Te Kopara 86
[3] Te Kopara, Number 86, Gisborne, 30 April, 1921.
‘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]
HUI TOPU OF THE MAORI CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE OF WAIAPU.
This hui was held at Manutuke from Friday 6th April to Monday 11th April. The last Hui Topu held in Manutuke was in 1905 and at last another has been held here.
After 1905 the Hui Topu was held in Waiapu, after Waiapu it was held in Rotorua, after Rotorua it was held in Omāhu, after Omāhu, it was held at Te Araroa, and after Te Araroa it has been held again in Manutuke.
For twenty-six years the hui has moved about and at last it returned to Manutuke, the true home of this hui. It was Bishop Averill’s idea to move the hui about We do not know what the present Bishop of Waiapu has in mind for the future, if it will move about or stay permanently at Manutuke.
Some of the clergy arrived on Friday 8th. The Ngatiporou ministers arrived on the Saturday.
Saturday was a Retreat Day for the ministers. This day set apart for the ministers only, to provide a time for personal reflection [mea whakateatea]. The main service was on the Sunday. On the Monday the business of Synod was transacted. These were the ministers who attended: The Bishop of Waiapu, Archdeacon Williams, Archdeacon W J Simpkin, Canon Hakaraia Pahewa, the Revs W Tureia Puha, Ahipene Rangi, F A Bennett, Pine Tamahori, Hemipiri Munro, Poihipi Kohere, Ereatara Eruini, Hemi HUata, Pene Hakiwai. The few lay representatives who attended were Kipa Rawa from Tangoio, Tamihana from Te Wairoa, Paratene from Nuhaka, and Hakaraia from the Parish of Te Kaha.
The absence of the elders from this meeting of the Hui Topu at Manutuke was a cause for sadness. In 1905 the following elders attended the Hui Topu: Revs Matiaha Pahewa, Tamihana Huata, Rutene Aihu, Te Mana, Hone Waitoa, and many lay representatives who were alive at that time.In these days they are gone, and the Church people attending this hui seemed like the remnant.
[4]
The Sunday Services.
The first service was the Lord’s Supper at 7 a.m. Forty people took Holy Communion. The Rev Tureia Puha (the minister of the parish) and the Bishop officiated. The main service was at 11 a.m. Holy Trinity church was packed full. It was pleasing to see all the people from the town there along with the local people and those who live nearby.
The Bishop’s Address.
I greet you in the name of Christ. Welcome to this hui. Since the last Hui Topu the following ministers have entered upon their long rest: Waata Kopae, Nepia Hotene, Turuturu Ngaki, Ratema Te Awekotuku, and Henare Te Wainohu.
Waata Kopae studied at Te Rau College. After ordination he was sent to the Parish of Nuhaka, His work in that parish during the short time he was there was remarkable. He was a man who took up ideas which led to the growth of the Church. He devoted himself to teaching the children the basics if the faith in all places and at all times when he was able to gather them together.
Nepia Hotene went from Te Rau to Rotorua to be assistant minister. Before a year had passed he became ill and died. He was a gentle and kind man, and his brief time as a minister meant that these qualities were not fully appreciated by the people
Turuturu Ngaki was a man who graduated from Te Rau College. When he became a minister he was assigned to the Bay of Plenty area. His pleasant Christian spirit meant that people grieved greatly at his death.
Ratema Te Awekotuku attended Te Rau as an elder. While he was studying he travelled widely in the Urewera Country He was also one of the first ministers to visit the marae of the Urewera. After he was ordained as a deacon he and Turuturu were sent to Whakatane. Afterwards he was moved to the Rotorua district. He was there until his death. At the time of the great war this elder worked hard in the service of the Church even though he was a pensioner. He was a man of humble heart, a man of faith.
Henare Wepiha was the most respected man in this diocese. You are all aware of his going to be a padre for the Maori Contingent at the beginning of the war and of the tributes paid to him by those with whom he worked. But it was at Gallipoli that his great ability was seen and his brightness. He was a real leader of his young men, their firm friend, and their father in spiritual matters. Many honours were conferred
[5]
on him during the war. Now he has come to his resting-place. He has been rewarded with the ultimate honours as a true soldier of Jesus Christ.
My thought is to continue holding these triennial hui here at Manutuke as was the practice in former days.
This hui was to have been held last year but it was put off because I was away in England at the Lambeth Conference. This 1920 Lambeth Conference was the largest ever held there. Two hundred and fifty-four bishops attended. Many important matters relating to the world-wide faith were dealt with. The most important was that relating to the unity of the Church. We will be taking action on this matter before or after the coming Diocesan Synod. I shan’t speak about it now but I ask you to think and pray about it.
There are some matters that affect us here, important matters that it is right for us to address today.
The Issue of Money.
I am sorrow at having to raise this matter of money amongst you at this hui. I had hoped that the old parent parishes of Turanga, Whangara, Tokomaru, Hikurangi and Kawakawa, would have come up with some great ideas, but according to the 1920 Annual Accounts not a single penny has been collected towards the stipends of their ministers. However some of the parishes sent money after the closing of the Annual Accounts. But this much is clear; not much money has been collected. This is a serious problem affecting our work – that there are no stipends to pay your ministers. And if the parishes do not wake up to help the work of the Church we will find ourselves in great difficulties during the coming year. This causes me great sadness.
It makes me sad that one year it is easy to collect money and another year not a single penny is collected. This kind of money-gathering is not right for us Church people.
I plead with the elders of the Church to each set apart a tenth part of your earnings to facilitate the work of God and his Church. If this is done then the work of the Church will thrive.
Trust Funds
I am happy to be able to report on something that eases the sorrow I’ve just spoken of. Many parishes in the Diocese are increasing their trust funds. They are Porangahau, Te Hauke, Pakipaki, Kohupatiki, Nuhaka, Moteo, Omahu, Waipawa and Te Kaha. On behalf of the Diocese I thank you for your efforts and I urge all the Maori parishes of the Diocese to follow this example. I think this is the way to ease the heavy burden spoken of above.
(To be continued.)
[6]
TE AUTE COLLEGE.
I was very happy to see the article about Te Aute and Hukarere in Number 84 of Te Kopara, but there was part of it that was not clear to me. I speak about Te Aute only; I have nothing to say about Hukarere. I am someone who was educated at Te Aute, ‘I was grown at the feet’ of Mr Thornton, and therefore I retain my affection and my yearning for my [?matua, ?mātua - ?first, ?parent] school. At the Commission of Enquiry into Te Aute College I was called to speak before the Commission. These were the matters I spoke about. First, farming should be added to the subjects taught by the College. Second, Those capable of continuing to the last class, that is, to Matriculation, should be selected and the remainder, most of the pupils, should be taught farming or other subjects appropriate to them. I was criticized for my statements and received an anonymous letter containing derisory comments. Now what I hoped for has come about; farming will now be taught at Te Aute and a selection will be made of pupils capable of doing Matriculation. While I was Editor of Te Pipiwharauroa I preached that farming was the best occupation for Maori, the occupation that would ensure them of a living. The Commission asked me what I thought about Pakeha attending Te Aute College. I did not agree that Pakeha should attend Te Aute because the Pakeha have many colleges while Maori have only one, Te Aute. Another reason I gave was that the children of leading Pakeha are sent to leading Pakeha schools; those sent to Te Aute would be from poor homes and some would be problem children. These words of mine referred to some Pakeha children during the time I was at Te Aute. I also said that it was good to have some Pakeha children at Te Aute to teach the Maori children the English language and Pakeha ways. There still sounds in my ears the song sung by a Pakeha child which we used to tease each other:
“This bleak and frosty mornin’
All thoughts of danger scornin’.”
[7]
I don’t agree with the statement printed by Te Kopara that, because some Government land was given to provide for Te Aute College, it was right that Te Aute should be open to Pakeha and that the number of Maori children should be reduced. This is an erroneous idea. It implies that the part given by the Government was given for the benefit of Pakeha children only. The part given by the Government was an extension of that of the Maori – a widespread Government practice. But had some Pakeha land been given for the school, besides that given by the Government, then admitting Pakeha children would be alright. It is right that the Government should help the Maori.
Archdeacon Samuel Williams was the man who built Te Aute, who developed it, who cherished it, and he was very clear about the purpose of Te Aute. I have often heard him say that Te Aute was for Maori only. It is true that there is a statement in the instrument of government that Te Aute would be a school for both peoples but Mr Williams explained that the purpose of those words was to allow Pakeha children to attend if they lived close to Te Aute and there was no Pakeha school nearby. It was not a way of opening Te Aute to all the Pakeha children of New Zealand or of the whole world. It is clear that this was not the intention; had it been the whole situation would be confused. There are Pakeha schools and colleges everywhere, so why should Te Aute be open to Pakeha?
It is right that in these stressful times pupils attending Te Aute should pay but my fear is that some intelligent children will be prevented from attending because their parents are unable to pay, and that perhaps in days to come Te Aute will be for the elite only. When the Matriculation class is restored at Te Aute then let us ask the Government to provide bursaries so that the children can go on to University. Matriculation is worthless if you can’t go on to University. Other indigenous peoples of the world are able to go to University; why should Maori be prevented from doing so?
A final word. I congratulate the managers of Te Aute and Mr Loten on the College’s new prospectus. So, Maori People, as our children are taught the skills of farming, hold on to, hold on to, hold on to your remaining land to be farmed by your children when they finish school.
Reweti T Kohere,
Te Araroa.
Don’t put up with coughs and colds. Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure. 1/9, 2/9 a bottle.
[8]
LETTERS RECEIVED.
To the Editor of Te Kopara.
Greetings to you and thank you for your work that makes it possible for our eyes to see and our ears to hear my statements and those of my friend, Te Hau Mataira. My friends, it is for you to decide which of us is wrong. Te Hau Mataira says that I should withdraw my declaration in which I praise the generosity of the Tai Rawhiti in collecting £50,000 as a trust fund for the young men who have returned from the war that has just ended.
Friend, Te Hau Mataira, greetings. Thank you for your words which flew here in Te Kopara 84. My friend, what I said is still true, that when Te Whiti and Tohu died, then Parihaka hastened to the sea. Before the deaths of Te Whiti and Tohu the people of Parihaka did not sell land. You say that when Te Whiti was alive I did not go to Parihaka. Friend, Te Hau, I made it my job to go to Parihaka. I believed in what Te Whiti was preaching when he said that you are the lost sheep of the House of Israel and your God is the Jehovah Te Whiti preached about. I would not like you, my younger brothers, to be ignorant of this hidden thing, lest you claim to be wiser than you are. Hardness of heart has come upon Israel for a time so that the full number of the Gentiles might be brought in, and then all Israel will be saved, which is what has been written. Out of Zion will come the deliverer; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob (Romans 11.25). Because of my faith in Te Whiti I did not go to the Court in Taranaki. Therefore I am a man without land in Taranaki; such land as I possess is on the beach. The wily works of Te Whiti are now in the swamp; it is right for you to call them wily because he did not complete his work. Te Whiti and Tohu said that their work is not to be completed by a different person. Now they have both died and where is the completion of their work? Therefore it is true that the works of Te Whiti and Tohu are humbug. However we have seen the completion of the works of the Tai Rawhiti. My friend, Te Hau, perhaps you also believed in Te Whiti and did not go to the Court over your mother’s land interests on the Tai Rawhiti. It serves you right! You are in the same position as me in not having land. Because the Tai Rawhiti are the people who thrive by having much land. In the end perhaps you are the one without land, given what you have said in your letter. It serves you right that you were deprived of the lands of your mother. But, to my knowledge, before you left you had land which you wasted on wicked pursuits. You are like the child who wastes possessions. [cf Nga Pepeha 714, 653] Enough of this.
My friend, I visited Taranaki during August and September. There I spoke
[9]
urging people to forsake the humbug works of Te Whiti and to allow the young people to get an education and to make a living for themselves. You say that if God wants us to be poor we will be poor. Friend, God is not like that. God is love. But if you live wickedly, if you have an unbelieving heart, then God is angry at that, as with the wealthy man who built barns to hold his wheat. [Luke 12.16-21] God does not like you being lazy. Solomon also says: ‘How long will you lie there, O lazybones? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want, like an armed warrior.’ [Proverbs 6.9-11 NRSV] This is what happens to the person who spends a long time sleeping, just like you spoke of sleeping for seven years. My friend, Te Hau, I shan’t respond to most of your letter because there is no point. As to making public the name of the man, as you ask me to do, I would be mad to publish the names of 1300 people I don’t know. It is for you to publish the name you know in relation to your saying that you know you were born naked into this world and will depart naked to the womb of the earth. Friend, this kind of statement is made by someone wrong-headed, for it is certainly true that you were born naked from the womb of your mother, but it is wrong to say that you return naked to God. You came into this world to work for the well-being of your body and of your soul. If you do not work for the well-being of your soul, when you go to the heavenly Father, what will your soul be like when you get there? The Scriptures speak of people facing two deaths – dying to this world and in the next world. Therefore, Te Hau Mataira, what I say is, please withdraw all the statements with which you fill the wings of Te Kopara.
Enough! My best wishes to all the readers of Te Kopara.
Huta Paaka.
Motueka,
2 April, 1921.
To the Editor of Te Kopara.
The English Language and the Maori Language.
R T K says in Te Kopara 83 that the English language gives sweetness to the speeches of Apirana Ngata. Friend, it is foolish people who use the sweetness of the sound of a voice to boost the significance of insignificant matters, whereas thoughtful people seize upon the important issues in the speech and not on the sound which sweetens what is said.
[10]
But the English understand their own language; they listen for the important message and not to the sound of the voice. It is the same with our Maori language. If what is said in the speeches is purposeful it is sweet to the ears and to the mind. My friend, I have not heard the sweetness you speak of in the sound of the English language. Indeed, no just proposals have been brought to shore for us Maori. Now, I say this, if no just proposals are forthcoming for the Maori and for our language, they will not be forthcoming even though we Maori absorb the depths of wisdom in the English language – we will see no just proposals nor will there be health for our Maori People. It was said of Samoa that Chinese should not be sent there lest illegitimate children be born. It is not only by Chinese that illegitimate children are born to Samoans. Is it not the case that illegitimate children are born to Samoans by other peoples? One part of Apirana Ngata’s speech says, ‘It would have been better for the Maori People if they had never set eyes on the Pakeha.’ He had seen that ‘the place where the Pakeha set his foot was the place where there was suffering and trouble.’ These statements by Apirana Ngata are true. Apirana Ngata did not dream up these ideas which he voiced in his speech in Parliament Buildings. Apirana Ngata has seen with his own eyes those sufferings and troubles that have come upon the Maori People. Indeed, as the people of Wharekauri [Chatham Islands] have learned more and more of the English language, so have the Maori people experienced sufferings and troubles they did not know before. We Maori have seen how money has led to harshness in people’s attitudes. Queen Victoria ordered our Government to protect the Maori People of New Zealand. It was not long before the protecting of people was abandoned in favour rather of taking over land. In these days we have been ordered by the League of Nations to care for the Samoans. But the Government has not been protecting the Samoans for two nights before their thoughts have turned to coconuts. We see the impact of the English language – [hou ke, titi ke, kari ke, poka ke]. There is one body but thousands of roads. However in the Maori language there is only one road, it is the right road for the eternal salvation of God. Some of our people have said confused things such as, ‘We must leave behind the days of our ancestors – eating fern-root and eating people.’ Why? Is it bad that eating fern-root and cannibalism have been abandoned? If it is bad, why did we go to kill people in Europe,
[11]
and will you give up the disgusting drink, alcohol, your favoured food? And do you need to build multi-storeyed houses? Now, my friends, if we look carefully at the days of old and the present days we will have a clear picture. The days of our ancestors were better, better than what we do in our days insofar as in Europe we work at killing people. Given this I cannot see the difference between us Maori killing people to eat and the Pakeha killing people to bury them in the earth. As I see it, both these activities of killing people are the same. They are all sins in the eyes of God and the same place of recompense awaits the perpetrators of both sins, the place called the outer darkness, the place where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Te Hau Mataira.
Chatham Islands,
30 March, 1921.
To the Editor of Te Kopara.
Friend, greetings. Best wishes to you and to your team under you. Friend, this is a word to be carried by our bird, Te Kopara, a parcel to be carried by our bird to the marae in every place. It is agreeable to me to respond to the article by Reweti Kohere in which he says there are no ghosts [kehua]. I say that there was a ghost / spirit/demon [kehua]. His name was Legion. This demon lived in a graveyard and he drove the one thousand pigs into the lake. See Mark 5.13 and Matthew 8.28-32. Friend, this story is in my New Testament and Prayer Book which I bought of seven shillings and sixpence. Perhaps these stories are not in your Prayer Book but only in mine. Friend, as to your piece about witchcraft [makutu], you say that the Bible does away with witchcraft. Friend, I have not found the chapter where it says this. But there is a passage in 1 Samuel 28.7-15 where the true God hears the plea of the medium [atua maori – native god]. Friend, as for the matter of the fish, Reweti Kohere says that perhaps all fish were regarded as tapu. Friend, that is not so. But there are two tapu fish – hapuku and moki. Friend, it is said that this fish, the moki, is a child of Rehua [Antares]. It is the case, my friend, that I have seen the large book by George Grey, published by the Government, which contains the story of the spread of the Maori from Hawaiki. You will perceive that it is from this that we get our knowledge. Enough of this! There is something strange here when you say something like, ‘Who will take the message to the fish?’ My friend, if you have the strength to paddle here and to tramp over Ngaruru, if it does not shake under him, then I will believe your story. If he was removed then who was it who brought the story? Someone sitting on his topknot
[12]
or playing? As for the hook, you say that the fish doesn’t know that there is a hook in the sea. That is so. But neither do you know where you are going to fall ill or die. If I were to give you poison you would not know that it contained death; only I would know that its contents were fatal. So with the fish, it cannot know that there is death in the bait. Here I end my words.
Your affectionate friend,
Herewini Te Maro,
Port Awanui,
30 March, 1921.
FOOD FOR TE KOPARA
Name / Address / Payment / Subscription Ends
April
W Wirihana / Ruatahuna / 5/- / July 1922
Rev H J Fletcher / Taupo / £1 / April 1922
Rev B G Fox / Halkett / 5/- / July 1922
RULES OF THE PAPER.
1. Te Kopara is published monthly.
2. The subscription for the paper is five shillings (5/-) a year paid by postal note or stamps.
3. Anyone wishing to take Te Kopara should send the money with the covering letter to
Te Kopara,
Te Rau Press,
6 Berry Street,
Gisborne.
A NOTICE
Those wishing to purchase Prayer Books, Hymn Books or Testaments should send their request to
Miss K Williams,
P O Box 41,
Hukarere, Napier.
These are the prices.
Large, soft cover 3/-
Large, red cover 3/6
Large, hard cover 4/6
Large, superior cover 6/6
Hymns, 9d
Prayer Book with Hymns, soft cover 1/6
Prayer Book with Hymns, red cover 3/-
Prayer Book with Hymns, hard cover 5/6
Prayer Book, New Testament and Hymns, red cover, 4/6
Prayer Book, New Testament and Hymns, superior cover, 7/6
I will pay the postage to send the books to you. Because the book-binders have had problems the quality of the covers has deteriorated even though the price has not gone down.
No comments:
Post a Comment