Tokelauans Welcomed to New Zealand

Te Ao Hou, March 1967, Page 32

Tokelauans Welcomed to New Zealand Twenty-two single Tokelauan women and three families arrived at Auckland on Monday, 5 December, 1966, and were welcomed at Mangere marae by a large gathering of Maoris and Pacific Islanders. The traditional wero and karanga, speeches of welcome and reply, interspersed with action songs by the home party and songs and dances by the Tokelauan visitors, were followed by an excellent meal enjoyed by the 200 present, and more dancing and singing in the meeting house. The Tokelauans, who were accompanied on their journey to New Zealand by Mr John Rangihau, Rotorua's District Welfare Officer, were all coming to live and work here. After three days at Mangere the families travelled to Rotoehu, where the fathers were to be employed by the N.Z. Forest Service, and the girls went to work at hospitals in Auckland, Wanganui, Palmerston North and Wellington. The day after their arrival at Mangere the Tokelauans were taken by bus to Auckland where they were outfitted at George Court's Limited, and given a free lunch by the management. On Wednesday and Thursday each member of the party was given a medical examination by Dr Ian Prior and Dr Tinielu, a Tokelau Islander doing in-service training at Auckland Hospital, and time was spent sorting and labelling clothes. Some of the party were taken on sightseeing trips by Auckland members of the Maori Women's Welfare League. The girls of Queen Victoria School were holding their inter-house action song and poi competitions on Wednesday evening and the Tokelauans were welcome guests. One of the items presented was the song that won Ngapine Thompson a special prize in the N.Z.B.C.'s competition. The three Tokelauan families left Mangere marae on Friday morning and travelled by railcar to Te Puke where they were met by Mrs Hine Potaka, president of the Maketu branch of the Maori Women's Welfare League and area representative for Waiariki on the Dominion Executive. The visitors were escorted to Maketu marae for a formal Maori welcome by the Arawa confederation of tribes. When welcoming the families, Mr J. H. W. Barber, District Officer of the Maori Affairs Department in Rotorua, said, ‘These are the first families to come from the Tokelau Islands, and it is perhaps well-chosen that they should come to one of the most progressive and fertile areas in New Zealand, with an atmosphere of go-ahead and people of good-will.’ He said that the 12 men from the Tokelau Islands who had arrived to work at the Waipa Mill about nine months before had adapted so well to the conditions, the general manager of the mill had asked the Department to find them 12 more men. A little Tokelauan boy in the centre of an admiring group of girls from Queen Victoria School

Mr A. G. Spratt, a Tauranga county councillor, welcomed the islanders on behalf of the Tauranga county. Other speakers were Mr S. Mitchell, Maori Welfare Officer, Rotorua, Mr H. Potaka, a member of the local marae committee, and Mr Wi Hapi, a local elder. On behalf of the Tokelau Islanders, Mr John Rangihau said that in the past week they had seen things they had never seen before, and he was surprised how quickly they had adjusted. Mr Iuliano Tulafona, as spokesman for the islanders, thanked both Maori and European for the warmth of their welcome, and said how pleased they were to be able to come. Both the Maoris and the Tokelauans presented musical items during the ceremony, and after the evening meal the visitors were entertained at a concert, again reciprocating with many of their own traditional items. The following day, after sleeping at Whakaue meeting house, the families were taken by a Forestry bus to Rotoehu, where the whole community gave them a tremendous welcome. School children (mostly pakeha) in traditional dress. Forestry workers, Tokelauan boys from Waipa, Fijian junior woodsmen stationed at Rotoehu, all joined in a day of entertainment and festivity. The school sports and gala were The Tokelauan families and the welcoming party on the verandah of the meeting house at Maketu National Publicity Studios photographs. At the Rotoehu welcome held and at a Christmas party Santa Claus gave gifts to the eleven children in the three families. League members in the Auckland, Maketu and Rotoehu districts deserve praise for the willing effort they put in to make these new neighbours welcome.