A celebration of urban marae

By MARGIE THOMSON

The Silent Migration: Stories of urban migration

Told to Patricia Grace, Irihapeti Ramsden, Jonathan Dennis

Huia Publishers

$49.95

Te Whanau

Te Whanau O Waipareira

$34.95

These books celebrate two of our most famous urban marae, although in different ways.

The Silent Migration tells the historic tale of Maori migration to the cities, through the individual stories of 15 original members of the Ngati Poneke Young Maori Club. Most of the speakers came to Wellington as teenagers in the 1920s and 1930s, and their poignant, lonely and hopeful tales bring home the isolation felt by some of those early migrants to Wellington. Ngati Poneke, named by Sir Apirana Ngata, was a focus for "the new whanau, no longer based on kinship ... A place where the search for a Maori face in the city would stop."

Te Whanau focuses on the role the Henderson marae plays in the lives of its people today, with an emphasis on social services, commercial ventures and the day-to-day running of the organisation and the people involved. Its format of unattributed quotes gives a conversational feel to the book and engenders a great feeling of common focus and community.

Both urban marae have proved centres where Maori identity could be maintained and developed, and these books are a reminder of this great achievement.