Eruera - The Teachings of a Maori Elder

Oxford University Press, 1994 reprint. Fading and bumping to spine.

Eruera Stirling was an elder of the Whanau-a-Apanui tribe, who lived in Auckland. This outstanding autobiography arises from his determination to pass on the traditional knowledge entrusted to him in his childhood by tribal elders, and from his wish to explain to a younger generation thedeeper meanings of an ancestral way of life.In an outline of tribal history and of recent events in New Zealand race relations, he discusses such traditional concepts as mana (spiritural power), matauranga (knowledge), and whakapapa (genealogy), and he explains the customs of the rahui (reserve), taua (raiding party), and haka (war dance).There is a vivid description of life in the Bay of Plenty in the era of whaling, maize-cropping, and kumara growing, and an account of his work with Sir Apirana Ngata. In speaking of his life in Auckland where he has been a prominent elder since the 1950s, Eruera provides an inside view of the MaoriLand March, the disputes over the Raglan golf course, and Bastion Point, and the clash between Engineering students and 'He Taua' at the University of Auckland. Tenei mahi i mahia nei e taua, ehara i te mea hai aha, engari hai pupuri i te mauri o enei mea mo nga whakatipuranga e heke mai ana, kia kore ai e ngaro.'We have entered into this task, not lightly, but to hold fast to the mauri (life force) of ancestral ways for future generations, so they will not be lost.'