THE MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND

Te Ao Hou, June 1967, Page 58

THE MAORIS OF NEW ZEALAND by Dr Joan Metge Routledge and Kegan Paul, 30s reviewed by N. P. K. Puriri New Zealand is fortunate to possess at the moment a group of authors who are gifted students of the Maori. Constant research and contact with the people gives their work an air of reality. They have to be ‘with it’: they have to sort out, often from a welter of conflicting evidence, details of things Maori … customs, history, attitude, warfare, religion and many other complicating factors. Others less conscientious can present their material, depending on the attitude of the writer, with tongue in cheek, or as a tome of anthropological jargon. Serious students have to be fair. Not merely do they have to have a firm grasp of their subject in both theory and practice, but they have to explain how and why changes have occurred. Finally, they always have to stimulate. Joan Metge is one of this group. One could say that there are far too many books written on the subject. One could also say; ‘what is their earthly use?’ The analysis of a people by a ‘name academic’ usually leaves one cold, the language being in most cases far too technical for people like myself. The writer does not come under this classification. This book is one of a series dealing with studies of societies throughout mankind. Dr Metge has probed deeply and has avoided the pitfalls of superficialities. Quite early in the piece, the reader is impressed with the writer's humanity, her warmth and fair mindedness, and the reader also senses that she is a person who looks at the Maori with friendly and honest eyes. There is no doubt that people who will read this book will like it. They will benefit considerably from the author's years of re-

search and field work, for this book is quite an achievement in amassing so much material in so short a time. By dealing with the situation in periods, she has made it easier for the reader to have a better appreciation of the Maori. Its interpretations as well as its original material, are going to influence the thinking of many people—not the least, other students of the Maori. In recent years there has been minor discussion over whether to use the double vowel, to leave things as they are, or to use the macron. Candidly, I am a little old fashioned, and my hackles rise whenever I see double vowels. The unusual thing about this publication. I found, was the author's use of the macron. At first it was a novelty, but when I finished reading, I found myself two hundred per cent in favour. The picture captions I found most acceptable. Nothing annoys me more than books with notes saying ‘so and so, a chief of such and such’. I personally feel that the author's almost cryptic technique is refreshingly different and I hope that other aspiring writers in future will follow her line. I am positive that the author does not claim that this publication is the ‘be all and end all’ on the Maori. Quite a lot of writers in the past appear to me to spend far too much time dealing with the ‘dead Maori’, Miss Metge doesn't do this but has got on with the job of describing with uncanny accuracy the doings of ‘living Maoris’. As I have mentioned earlier, the author is ‘with it’, and presents her material with admirable clarity. This publication goes a long way in sowing the much needed seeds of understanding. To be frank, I intended giving the book a thorough doing over. However, the more I read the more engrossed I became and was eventually won over. Well, Dr Metge, I must confess you have come a long way—or is it me—from the Kitemoana Street days where I endeavoured to mislead you by purposely giving half truths. You have nothing to thank me for, but I personally am thankful for your positive approach and indeed grateful that our paths have crossed in the past and no doubt will do so again in the future. The Maoris of New Zealand is indeed an outstanding contribution to New Zealand literary and historical works. I commend it to both Maori and Pakeha to enable them to have a better and clearer understanding, so that the averment made by Governor Hobson new REED BOOKS MAORI Ans Westra James Ritchie Ans Westra photography, sympathetic yet discerning, has captured the warmth and social unity of the Maori Dr. James Ritchie, author of the sociological study The Making of a Maori, is particularly concerned with the problem of the Maori's adaptation to an urban industrial existence. 11in × 9in—232 pages. Eight pages colour plates. More than 100 photographs. 63s 0d ($6.30). SELECTED READINGS IN MAORI Bruce Biggs Dr. Bruce Biggs, Assoc. Professor in the Anthropology Department, Auckland University, has compiled from a wide variety of writers and sources, an essential reader for all Maori students. Ideally suited to University and Secondary classes and W.E.A. groups. 15s 0d ($1.50) Available from All Booksellers Published By:— A. H. & A. W. REED Wellington — Auckland — Sydney

(‘we are one people’) will become in fact a reality and not a dream.