He Pitopito Kōrero nō te Perehi Māori: Readings from the Māori-Language Press
Edited by Jenifer Curnow, Jane McRae & Ngapare Hopa
‘Indispensable reading for any student of New Zealand history – compelling and fascinating insights for the general reader.’ – Christopher Moore, The Press
He Pitopito Kōrero nō te Perehi Māori: Readings from the Maori-Language Press is a reader of various articles and content from nineteenth-century Māori newspapers.
There are letters and editorials with all the dignity and polished rhetoric of speeches, heated political debates, electioneering, prosaic daily news items and tradesmen’s advertisements. One newspaper even includes a report of the death of a favourite cat; and the goings-on at schools and race tracks, women’s committees and marae are all reported.
Divided into six sections and with the Maori and English texts running side by side, He Pitopito Kōrero nō te Perehi Māori will be useful to students of New Zealand history, Maori language and Maori culture, and embodies the wishes of one farsighted editorial-writer in 1893 who wrote, ‘Let each person take care of his newspaper. Do not just throw it away.’
Editors
Jenifer Curnow has worked with Māori-language manuscripts in libraries and research institutions for the past twenty years. Ngapare Hopa is research officer in Te Rapunga Research Unit at Te Wānanga-o-Aotearoa. Dr Jane McRae is an honorary research fellow in the Māori Studies Department at The University of Auckland. Curnow, McRae and Hopa released a successful book of essays on Māori-language newspapers, Rere Atu, Taku Manu!, in 2002.
