The coming of the Maori

Buck, Peter Henry

Book

The coming of the Maori

Maori Purposes Fund Board; [distributed by] Whitcombe and Tombs • Wellington • Published In 1952 • Pages:

By: Buck, Peter Henry.

Abstract
This is a detailed and sympathetic study of Maori culture based on the life-long research of a well known Maori ethnologist. He consulted all important literary sources, interviewed Maori elders, particularly to ascertain folk stories, and used his keen observational skill in collecting the data. This document is divided into four major sections: 1. discussion of Maori origins and racial affiliations, 2. material culture, 3. social organization, and 4. religion. It contains excellent data on technology. Various objects and methods of manufacture are described with accuracy and thoroughness. The sections on social organization and religion include less new material than that of material culture, but the author illuminates the scientific facts with his personal experiences and flashes of insight. Buck was a member of parliament, a minister of the Crown, and Director of Maori Hygiene in the Health Department (had M. D. degree) in New Zealand. His experience in bringing about changes in Maori concepts of sickness and health as a medical official provides excellent material for the theory of planned change. His experience as a member of a Maori war party and the vivid account of warfare are good cases of 'collective behavior' and leadership. It is not always clear whether some of the customs described applied to the Maori people as a whole or were confined to one or a few tribes only. However, his comparative analysis of Maori culture with other Polynesian data makes it not only a significant source on Maori culture but also an important addition to general Polynesian ethnology. The author, later, became professor of anthropology at Yale University and the Director of Bishop Museum in Honolulu.