Maori prayer plea rejected

Moa Larkins would like the ceremony to better honour the memory of his grandfather, Private Arthur (Whare Moa) Harris.

A former soldier is upset over a failed attempt to have a gesture of recognition for Maori servicemen at an Anzac Day service.

Moa Larkins said he wanted the dawn parade at the Browns Bay waterfront to include a prayer and a hymn in Maori.

But he said the East Coast Bays Returned Services Association dismissed his request for a second time.

"The Maori part would only take seven minutes," he said.

"But it would mean a lot to me whose Ngapuhi grandfather [Arthur (Whare Moa) Harris] went to World War I and cleared minefields ahead of the British soldiers.

"Why don't East Coast Bays want that little Maori segment for my ancestors when we had to stand at the dawn service last year and listen to a Pakeha boy, ex-Vietnam soldier, talk on the highs and lows of Vietnam."

Mr Larkins, an Albany contractor who served as a physical training instructor at Waiouru Military Camp, said he was an RSA member. He had seen about 40 Maori at services.

"To me, the dawn service held at East Coast Bays is the nearest thing to Gallipoli that we will ever have, because you have the sun rising and the sound of the sea - like the sound our ancestors would hear when they jumped off those ships to run to the shore and be shot at."

Mr Larkins said he attended the Wellington ceremonies for the homecoming of the Unknown Warrior and appreciated their Maori component.

Last year in London a Maori choir sang "How Great Thou Art" in Maori at a Anzac service in Westminster Abbey.

National RSA chief executive Pat Herbert said there was no policy on what should be in services and each association chose its own.

East Coast Bays RSA president Terry Hoskin declined to comment on Mr Larkin's request.

He said only that East Coast Bays was representative of all the North Shore RSAs and the matter went before the combined RSA for a decision.

In Rotorua, Te Arawa Maori Returned Services League holds a dawn service at the Muruika Services Cemetery, Ohinemutu. League president Piwiki Heke said the hour-long service contained a 10-minute component of Maori language including his welcome, a prayer and a hymn. Last year the service drew about 1000 people - the most he had seen.

In Wanganui, 28 Maori Battalion veteran Jim Takarangi said the 11.15am Maori service at Moutoa Gardens drew between 600 and 1000 people.

The service was partly in Maori language but people sang the hymns in English if they wanted to.