Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter Buck)

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Te Rangi Hīroa in academic dress, circa 1904
Te Rangi Hīroa in academic dress, circa 1904[1]

Sir Peter Henry Buck, KCMG, DSO, MBChB, MD (ca. October 1877 – December 1, 1951), known for much of his life as Te Rangi Hīroa, was a prominent member of the Ngāti Mutunga Māori iwi.

Contents

[edit] Early life

He was born in Urenui, New Zealand, the only child of William Henry Buck. He was raised by William and his wife Ngarongo-ki-tua, though she was not his biological mother. According to local custom, when the couple found themselves unable to have children, one of Ngarongo's relatives, Rina, became part of the household and produced a child for the couple. Rina died soon after her child was born, and Ngarongo raised Peter as her own.

Peter Buck was descended on his Māori (maternal) side from the Taranaki iwi of Ngati Mutunga, whose elders renamed him Te Rangi Hīroa in honour of a notable ancestor. His paternal ancestry was English and Irish. Though he was largely brought up within the Pākehā community, Ngarongo-ki-tua and his great aunt Kapuakore instilled a love of Māori tradition and language in him.

After Ngarongo's death in 1892 he moved with his father to the Wairarapa. In 1896 he started attending Te Aute College, a school that produced many Māori leaders of the time. In 1899 he was named dux and passed a medical examination, entitling him to attend the University of Otago Medical School. He was later associated with the Young Māori Party.

[edit] Medical school and practice

Buck did well at Otago Medical School, where he also excelled in sport, becoming national long jump champion in 1900 and 1903. He completed his MB and ChB in 1904, and an MD six years later. During this time, in 1905, he married Irish-born Margaret Wilson. Their long marriage was often fiery, but was strong, and it was Margaret who often gave the impetus to Peter's career.

In November 1905 Buck was appointed as a medical officer to Māori, working under Maui Pomare, initially in the southern North Island, then in the far north. Between them Pomare and Buck campaigned successfully to improve sanitation in the small Māori communities around the country.

[edit] Parliament and war

Te Rangi Hīroa holding a taiaha, circa 1930
Te Rangi Hīroa holding a taiaha, circa 1930[2]

In 1909, Hone Heke Ngapua, Member of Parliament for Northern Māori died suddenly. Buck was singled out by Native Minister James Carroll to be his replacement. . Buck accepted and was elected in the subsequent by-election. He become a member of the Native Affairs Committee. He did not seek re-election to the seat in 1914, and left parliament, although he did stand (and was defeated) for the Bay of Islands seat. By this time, Buck had developed an interest in Pacific Island peoples, working briefly as a medical officer in both the Cook Islands and Niue during parliamentary breaks.

During the First World War, Buck helped in the recruitment of a Māori volunteer contingent. Buck joined this contingent as medical officer, travelling to the Middle East in 1915. He took part at Gallipoli, later being awarded a Distinguished Service Order for his heroism. He later saw action in France and Belgium, before being posted to the No 3 New Zealand General Hospital at Codford, England in 1918.

Returning to New Zealand, Buck was appointed as Chief Maori Medical Officer, and in 1921 was named director of the Maori Hygiene Division in the Department of Health. He went to the Otago University Medical School.

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Photograph by kind permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand, reference number: 1/2-037931-F
  2. ^ Photograph by kind permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand, reference number: 1/2-078259-F

[edit] The works of Sir Peter Buck

  • Buck, Peter (1910), Medicine amongst the Maoris in ancient and modern times: a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Medicine (N.Z.) 
  • Buck, Peter (1911), Takiwa pooti o te Tai-Tokerau, Wellington, [N.Z.]: N.Z. Times Print 
  • This is a letter from Buck to the electorate of Te Tai Tokerau.
  • Buck, Peter (1923), Maori plaited basketry and plaitwork. 1, Mats, baskets, and burden-carriers, Wellington, [N.Z.]: Government Printer 
  • Buck, Peter (1924), Maori plaited basketry and plaitwork. 2, Belts and bands, fire-fans and fly-flaps, sandals and sails, Wellington, [N.Z.]: Government Printer 
  • Buck, Peter (1925), The coming of the Maori, Nelson, [N.Z.]: R. W. Stiles 
  • Buck, Peter (1926), The evolution of Maori clothing [Memoirs of the Polynesian Society ; v. 7], New Plymouth, [N.Z.]: Printed by Thomas Avery, under the authority of the Board of Maori Ethnological Research 
  • Buck, Peter (1926), The Maori craft of netting, Wellington, [N.Z.]: Government Printer 
  • Buck, Peter (1927), The material culture of the Cook Islands (Aitutaki) [Memoirs of the Board of Maori Ethnological Research ; v. 1], New Plymouth, [N.Z.]: Printed by Thomas Avery, under the authority of the Board of Maori Ethnological Research 
  • This title was reprinted by AMS Press of New York in 1976.
  • Buck, Peter (1929), The coming of the Maori (2nd ed.), Nelson, [N.Z.] ; New Plymouth {N.Z.]: Cawthron Institute ; Thomas Avery & Sons 
  • Buck, Peter (1930), Samoan material culture [Bernice P. Bishop Museum bulletin ; 75], Honolulu, [HI.]?: Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
  • Buck, Peter (n.d.), Ethnology of Mangareva [Bernice P. Bishop Museum bulletin ; 157], Honolulu, [HI.]: Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
  • Buck, Peter (1934), Mangaian society [Bernice P. Bishop Museum bulletin ; 122], Honolulu, [HI.]: Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
  • Buck, Peter (1936), Regional diversity in the elaboration of sorcery in Polynesia [Yale University publications in anthropology ; no. 2], New Haven, [CT.]: Published for the Section of Anthropology, Dept. of the Social Sciences, Yale University by the Yale University Press 
  • Buck, Peter (1939), Anthropology and religion, New Haven, [CT.]: Yale University Press 
  • This title was reprinted (in 1970) by Archon Books of Hamden, CT..
  • Buck, Peter (1940), “Native races need not die”, Asia (New York) 40 (7): 379-382 
  • Buck, Peter (1944), Arts and crafts of the Cook Islands [Bernice P. Bishop Museum bulletin ; 179], Honolulu, [HI.]: Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
  • The voice of Sir Apirana T. Ngata ; The voices of Sir Peter (Te Rangihiroa) Buck, Bishop Frederick Augustus Bennett (Bishop of Aotearoa), Te Puea Herangi [sound recording] (HMV PR-9) 10 inch / 78rpm, Wellington, [N.Z.]: His Master's Voice, 1949 
  • Buck, Peter (1950), Material culture of Kapingamarangi [Bernice P. Bishop Museum bulletin ; 200], Honolulu, [HI.]?: Bernice P. Bishop Museum 
  • Buck, Peter (1950), The coming of the Maori (2nd ed.), Wellington, [N.Z.]: Māori Purposes Fund Board ; Whitcombe & Tombs 
  • This book was originally published in 1949. It has been reprinted several times: in 1952, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1977, and 1982.
  • Buck, Peter (1952), Les migrations des Polynesians: les Vikings du soleil levant (The Vikings of the sunrise) [Bibliotheque scientifique], Paris, [France]: Payot 
  • This title was translated into French by Jacqueline Foulque-Villaret.
  • Buck, Peter (1954), The Vikings of the sunrise (New Zealand ed.), Christchurch, [N.Z.]: Whitcombe & Tombs 
  • This title was reprinted in 1958. It was originally published in the U.S.A more than a decade before: by J.B. Lippincott of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and by Frederick A. Stokes of New York (both in 1938).
  • Buck, Peter (1957), Arts and crafts of Hawaii [Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication ; 45], Honolulu, [HI.]: Bernice P. Bishop Museum Press 
  • Buck, Peter (1959), The Vikings of the Pacific, Chicago, [IL.]: University of Chicago Press 
  • This is a reprint of The Vikings of the sunrise. It was reprinted in 1972.
  • Buck, Peter (1970), Anthropology and religion, Hamden, [CT.]: Archon Books 
  • This title is a facsimile (reprint). The original edition was published in 1939 by Yale University Press of New Haven, CT.
  • Buck, Peter (1976), The material culture of the Cook Islands (Aitutaki), New York, [NY.]: AMS Press 
  • This title is a reprint. It was first published by Thomas Avery & Sons of New Plymouth, [N.Z.] in 1927.
  • Buck, Peter (1993), Mangaia and the mission, Suva, [Fiji]: IPS, USP in association with Bernice P. Bishop Museum, ISBN 9-823-15001-X 
  • This title is an (edited) version of the unpublished final chapter of the book Mangaian society.
  • Sorrenson, M.P.K. (ed.) (1986-1988), Na to hoa aroha = From your dear friend: the correspondence between Sir Apirana Ngata and Sir Peter Buck, 1925-50 (3 vol.), Auckland, [N.Z.]: Auckland University Press in association with the Alexander Turnbull Library Endowment Trust and the Māori Purposes Fund Board 

[edit] Further reading

  • This book is intended for children - up to junior secondary school age.
  • Condliffe, J. B. (1971), Te Rangi Hiroa: the life of Sir Peter Buck, Christchurch, [N.Z.]: Whitcombe & Tombs, ISBN 0-723-30316-9 
  • Ramsden, Eric (1954), A memoir -- Te Rangihiroa: memorial to Sir Peter Buck, Wellington, [N.Z.]: Dept. of Maori Affairs