TE ARAWA—A History of the Arawa People by D. M. Stafford A. H. & A. W. Reed, $8.40 reviewed by E. W. Williams This book gives a comprehensive history of the Arawa people, from the feuds in Hawaiki which led up to the sailing of the Fleet until the eighteen-seventies or thereabouts. Commencing with the familiar Hawaiki stories, the book goes on to the sailing of Te Arawa; the events of the voyage; the arrival in New Zealand; the exploration, claiming and settlement of territory; internal dissensions over the generations: inter-tribal feuds and alliances; contact with early traders, missionaries, settlers and officials; and finally, the various parts played by Arawa groups in the fighting of the sixties. The author, Mr Don Stafford, after studying anthropology at Auckland University, went into business in Rotorua, but his avocation for many years has been the collection of material relating to the history of that district and, in particular, the history of Te Arawa confederation of tribes. With a complete absence of any previous comprehensive work on Te Arawa, we would be bound to welcome almost any attempt in this direction. It has long been a matter for surprise and regret that this important tribe (or group of tribes) that has as much or more recorded material as any Maori canoe group in the country, should be without a fully assembled history. Fortunately for us, Mr Stafford's work can be ranked as something considerably more valuable than a stopgap. It contains a wealth of detailed history, diligently and skilfully selected and assembled from the extensive sources which are conscientiously noted throughout. The main written sources for the pre-European and early settlement periods are: (a) The material written down by Wiremu Maihi te Rangikaheke (William Marsh) for Grey and largely incorporated in Nga Mahi a Nga Tupuna (Polynesian Mythology): (b) Material published in early journals of the Polynesian Society—especially that of Takaanui Tarakawa: (c) Minutes of evidence given before the Maori Land Court by many elders. Mr Stafford has also over the years obtained much valuable personal help and corroboration from individual members of the Arawa tribes—many, alas, no longer on this earth. For some of the period covered, Mr Stafford must have suffered to some extent from an almost embarrassing profusion of material. I refer to the minute books of the Maori Land Court. Microfilms of all but the more recent minute books are held in the Turnbull Library, and also in the National Archives. Because of the fact that practically all Arawa lands were investigated by the Court and because of the rather unusual method of broad group investigation around the Rotorua area (Rotorua-Patatere-Paeroa) there is a great mass of evidence. It is true, of course, that some of this evidence conflicts, and must be weighed with due regard to the tendency of witnesses to put forward the story most favourable to their own claims (a tendency not confined to Arawas or to Maoris). Nevertheless, the broader lines are fairly clearly discernible to someone with Mr Stafford's zeal and patience. I have no doubt that many times in the course of his work, he must have thought with sympathy of the trials of the Judges whose steps he was retracing and perhaps agreed with the rather weary and pathetic comments that one Judge made on the termination of a long drawn-out case as to the aptitude of the Arawa people for organising proceedings in the Maori Land Court. The result is a mass of detailed narrative, including names, places, etc., with some quite clear whakapapa and some effective commentary from the author. One small complaint is that at times the detail is so great, one cannot clearly see the wood for the trees. I should have welcomed a broad summary of some chapters in terms of wider hapu or tribal groups, movements and territory, although I would not want to lose the detail which provides a good picture of many phases of Maori life and thought. Mr Stafford has wisely not attempted too much in detailing tribal or hapu divisions and consolidations. The fact is that we tend too much these days to look upon tribes, hapus and sub-hapus as fixed and immutable groups whose relationships have not changed. My feeling, (and this is formed largely from a casual acquaintance with many of Mr Stafford's sources) is that at different times, subdivision and regrouping of hapus, often under the pressure of tribal warfare, was a constant process and that it would be almost