Wherahiko Rawei

              191?
early 1920's

Figure


Figure

WHERAHIKO
RAWEI
Presenting a South Sea Entertainment
REDPATH




Figure


Figure


Figure


Figure


Figure


Figure


Figure


Figure

WHERAHIKO RAWEI RESENTING A SOUTH SEA ENTERTAINMENT


HERE is a man truly conspicuous in the entertainment world.  He is the product of modern culture as contrasted with the primitive savagery of his native South Sea home.  Wherahiko Rawei is a living rebuke to the man who says he has no chance.

Do not get the mistaken idea that this is a travelog.  On the contrary it is a living picture of Polynesian life, in the person of one who has lived it and knows it all by experience through and through.  Rawei sets before you the arts, craftsmanship, customs, beliefs and musical talents of the native Polynesians, from the ranks of whom he sprang under Christian culture to his enviable position.

He appears in the native costumes, and these are marvels of primitive beauty.  Throughout the recital, he ingeniously creates the very atmosphere of the South Seas, and reproduces the captivating music and spiritual melodies of the Paradise of the Pacific, making his a program most delightfully different from all others.

This recital overflows with oratory, wit, humor and pathos, all blended into a finished entertainment classic, that also possesses fine educational value to the student of world affairs.  We unhesitatingly commend Rawei as an entertainer who is making a big contribution to a broader and more general culture.

Mr. Rawei is one of the uniformly successful Lyceum and Chautauqua attractions.  Hundreds of press comments attest the excellence of his entertainment, and committee reports are invariably tremendously enthusiastic.

THE REDPATH BUREAU



UNCLE SAM'S SAMOAN ISLANDERS
THEIR ARTS, CRAFTS, FOLKLORE and MUSIC
Portrayed with
SONGS and STORIES of the SOUTH SEAS
By WHERAHIKO RAWEI

Wherahiko Rawei is a Polynesian raconteur who fascinates one with the witchery of his word paintings, so beware, lest he start you roaming o'er Southern Seas.  Apart from this bad habit, he is a fine fellow, and one of my choice friends.

Robert Louis Stevenson.

THE REDPATH BUREAU with its Worth While programs has introduced many noteworthy folk to American audiences, but few more remarkable than Wherahiko Rawei, Polynesia's most gifted Native Story-Teller.

His new and fascinating recital portraying the Arts, Crafts, Folklore and Music of America's Samoan Islanders, is brimful and bubbling over with humor, romance, philosophy and spiritual uplift.

Wherahiko Rawei is an adept at describing the Witchery of Tropical Moonlight Nights and duplicating the Weird and Thrilling Music played by untutored Island races.  He appears in picturesque native costumes, and aided by a beautiful scenic background of waving cocoanut trees and colored light effects, he reproduces with realistic accuracy and gripping force the Wild Charm and Languorous Glamour of the South Seas, and does this with an enthusiastic realism born of a great love for, and a thoroughly intimate knowledge of Our Wonderful Samoan People.

He has consorted with famous Samoan Chieftains and Medicine Men and, in their company, penetrated lonely unexplored Pacific Islands to hidden-away Aboriginal Villages far remote from the eyes of the ordinary globetrotter, and, what is still more remarkable, has managed to preserve a whole skin through all this Tangle of Adventure and Travel.

Apart from its value as a charming and educative description of An American Garden of Eden, not yet commercialized into A Paradise Lost, this unique and captivating offering is a refreshingly novel and spectacular one, sparkling with real Wit, refined Humor and heart-stirring Pathos, all blended by a highly-cultured Polynesian gentleman into A Delightful Entertainment Classic that is unquestionably most original.




WHERAHIKO RAWEI
A Polynesian Gentleman of Christian Culture and Wonderful Entertainment Talents

A Brief Review of the Life of Wherahiko Rawei by Himself

I WAS born at Pipiriki, a native Maori settlement, situated on the bank of the Wanganui River, New Zealand.

My father, Chief Kareopa and my mother, Lewa Rawei, were both killed when I was an infant, during a night attack upon my father's tribe, because they had persistently refused to submit to English rule.

I was taken from my dead mother's side by Colonel Francis, an English officer who, deeply grieved at the seemingly hopeless position in which I was left, took me to his home at Wanganui, New Zealand.  His wife had just previously lost her own son and decided to adopt me.  Briefly told, no words could possibly describe the wealth of love and unselfish devotion my kindly foster parents exhibited toward me.

At the age of seven, I was sent to the only school at that time in Wanganui, where I remained as a pupil until I was sixteen years of age.

Then my foster parents moved to Rugby, England, their birthplace, taking me with them.  I continued my education at Rugby and Cambridge.  Later, at my foster mother's earnest request, I commenced the study of medicine and surgery, specializing in diseases peculiar to women and children.  After passing the usual preliminary examinations with honor, I was given a probationary appointment at the Children's Hospital, Bermondsey, London.  Here I remained for two years and six months, when I was transferred to the East London Maternity Hospital.  I remained there three additional years handling maternity cases exclusively.

I received both my M. D. and Surgeon's diplomas, which entitled me to practice in Great Britain or any of its foreign dependencies.  I had decided, however, to give my life and medical knowledge to the neglected South Sea Islanders, who were very much less fortunately situated than my own race, the New Zealand Maoris, having at that time not one qualified physician living among them.

I have practiced on various islands of the South and Western Pacific, often journeying in a frail native canoe from one island to another on dark and stormy nights in response to native fire signals for assistance.

In 1903 my wife and I, accompanied by two of our children, visited America as native delegates to a great representative Congress of Nationalities, which was held for ten days at Carnegie Hall, New York City.  We decided to remain in America for a while, and later, as the Rawei Family, we gave several recitals on New Zealand native life and customs at the Art Institute, Chicago, Ill.

Mr. Harry Harrison, Manager of the Chicago Redpath Bureau, sent representatives to these entertainments, and eventually engaged us to give similar entertainments descriptive of New Zealand, over the various Redpath Lyceum and Chautauqua Circuits.  Approximately we filled fully 1,000 engagements under Redpath auspices, with our portrayal of New Zealand life and customs.  We then returned to the South Seas, as we thought, to settle down permanently in private life, but in 1920, Mr. Keith Vawter of the Redpath Bureau, wrote to me a very gracious letter inviting me to return to America.  I gladly consented and have been filling engagements for the Cedar Rapids and Kansas City branches of the Redpath Bureau ever since, with a new and remarkably successful Polynesian entertainment entitled, Uncle Sam's Samoan Islands, their Arts, Crafts, Music and Songs. Audiences everywhere appear greatly to enjoy my program, so I am feeling very happy.

Respectfully,
WHERAHIKO RAWEI