Jessica Weddell interviews Maui Pomare, the grandson of the late Sir Maui Pomare, who talks about his life and career.
Maui Pomare is a teacher in agriculture at the Technical Correspondence Institute, a member of the Land Use Advisory Council and Chairman of the National Museum Council. With respect to the Treaty of Waitangi he has no feelings of antagonism against the activists who are protesting but is concerned about the strategies for righting matters and the need to concentrate on the strengths between Māori and Pākehā. He believes the Treaty issues are paramount and should not be abandoned. His great, great grandmother was the first Māori woman to sign the Treaty and was followed by her cousin signing. They are the only two women to have signed the Treaty. He believes there needs to be more emphasis on Māori language and the learning of it to keep it alive. He recalls his grandfather, who was Medical Officer to Māori. He worked with the lepers and chose an island in the Fiji group where he took them and they were looked after by nuns. He was a member of the Young Māori Party which later was renamed the Young Māori Association. They were not political parties but rather intended to spread the word of Māoridom to the people. They are no longer in existence and many of the early members entered politics.
He grew up in the same house as his grandmother and recalls how she influenced his life. When the pioneer Māori Battalion of over 500 men left for war in World War I she knitted socks for them all and visited servicemen who returned to Wellington. This later led to the Wellington Māori Mission which later became Ngāti Pōneke.
He talks about being a teacher and the number of Māori signing up with the Technical Correspondence Institute. He discusses his role of chairman for the Māori Museum, and Māori artefacts and the bill preventing Māori artefacts from leaving New Zealand. He talks about the new Māori University called Te Wananga o Raukawa which is situated near Otaki, in the old Otaki Boys' College. It is the nucleus of three tribes, namely Ngāti Raukawa, Te Atiawa and Ngāti Toarangatira, and is also open to Europeans.
He recalls his grandfather as a great leader and believes we will get good leadership back amongst Māori. Too many have been lost fighting for New Zealand and Māori are experiencing a "leadership drought".