Our Maori People

One of the members asked me about our indigenous people and I am so glad she did because it allows me to speak on what is one of my favourite subjects. I am a white person, (the Maori for which is Pakeha ( par key har)) who has a true deep love and respect for his Maori people.

In my early childhood years I lived in a suburb of Auckland called Orakei (oh ra key) and this was adjacent to a suburb called Okahu (oh car who) Bay. In Okahu Bay there was a genuine Maori Pa the head of which was Princess Te Puia (tay poo ee ah) I remember the time of her passing and listening to the time of their wailing.

At school I had many Maori friends whose company I look back on with fond memories. When I got married my best man was a maori and his name was Kuranea Ruka and I have a vivid memory of a joke he used to share. While his name correctly was as I showed he actually went by Ned. Often he would be asked "how come you sign your name K Ruka when your name is Ned?' "Simple," he replied, " it's K for Ned the same as K for Knife"

The Maori people came to New Zealand in what was known as the Great Migration which was led by a famous Maori by the name of Kupe (coo pay). This migration was a wondrous feat as they came from Polynesia in canoes with no use of sails and there only source of navigation being the stars. Over these early years there were many inter tribal wars and wars of course with the British. The Maori became known as quite a fearsome warrior who strangely used no throwing weapon and it was all hand to hand combat. Their main weapon was a hand held club called a Mere which was formed out of a very hard stone called Greenstone. (New Zealand's Green Jade). They were also clever warriors as they always set up their fortifications on a hill to make it easier to defend. These were protected by moats and similar.

I said earlier that I was genuinely proud of my Maori people and I am. They have aspired to achieve everything that the white man has done except for as yet being the Prime Minister. In the entertainment world our leading money earning male soloist would be John Rowles who has been presented the OBE by Her Majesty. Far and away the most famous of our female soloist would be Dame Kiri Te Kanawa who was the singer at the wedding of Charles and Di. Both of these I have mentioned are obviously Maori.

To finish this just a little bit of their folklore. Maui was out in his canoe fishing for supplies for his village. Suddenly he hooked on to something very big. After a huge struggle he managed to get it to the surface and being immediately scared of it he started beating it wildly with the only thing he had which was his paddle. This beating he inflicted giant welts and huge lumps. These welts were then the ravines and similar and the huge lumps became the mountains on what was New Zealand. I should say more correctly what was Aotearoa ( Ay oh tay ah roar) the Maori for New Zealand. Again I must make a little correction. It is commonly accepted that Aotearoa stands for New Zealand the literal translation is Land of the Long White Cloud.

Enough for now