Te Kopara 66
[3] Te Kopara, Number 66, Gisborne, 30 June, 1919.
‘Iti te Kopara, kai takirikiri ana i runga i te Kahikatea.’
Although the Bellbird is small, he plucks at the Kahikatea. [cf Nga Pepeha 908]
OUR COLLEGES
The time has come for us to look at the practices of our schools that are providing education for the children of the Maori People. We have put the old ways behind us. We have sought to ascend to the heights of this new century shown us by our elder, Mahupuku. In recent years we have thought that the ultimate achievement of a child was to pass the sixth standard. Indeed, parents said, ‘Why does my child need education?’
Now those in charge are thinking that if a child reaches the sixth standard that is only the beginning of education. We think the same when we consider our children. We should not be anxious about our children being separated from their parents for so long. We parents should have aspirations for the emergence of our children. Look forward. How does our way of life compare to that of our Pakeha friends? The taiaha is no good against the machine-gun. If we continue to live on the level of our Maori aspirations we will remain as something for the Pakeha to gaze at as they gaze at animals. There is only one way that will lead to our friends looking at us with awe and that is if we concentrate of seeking the new learning of this generation of the world.
People, it is out of an anxiety that we may be trampled down that Te Kopara counselled that we take a careful look at ourselves, and not to look only upon yourself. But look ahead to the days of your children and grandchildren. You lay the foundation. It is for the grandchildren to build and complete the house. If the foundation is good then the house will stand firm.
The Pakeha are knowledgeable people, but the Pakeha’s stomach is not gratified by his learning. In their places of education they are always seeking to extend their knowledge beyond what they have already acquired. This is what stimulates the spirit of the Pakeha. His ways of seeking knowledge have been separately evolved.
At the start of children’s learning there is one kind of school for everyone. When they reach the required standard the pupils go on to the larger schools. There they begin
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to specialize in different areas of learning and go on to the Universities. Some of us want our Maori schools to be the same.
One difficulty is that our Maori schools are in three Dioceses. Each has its own Governing Board. Were there only one Board to run all our Maori schools it would be easier. But let us examine this.
We have looked first at Te Aute College. This is a well-known college amongst the Maori People. However, in the years following the death of Mr Thornton, Te Aute has lost its identity. The Maori People are unfamiliar with the running of Te Aute. In the days of Mr Thornton meetings were held and people heard about the work it was doing. Now there is not a voice to be heard.
Enough. This is to inform you that a new Board has been set up to run the various aspects of Te Aute and Hukarere. This is separate from the Board that runs the Te Aute lands. This Board will look into the quality of the teachers, what is taught, the children and even the food. This Board will first manage Te Aute. The members of the Board, the Board of Governors, are:
The Bishop of Waiapu,
Dean Mayne,
Rev W J Simkin,
Mr T Crosse,
Mr T Green (a Lawyer),
Mr Williams,
Mr W Prentice,
Rev F A Bennett.
These are the backgrounds of the members of that Board.
Dean Mayne is minister of the Cathedral, the main church of the Diocese.
The Rev Simkin is the Diocesan Secretary, man who learned the workings of lawyers’ offices.
Mr Crosse is a friend of the Hastings Elders. He is also the Chairman of the Hawkes Bay County Council. He is a man who knows about the ways of managing money. He is also the Chairman of the Board that manages the Te Aute lands. He is a man with strong affection for the Maori People. He and Mason Chambers set up the Hospital for Maori in Hastings at the time of the influenza epidemic.
Mr Green is a lawyer working in Napier. This man was a teacher in one of the large Napier schools in recent years.
Mr Williams is a younger brother of Archdeacon Herbert. He is a man skilled in surveying, architecture and trades. For thirty years he was away in England. At last he returned to New Zealand at the end of the war.
Wiri Prentice is an interpreter and also an old boy of Te Aute College.
And you know the Rev F A Bennett.
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So, people, you will see that this committee has been carefully chosen to fulfil all the hopes we have for Te Aute.
The Committee, the Board, wants to raise the profile of Te Aute. Therefore, if you have any ideas about Te Aute it would be good if you could send them to one of the members of the Board or to the Editor of Te Kopara.
This committee is sympathetic to the Maori People. They want the Maori People to progress. They want to work together with the people on ways by which Maori will go forward.
And we ask the former pupils of Te Aute to support the management of the new Board. Send your ideas for the committee to consider.
THE PEACE TREATY.
On Saturday, 28th June, the Peace Treaty was signed. At 3 o’clock in the after noon all the members of the Peace Conference met together. Clemenceau, the French Prime Minister, presided at the meeting. When the two German representatives arrived in the meeting-place they were called upon to sign the Treaty. Two men signed for the German side. The first person to sign on the Allies’ side was the President of America, after him the Prime Minister of England and the people from each part of the Empire who attended the conference, and then the representatives of France, Italy, Japan, and afterwards the representatives of smaller nations who were present at the gathering. When the last person had signed, guns were fired to show the world that peace had been made.
The letter from King George to the Governor-General of New Zealand said: ‘All parts of the Empire rejoice that the Peace Treaty has been signed. We now know that the fighting has ended, and that we have established the things for which we gave our all in this war, namely, justice and equal standing of people on this earth. I am delighted that I can rejoice along with you and my prayer is that we will see the return of the voice of joy, the voice of life, to all the people of this Empire in the days ahead of us.’
All the ends of the earth are happy that peace has been made. Many celebrate despite their grief. Many homes are without a father and some have lost one or more. We sent off our young men; most have returned but some have gone to a
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foreign land to sleep the long sleep. Some of those who returned have only one leg, or one hand, or one eye. These things happen to them in war. However in these days we have heard that peace has been made, and therefore we can but praise God alone for this blessing he has given on earth. May God above be glorified, may peace be established on earth, and may there be goodwill towards people.
NEW ZEALAND’S DELICIOUS FOODS.
‘Let me say something about the different upbringings of Maori and Pakeha children. I have seen only one Maori child with a bodily defect, a problem with the bones in his back. Most of the Maori children serve as examples of good upbringing while Pakeha children are thin and emaciated.’ Dr Elizabeth Gunn.
I want to write something about Maori food, and to share my thoughts before and after seeing the statement at the top of this article. Dr Gunn was appointed by the Government to look into the health of school children in the Pakeha schools. She praised the raising of Maori children and spoke of how Pakeha children are thin and emaciated.
I think that one reason for the health of our children is our food – puha, kumara, fish. I am not saying that all our Maori foods are good, but to the Maori throat they are wonderful.
Puha is perhaps the most delicious Maori food. Ngatiporou call it pororua; other tribes call it rauriki. To cook it properly it should not be cooked for long and, eaten with pork ribs, what other food is like it? Pororua is the sweetest of all the puha.
But parengo or karengo [edible seaweed] is the sweetest puha (if it is a kind of puha). For me this is one of the most delicious Maori foods. This is the food of kings; a food to look forward to [?takoto roa]. It is to be fried, moistened with cooking oil, and eaten with buttered bread. Friend, who can adequately describe the wonderful taste of the karengo, so despised by the Pakeha?
The kereru, the kukupa [pigeon], of the Great Forest of Tane is Maui’s bird, and the tastiest bird in the world. When the kereru is fat it is food for the gods. Someone may say that the kereru is also tasty to the Pakeha, so why are you saying that this food is only for Maori as the puha and the karengo are for Maori. You are right, but here’s the difference: the Pakeha takes out the innards and makes it into soup and it is terrible. It is just like a hen. The reason why the Maori
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kereru is tastier is that the Maori cook it innards and all. If the kereru has been feasting on the miro, the kahikatea, or the hinau, is there any food like it in the whole world?
Let us turn to seafood. To me the kina [sea-urchin, sea-egg] is one of the tastiest foods in the sea or on the land. The kina should be fat and milky, left for two nights in fresh running water, then eaten with kumara as relish. Only those who have eaten kina are able to praise this food, which is looked down on and despised by the Pakeha. One good thing about this food is that it is easy to gather; it is there on the shore.
Koura [crayfish] is a tasty food but it should be prepared in Maori fashion. The Pakeha eat only the tail of the koura which is the dry and tough part when it is boiled. The shell is the tasty part which is thrown away by stupid Pakeha. If it is prepared for eating by being steeped in fresh water all parts of it taste good and the tail, which is dry if boiled, is very good. Eaten with kumara as relish, who is able to extol its sweetness? The Pakeha make a practice of throwing away the spawn [?tahurihuri – a small fish Williams] which is the tastiest part of the fish – of the hapuku [groper], the kahawai, and the kehe [whiting or hake]. But I don’t know what Doctor Gunn says about this food – steeped koura. To the Pakeha it is rotting crayfish; to me it is a soused koura, a steeped koura. Rotting is different from steeping. The Pakeha still steeps pheasants and hares.
I have portrayed the kehe. For me the kehe is the best and tastiest fish in the sea. The Pakeha does not eat this fish. This shows the foolishness of the Pakeha and explains why his children are ‘thin and emaciated’, as Doctor Gunn says. This food is set aside for the Maori. Moki is the sacred fish – it is abundant and also the one men kill. It would be better if the kehe was declared sacred. Maomao, patiki [flounders], and tamure [snapper] are all tasty fish to the Pakeha but only if fried, whereas they are much better eaten raw. If the kehe is fat then no-one could compare it with any other food. It is easy to catch the kehe in a basket trap or with a landing net. It is not affected by calm or storm. One can catch kehe on days when one can’t catch other fish. But the most glorious thing about the kehe is its oil; there is no oil like it.
There are some other Maori foods – kouka [cabbage tree shoots], pikopiko [fern shoots], tuna [eels], kotero [potatoes steeped in water], taro – I am not going to speak about these – but perhaps I should say something about corn steeped in water, fermented maize – what the Pakeha refer to as rotten corn. Corn is a Pakeha and not a Maori things, but the soaking part of it is a Maori thing only. The Pakeha says that this food is rotten insofar as it has a foul smell. It is true that this food smells but it is different from the foul smell of some rotting things. Indeed beer smells but it is not called rotten. Perhaps Doctor Gunn would not agree that this is one of the foods that make the children of Uawa so sturdy. This is a strange food, a food which has been fermented, and which, by being fermented, has become tasty – very tasty
R[eweti] T K[ohere]
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LETTERS RECEIVED.
To the Editor of Te Kopara.
Salutations to you and to the work you do. I beseech you to load onto the wings of your bird these few words for them to be spread to the marae he visits to be seen by our friends.
First, I want to thank the tribes of the Tai Rawhiti. My friends, it is beyond my abilities to explain just how much I think of you; what you have done is greater than anything done before. Congratulations to all of you. May the Lord help all of you. May what you undertake result in much good. God’s blessing has been upon you. May you continue as an example to the Maori People of these two islands. You tribes that are asleep, wake up, take up the things that the Tai Rawhiti is working at. They are seeking the well-being of our children, they have piled up a trust fund for their children who have come from facing the flames of battle so that their young people will have some rest.
Now they have begun a new project for the well-being of our children, for their descendants in future generations. I urge all of us who are asleep, the three electorates of the North, the West and the South, to support this important project of collecting money to provide scholarships for our children so that they may, as Solomon says, get understanding which is the great good, better than silver and gold – see Proverbs 16.16.
The name of the scholarship should be that of the young Maori who have returned from the war. I finish here. I hope, Editor, that you will add some further words. That’s that.
From Huta Paaka.
[Greetings, Huta, and thank you for your words of praise for the tribes of the Tai Rawhiti. You have set us a good example in praising those other tribes which you see as taking up projects which will lead to the progress of our people in the days ahead. It is an appropriate task for you, for the elders, to encourage those who are working, to applaud good works and to condemn bad works. One of the great problems for Maori is that we have not achieved unity because of jealousy amongst our tribes. Therefore, thank you, Huta. At last we are hearing a voice of praise. By our ongoing efforts to suppress jealousy we will make progress. Your praise is justified. It is remarkable that the Tai Rawhiti money has reached £55,000.
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Te Kopara still has one concern, and it is this: What will be the annual interest on this money available to provide for our young men?
And also: When will a grant be made to our young men?
It is right that we all help with the scholarships to enable the children of our soldiers to attend the large schools. There will be more information in the next edition of Te Kopara. – The Editor.]
To the Editor of Te Kopara.
I want this announcement to be heard by those of our tribes living on marae that have listening ears, speaking mouths and observant eyes. The wise men who run the Land Court are bringing before the Court the lands of Wharekauri [the Chatham Islands]. Most of the people are followers of the lore of Te Whiti, of Parihaka. Te Whiti’s word to his people was they should not allow their lands to come under the jurisdiction of the Court, but that the people should be united, that they should all eat of the one cheese. As a result of this teaching some will not attend the Court and the land will be taken by scoundrels. Those who have been living on the land since the days of their ancestors will find themselves driven off it by the law. Those who will not go will be put in gaol. At this time the people who contested the lands and who have been given the lands have received the news that the Government has decided to ask the landowners of Wharekauri to pay rates on their land, that is, on lands which qualify to pay rates under the Government’s tax provisions. When the Land Court people heard of the Government proposal they were stirred up. So they called a meeting of the people to seek the united view of the people. The Maori came to the decision that they should not pay, based on the saying, ‘Give to Caesar the things belonging to Caesar, and to God the things of God.’ Te Whiti’s people condemned the Government laws which also affected their persons. The people of the Land Court supported and backed the Government laws, but in the course of this day they all turned to criticizing those laws. The proverbs applied:
Ka he kainga tahi, ka ora kainga rua.
‘One dwelling place is overcome, but the second is secure.’ [cf Nga Pepeha 1031]
Ko waho kei te mirimiri, kei te waho kei te rahurahu.
Outside is soothing, but outside there is meddling. [But cf Nga Pepeha 1243,
Ko runga te korero, kei raro te rahurahu.
‘Words above but mischief underneath.’ Also Williams, p.203
Kei runga te mirimiri, kei raro te rahurahu.
Above there is soothing but underneath there is meddling.]
The criticisms made of the Government ideas by the landowners are not very clear. Perhaps no-on can really understand the reason for their objection because they have rejected the word of Te Whiti and now they are thinking of rejecting the Government idea.
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The Government that made the rules for the Maori Land Court has sent them to Wharekauri to assess the lands of Te Whiti’s people as sheep farms, cattle farms, as commercial ventures, as a source of money for them. Where is the Government to get money to give to the orphans, the poor, the elderly, and the soldiers who held on to the standing of your land?
By H T Mataira.
GERMAN TREACHERY.
At the time that the Allies agreed to end the fighting at Germany’s request, the Allies asked Germany to place its warships, its submarines and its small craft, that is, all its fighting ships at sea, under the control of the Allies. England was going to guard those ship until the Peace Conference should deice how they were to be divided up. In recent months that request was met by Germany. It is said that the going of the English fighting ships to fetch the German fleet was unforgettable. During the war the English hoped that the fleet would come to sea to engage with them but that hope was not fulfilled. And it was a matter of shame to the enemy that their fleet should be brought into harbour and that they were not able to fire those large guns on those battleships to give them the superiority in the war. The total number of those fighting ships, large and small, was 72. The large battleships in that fleet had a displacement of 28,000 tons. The money expended on building those 72 fighting ships was £70,000,000.
Those warships were brought to a large haven called Scapa Flow. The Germans were left on board those ships to guard and maintain them under the agreement reached by the Allies and the Germans. The cautionary measures taken by the English with regard to those ships were to guard them with English ships and not to provide them with coal.
But in recent days we have heard news that most of those ships have been scuppered by the Germans in the Scapa Flow harbour. The manner of that treacherous work was arranged by all the Germans on board those ships. The English fleet had moved to a different place dwhich made the sinking of the warships possible. Of the 72 ships, 46 fighting vessels were sunk. One large battleship was not sunk but
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its nine companions were all sunk. Five fighting ships smaller that the above were also all sunk. Of the eight lighter vessels five were completely sunk and three were grounded. Of the 49 torpedo ships, 4 were not sunk, 22 were completely sunk and 18 were grounded.
The Admiral of that German fleet and all the crews on board those warships are now in prison.
MORE ITEMS.
The Hawkes Bay Maori Synod.
The Waimarama chiefs have asked for the Synod to be held in their area. This has been agreed. But the date arranged for the Synod is 3rd August. When the Bishop returns that will be confirmed.
The Day of Celebration.
Parliament has declared that the whole of New Zealand will celebrate the Peace at the same time, 19th to 21st July.
The Honours List.
The Pakeha newspapers have published the list of names of those honoured for their work during the war. The name from Hastings is that of Maku Erihana. Congratulation, Kui, on this honour that has been bestowed upon you.
The Governor-General of New Zealand.
Lord Liverpool’s term in New Zealand as Governor has been extended until June 1920.
Major Meeting of the Church of America.
The General Synod held in Napier last month agreed that eight people from the Church of New Zealand should attend the major meeting being held in America very soon.
A Diocese of Taranaki.
A Committee has been set up to further this matter. If this proposal is adopted then it is thought that the Bishop’s home and Cathedral will be in New Plymouth.
The Cost of the War.
The total amount expended by New Zealand on the war was £200,000,000.
Soldiers of the Church.
A word to Maori soldiers. An office is still open for those soldiers who are considering offering themselves for the work of the Church. ‘The harvest is great, but the labourers are few.’
Victoria School.
At the General Synod held in Napier last month the Bishop of Auckland told of the difficulty of finding money to sustain Victoria School. Because the cost of food and other things has gone up so much it has not been possible to pay the School’s bills. This is a plea to the leaders of the Maori People to take pity on our School. Show you love by giving money. Show your love by providing food. It is a waste if the School closes.
Food for Te Kopara.
Look over the names in the list of subscribers to Te Kopara. If your subscription is overdue then do not wait for a bill but send us your shillings so that you can sleep easily. Some are in debt as much as a pound.
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FOOD FOR TE KOPARA.
June
Name / Address / Payment / Subscription Ends
Peta Nepia / Nuhaka / 5/- / May 1920
Huri Korimete / 10/- / June 1921
John Brown / Military Ward, Napier Hospital / 5/-/ June 1920
Rev W G Williams / 31 Glasgow St, Whanganui / 10/- / December 1921
Eru Monita / c/o Saxby Bros, Opotiki / 5/- / February 1920
Wi Akurangi / Te Rere, Opotiki / 5/- /July 1920
Hoera Rapaea / Kairakau, Otane / 5/- / June 1920
Rota Mohikana / Fernhill / 5/- / June 1920
Rawiri Hinaki / Whangara / 5/- / June 1920
Hemopo Kirikiri, Te Rere / 5/- / June 1920
Major Tunuiarangi / Carterton / 5/- / June 1920
Te Waha Pango / Clive, Hawkes Bay / 5/- / June 1920
Rev J Langton / Ruatahuna PO, via Rotorua / 5/- / June 1920
A NOTICE
Those wishing to purchase Prayer Books, Hymn Books or Testaments should send their request to
H W Williams,
Naurea, Private Bag, Gisborne.
Large, soft cover 3/-
Large, red cover 3/6
Large, hard cover 4/6
Large, superior cover 6/6
Prayer Book with Hymns, soft cover 2/-
Prayer Book with Hymns, red cover 3/-
Prayer Book with Hymns, hard cover 6/6
Prayer Book, New Testament and Hymns, red cover, 4/6
Prayer Book, New Testament and Hymns, superior cover, 7/-
I will pay the postage to send the books to you.
A reminder to you: because of the war everything has gone up in price. Therefore in the case of the books being printed here of whatever kind, those who want them will find that the price has gone up and there is nothing we can do about it. However in coming years perhaps the prices of all of them may return to what they were before.
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