EDITORIAL

Tu Tangata, Issue 1, 1 August 1981, Page 2

EDITORIAL

Throughout most of 1979 and 1980, the public were able to find out about the news and views of Maoridom through two independent Maori magazines, “Te Kaea” (published by the Department of Maori Affairs) and “Te Maori” (published by the New Zealand Maori Council).

This year, the department and the council have combined their resources to produce a new joint venture, “Te Tangata”.

Tu Tangata will not only continue to bring the best of “Te Kaea” and “Te Maori” to its readers, but will strive to publicise and reflect the widest possible picture of Maoridom as it was in the past, as it is today and as it may be in the future.

Each issue will contain contributions from the Department of Maori Affairs, the New Zealand Maori Council and the Women’s Welfare League as well as a host of news, prose and comment from individual and collective members of the public.

As the first issue will show, “Tu Tangata” will strive to present a variety of topics, from features on sport, recreation and health to commentaries on current public issues and affairs.

Each issue will contain the work of Maori artists and writers plus a wealth of interesting photographs and stories on the national and local happenings during the year.

Given the diversity of the Maori population today, “Te Tangata” aims to bring the Maori people in closer contact with each other through a comprehensive and relevant publication that is both informative and entertaining.

It also aims to provide, for all people, an insight into the Maori way of life both historically and currently.

To achieve these ends, “Tu Tangata” must be seen not only as a magazine about Maoris but a magazine for Maoris, available for use by the individual as well as the collective group or official body.

In order to achieve the widest possible coverage of news and activities within the Maori community, “Tu Tangata” will depend largely on contributions from the community, whether it concerns the local school’s project for Maori Language Week, a meeting of local landowners or a regional Maori speech contest.

“Tu Tangata” follows in the footsteps of three equally successful Maori magazines, “Te Kaea”, “Te Maori” and the respected “Te Ao Hou” which enjoyed a run of more than 20 years before ceasing publication in 1976.

Hopefully, “Tu Tangata” will enjoy equal success and become a valuable source of information and entertainment, not only for the present generation but for those to come.

The New Zealand Maori Council

This is the first issue of “Tu Tangata” a new magazine incorporating both “Te Kaea” and “Te Maori”. This joint venture, sponsored by the Department of Maori Affairs, the Maori Women’s Welfare League and the New Zealand Maori Council in partnership, is aimed at producing a publication to inform the Maori people of the things of today, without fear and without favour. It is hoped, too, that if it can prove its own ‘intrinsic merit’, “Tu Tangata” will have appeal for all people.

The New Zealand Maori Council has been less than unanimous in its approval of the project. Auckland and Waiariki Maori District Councils have flatly rejected any involvement whatsoever, stating this merger has ensured the total takeover of the New Zealand Maori Council by the Department of Maori Affairs. Other district councils, while guarded in their comments, see a possible danger of “Tu Tangata” becoming a Maori Affairs Department official organ with little freedom of expression for the Maori Women’s Welfare League or the New Zealand Maori Council. Strongly, those district councils in complete support are those in which “Te Maori” was most successful in circulation and finance.

All commitments entered into previously with “Te Maori” will be honoured in full, advertising, contracts, record club orders and subscriptions paid. So, those of you who have been waiting patiently, please be patient just a little longer. We valued your past support; please continue it into the future. We need you. Help us flourish.

The Maori Women's Welfare League

The Maori Women’s Welfare League is most appreciative of the invitation to join with the Department of Maori Affairs and the New Zealand Maori Council in this new publication which has evolved from the merger of the magazines “Te Kaea” and “Te Maori”.

This magazine, “Tu Tangata”, will provide an opportunity for a government department and two large national Maori organisations to reach out to the wider community with information and comment on the many developments and changes that are coming upon us all, thick and fast. It will provide, too, an opportunity for that wider community to share their concerns and the responsibility for future planning. The league hopes all of you will support “Tu Tangata” and wishes this new venture every success.