The latest Weekend Sun was entertaining as usual, especially the Letters page. M. Ketu's letter received a number of replies, many of which brought a tear to my eye.
Particularly moving was the letter from R McGuiness, which described how the homes of some brave anti-Maori crusaders had been pelted with eggs, and were afraid that perhaps some of the Brown Folk had wandered into their retirement village. As the wise editor revealed however, it was most probably bored teenagers, who I know to be white and middle-class.
The common thread in these letters was a conviction that New Zealand is a multi-cultural country, 'how stupid to think otherwise”.
I'm afraid M. Ketu was spot on, however. New Zealand is bi-cultural, the two cultures being Maori and non-Maori. New Zealand was settled first by Maori, the land cultivated first by Maori, and the rivers, lakes and coasts sailed first by Maori. All those who followed were allowed into New Zealand because Maori understood the value of trade with Europeans.
Since this fateful encounter, history has not been kind to Maori, and they are now a minority in their own country – but it is still their country, in the same way Britain will still rightfully belong to the British when it is all run by Indians.
Most Maori do not wish to see their Pakeha neighbours expelled from New Zealand; they simply wish to retain their access to the resources that they have utilised consistently for hundreds of years. And, yes, we'll all still be able to go to the beach.
R P Wood, Tauranga.