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The forest grew quiet as the trees stilled their branches. All waited for the oldest and wisest of the trees to speak. The Pine tree had been there a long time many years. He had seen the planting of this part of the forest and watched man change the structure of the land. He had been left while other Pinus Radiates had been felled, his purpose over the years becoming a certainty.
At the beginning, when he was young he had lived in fear that his turn would come and the men with their axes and oxen would chop him down. Then later, as the forest of trees grew up around him and they in turn faced extinction, the axe and oxen were replaced with the chainsaw and skidder.
He feared no longer as he watched and observed man become mindful of the new trees that had survived. Now he sensed the time had come, a change was truly taking place in the land. This was the time that had been predicted in the stars, word had passed through each generation, special knowledge only those who had their feet planted firmly on Mother Earth could recall. A new age was dawning, a new millennium was in sight.
"I give my life gladly," said the Pine "I am honoured to be the one that will record the ways of all the people who live side by side in Tokoroa. The ancient Kara Kia "the blessing" that will be placed with me to represent all the trees that will give their life for this new venture."
"You all will be carved, painted and designed to represent many diverse groups and cultures that reside in this town. You will know who you are. Speak out now in this dawn so that the animals and birds of the forest will take your words to many parts of New Zealand, then further out into the world."
The first of the trees to speak was a young strong tree. He said, "I will represent Samoa, I will be adorned with paint by the hands of the young women, my story will be told in many colours. I bring a story of my people to Tokoroa."
The next tree said in a soft voice, "My role is to represent the Women and what they can achieve in their own right. I will be grouped with other poles representing service to the community. I will be carved by a young male. The figures of women will represent passing fazes of a women's life in the community."
A group spoke up next, older trees, some bent with age. "We represent the forefathers, the past, time stands still for us now. We will be looked upon and stir the memories of the people. Let them acknowledge where they all came from and, if we all go back far enough in history, we would all come from the same race."
"Let us speak now" said another group of trees. These were still young. "We give our life for the future, we are the new generation. Let us unfold our branches together to represent our children joining forces. Let us represent conservation. We will be touched by many hands, each school will take a part of us to create, we are then rejoined to represent youth."
A round majestic tree spoke next, "I represent the Mother Earth. My tree will be for the little children, babies, toddlers who will touch me. I will be surrounded by laughter. These children will grow up with a deep understanding of unity, that when we share our skills and talents what wonderful results we have."
The last voice came from a huge Pine tree a deep booming through the forest, "I give my life in this form to be carved again to look like a tree. I will be carved to represent the bird and animal life that is slowly becoming extinct in our forests. I will represent the life of the forest so that people will remember us, for we have a right to live in this land."
The trees all rustled their foliage in agreement for each knew that only part of them would die and that they would all live again in many Art forms to represent the people of Tokoroa.
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