studio to record that colour and spectacle and gaiety of the occas sion,