Te Hokinga Mai Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū
Look at the smiling soldiers, jam-packed along the ship’s rail, the Māori Pioneer Battalion is home at last.
After a 36-day journey from Liverpool, the SS Westmoreland arrived in Auckland harbour on the evening of Saturday 5 April 1919. It berthed the following morning and 1,033 personnel disembarked to great fanfare – guns fired a salute, all the ships in the harbour sounded their sirens and horns, three bands played patriotic music and dignitaries greeted the men with brief speeches.
Renowned Te Arawa leader Mita Taupopoki can be seen with his distinctive tāniko bonnet towards the end of the film clip. One of the haka being performed is the Ngāpuhi war cry “Ka eke te wīwī, ka eke te wāwā” – complete with the leaping in unison and brandishing of taiaha and tewhatewha fighting staffs.
Following the reception at the wharf the Battalion marched to a pōwhiri at Auckland Domain. Tribes from all over the country gathered to welcome the men home, along with thousands of spectators.
Of the 43,572 servicemen and nurses who returned home in 63 demobilisation sailings, only the Māori Pioneer Battalion returned together, as a complete unit.
Te Hokinga Mai Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū
Look at the smiling soldiers, jam-packed along the ship’s rail, the Māori Pioneer Battalion is home at last.
After a 36-day journey from Liverpool, the SS Westmoreland arrived in Auckland harbour on the evening of Saturday 5 April 1919. It berthed the following morning and 1,033 personnel disembarked to great fanfare – guns fired a salute, all the ships in the harbour sounded their sirens and horns, three bands played patriotic music and dignitaries greeted the men with brief speeches.
Renowned Te Arawa leader Mita Taupopoki can be seen with his distinctive tāniko bonnet towards the end of the film clip. One of the haka being performed is the Ngāpuhi war cry “Ka eke te wīwī, ka eke te wāwā” – complete with the leaping in unison and brandishing of taiaha and tewhatewha fighting staffs.
Following the reception at the wharf the Battalion marched to a pōwhiri at Auckland Domain. Tribes from all over the country gathered to welcome the men home, along with thousands of spectators.
Of the 43,572 servicemen and nurses who returned home in 63 demobilisation sailings, only the Māori Pioneer Battalion returned together, as a complete unit.
Year: 1919
Length: 0:01:20
Production Company: Australasian Gazette
Source: Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision (Courtesy of the National Film & Sound Archive)
Catalogue Reference: Australasian Gazette 451 [Excerpt] Maori Contingent Home
People: Mita Taupopoki
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Tags: 1919, WWI, World War One, Mita Taupopoki, Māori Pioneer Battalion, Auckland, Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū, SS Westmoreland, Te Hokinga Mai
Subject: Māori Pioneer Battalion, Te Hokowhitu-a-Tu, SS Westmoreland
Kākahu are worn over day clothes, with some of the kaumātua turning out in suits and their finest wardrobe.
From The Camera in the Crowd, Chris
Pugsley, pages 417 – 418
Film of the return home was advertised in
Auckland cinemas as early as 22 April, when the New Zealand Herald advertised
“The Arrival of the Maori Troops” screening at His Majesty’s. Interestingly,
this film from the Australasian Gazette was not released in New Zealand.
Following the pōwhiri in the Auckland
Domain was a tangi for the departed, though not recorded on film the
Auckland
Weekly News
covered the event:
“The chief ceremony of the afternoon was a
tangi for the departed. The soldiers from each tribe sat in the midst of an
enclosure in the camp adjoining the sports ground and around them were gathered
the sorrowing ones. With low wailing and chants of sorrow, led by their chiefs,
the mourners grieved for those who would never return. It was a scene of real
pathos and emotion, the significance of which seemed to be lost to the crowds
of white people who pressed in upon the mourners, seeming to regard it as a
scene of entertainment instead of one of solemnity and grief.” — ‘The
Maori Battalion,’ Auckland Weekly News, 10 April 1919