THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE LEADER IN MAORI SOCIETY— a study in social change and race relations

Te Ao Hou, September 1967, Page 57

THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE LEADER IN MAORI SOCIETY— a study in social change and race relations by Maharaia Winiata Edited by Merran Fraenkel Blackwood and Janet Paul, $4.50 reviewed by K. Dewes Through the combined efforts of Mrs Fraenkel, Blackwood and Janet Paul, the Maori Purposes Fund Board and Mrs Winiata, we at last have the long awaited dissertation on Maori leadership by Doctor Maharaia Winiata. Maha, as he was popularly known, has written this study from the point of view of a Maori and a scholar trained in social anthropology, whose rich and varied background and experiences provided much of the source material. Added to this uniqueness is the fact that Maha was himself a keen observer of human behaviour and participated personally and effectively in the various leadership roles which he describes and analyses very competently and fairly. He had the qualities for dynamic leadership amongst the Maori people especially, and these were tribal and kinship status, varied experience, superior education, a dedicated interest in Maori aspirations and cultural values, and personality. While he respected and endorsed the conservative elements in traditionalist Maori culture, he also encouraged, advocated or introduced social change where this was desirable and acceptable to the people.

In fighting for the retention of Maori cultural identity and its recognition by New Zealanders, and in publicly exposing Maori grievances, he was accused of being anti-Pakeha: his numerous sympathisers believed he was pro-Maori. In the book it is immediately apparent to the discerning reader that he felt keenly the injustices suffered by the Maori tribes in the past and slights occurring in the present. His temperament and feeling for things Maori is depicted in his style of writing and in his manner in the photograph on the dust cover. The theme of Maha's book is ‘to analyse the pattern of Maori leadership in pre-European times, to investigate the changes that have taken place in the status and role of the Maori leader since the period of first impact with the European, and to give an account of the condition of leadership today’. His basic argument is that Maori society has adapted in the face of continual pressure from the superior technological social system of western society, industrialism and urbanisation. In doing so the essence of the traditional concepts of leadership have been adapted, new associations (e.g. the Ratana church, Women's Health League,