Part one of the recordings from the opening of Tūrongo House, Tūrangawaewae Marae, Ngāruawāhia.
Speeches by Māori royal family and elders, recorded in Mahingaarangi wharenui on 17 March 1938. Charles Moihi Bennett is the broadcast commentator. Pei Te Hurinui Jones, Waikato leader and a 'licenced interpreter of the Native Affairs Department', translates from Māori into English, and vice-versa.
The first speaker is Kingi Korokī. This was the first radio address made by Kingi Korokī, who rarely made public speeches. He greets the Governor-General and both races throughout New Zealand.
Haunui Tāwhiao, son of King Tāwhiao and grand-uncle of King Korokī, speaks. He greets all tribes and sends greetings to the Prime Minister and all members of Parliament.
Tūmate Mahuta, son of King Mahuta and uncle of King Korokī, speaks and sends greetings.
Princess Te Puea Hērangi, grand-daughter of Kingi Tawhiao and first cousin of King Te Rata (father of Kingi Koroki), greets all the tribes who have gathered, and thanks those who have helped realise her dream of building the house Tūrongo. She thanks the Governor-General for coming to perform the opening ceremony, and sends greetings through him to King George VI.
Waikato kaumātua Te Kiri Kātipa speaks, and his address is summarised by Pei Te Hurinui Jones.
Sir Apirana Ngata speaks, and notes that 'these records are going to you from Mahingaarangi Meeting House'. He describes the inscription at the entrance to the house, saying it was built with support from the tribes of Tairāwhiti. Tūrongo will be opened tomorrow - Tūrongo was the husband of Mahingaarangi. The opening of that house tomorrow will realise Te Puea's project to establish a marae at Ngāruawāhia worthy of the people of Waikato and the Māori of the Dominion. He says the Waikato kingship was established three generations ago as a semblance of resistance by Māori culture to the rising tide of Western civilisation. It is today finding its place in New Zealand, a good augury for the desire of both races to live together.