Māori Material Culture - The University of Auckland Library

This guide is designed to help you find sources of information on traditional Māori material culture. As well as general instructions for locating books and journal articles it includes a selected list of published accounts by early explorers, traders and missionaries and a list of pictorial sources.

7.2 How to Find Books on Māori Material Culture

Searching VOYAGER
Many of the books held in the University of Auckland Library can be found using VOYAGER, the on-line catalogue. Some frequently used subject headings are (you don't need capitals, or to use macrons in your searches):

maori new zealand people agriculture

maori new zealand people boats

maori new zealand people fishing

maori new zealand people food

maori new zealand people games

maori new zealand people hunting

maori new zealand people material culture

maori new zealand people meeting houses

maori new zealand people portraits

maori new zealand people rites and ceremonies

maori new zealand people funeral customs and rites

maori new zealand people music

maori new zealand people medicine

maori new zealand people warfare

maori new zealand people in art

maori new zealand people pictorial works

maori new zealand people antiquities
(For books about archaeology and excavations)

wood carving maori adzes new zealand

maori flax new zealand

harakeke

taniko

musical instruments new zealand

kakahu

kowhaiwhai

bone carvers

bone carving

stone implements new zealand

obsidian

decorative arts maori

marae new zealand

architecture maori

art maori

art objects maori

tattooing new zealand

textile fabrics

decorative arts maori

ethnobotany

pingao

pounamu

jade

The same books can also be found with a guided keyword search.

maori tattooing

maori warfare

maori pictorial

maori fishing

maori ethnobotany

maori music?

etc.

Searching by iwi or region
Many books have subject headings for iwi in the form
ngati porou, ngati whatua, ngapuhi etc

Some works relating to regions and iwi are only indexed under subject headings in the following form
maori new zealand people new zealand auckland
maori new zealand people new zealand taranaki etc

The same books can also be found with a guided keyword search
maori auckland
maori taranaki etc.

7.3 Searching for Māori language material on Voyager

Click on

then scroll down the screen. In the languages sectionclick on Māori, which is second in the language list that appears. Then click set limits again, and select a search option from the blue search buttons

Finding Journal Articles
Individual articles in journals and newspapers are not listed separately on VOYAGER, the on-line catalogue. You must search various special indexes or look at bibliographies in other published works on the subject. The sources listed below are the most useful for finding sources in this field.

Index New Zealand (INNZ) 1987- [Computer Database]
Look for recent journal and newspaper articles in Index New Zealand (INNZ). It is available throughout the University of Auckland library system on the Library network. It is updated every three months.

All searches are keyword searches which search all the words of the record unless the computer is instructed to search only one particular field. The asterisk is the truncation symbol.

Try searches like flax, tools primitive and maori, maori arts, maori and (artefacts or artifacts) etc. The last search will find archaeological material including records of excavations.

Research (academic) level material can be sorted out from general interest material by adding the words and research in ds to the search.

Add the words and book reviews to your search to locate book reviews

Subject headings used are listed in the
APAIS thesarus [NZ & P Quick Reference 015.94 A93a]
Guides are available at the terminals and help is available at the NZ & Pacific Information Desk.

Index to New Zealand periodicals 1941-1986
The precursor of INNZ, the Index to New Zealand periodicals, indexes only journals, including the Māori Affairs Department publication, Te Ao hou. It covers the years 1941-1986 and is kept on the NZ & P Quick Reference shelves. Look under Maoris.

Te Ao hou 1952-1975
[NZ & P 572.995 A63. Also NZ Glass Case]
Published by the Department of Māori Affairs this magazine ran regular features on Māori crafts and arts. Indexes to Nos. 1-48 are in Nos. 22 and 48. Indexes to the complete series including Vols 49-76 are kept in the NZ Glass Case.

Journal of the Polynesian Society 1892-
[NZ Glass Case 572.995 P78.]
Indexed to 1970 by Taylor bibliography (see above) but also has its own centennial index for the years 1892-1992. Personal, place and other proper names in early contributions are indexed by Fletcher (see p.7). The JPS has published many articles on Māori artifacts and material culture over the years. Contributors included Māori scholars from various iwi.

Transactions and proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 1868-
[NZ & P 506 T77]
Before the JPS was started this was the journal for scholarly articles about Māori. There are several indexes covering different periods which are shelved with the volumes. Subject approach is under the general heading "Papers - Anthropology and Philology". Also indexed by Taylor and Fletcher. (Pages 5, 7)

7.4 Bibliography

The book listed below is the most important general bibliography. Bibliographies in other books may also prove useful. Books with bibliographies can be found by adding the words AND bibliography to any relevance or expert keyword search. You will have to view the record in Full View format to see the note about bibliographies on the screen.(Click on Full View)

Taylor, C.R.H. A bibliography of publications on the New Zealand Māori and the Moriori of the Chatham Islands. 1972. [NZ & P 016.995 T23]
Covers books and journal articles published prior to 1970. It is classified by subject and includes sections on: music, songs,games, chants and recreations, pp.81-84; science and medicine, pp.62-64; warfare, pp.94-97; archaeology, pp.98-105; hunting and food gathering, p.107; food - cooking and cultivation, pp.108-109; dress, ornament and tattooing, p.110; houses and settlements, pp.111-112; carving and art design, pp.113-115; handcrafts, implements and artefacts, pp.116-123. Entries are not annotated and there is no access by iwi or region.

7.5 Museums

Simmons, D.R. An index of Māori items held in overseas museums.....1996.

See also Edge-Partington, J. in the section on pictorial material.

7.6 General Books on Māori Material Culture

The books listed below are some of the most important general sources. They cover many different facets of traditional Māori society and will not be found under the more specific subject headings given above.

Best, Elsdon. The Māori. 1924.
[NZ & P 572.995 B56. Also in NZ Glass Case]
Best lived among the Tuhoe of the Urewera mountains from the 1880s, was the Dominion Museum's Ethnologist and president and editor of the J.P.S. 1922-1931. This book covers social life and customs, arts, agriculture, fishing, war, music, games, forest lore, buildings and scientific knowledge. 2 volumes.

Best, Elsdon. The Māori as he was : a brief account of Māori life as it was in pre-European days. 1934. [NZ & P 572.995 B56m. Also NZ Glass Case] Posthumously published. Shorter than the previous work. Covers physical and mental characteristics, traditional history, mythology and folklore, fishing, agriculture, war, music, games. forest lore, buildings and science. Best lived among the Tuhoe of the Urewera from 1890 to 1911, later becoming ethnologist at the Dominion Museum.

Firth, Raymond. Primitive economics of the New Zealand Māori. 1929
[NZ & P 572.995 F52. Also in the NZ Glass Case]
Includes chapters on transport, gift exchange, land, property and wealth, hakari and work and production.

Hamilton, A. Māori art. London : Holland House, 1972.
[NZ & P 736.0995 H21 1972 Also NZ Glass Case]

Makereti. The old-time Māori. 1986.
[NZ & P 572.995 M23. Also in the NZ Glass Case]
Kinship, the whanau and hapu, marriage. Birth and children, menstruation, massage. Food, agriculture, fishing and hunting. The author, from Te Arawa, was the first Māori woman to obtain an M.A. First published in 1938.

Orbell, Margaret. The illustrated encyclopedia of Māori myth and legend. 1995.
[NZ & P 398.2 O64. Also in the NZ Glass Case]
A comprehensive coverage of the field. Brief accounts of most of the well-known stories and entries for natural phenomena, animals etc. Notes on sources and an index.

Reed A.W.; revised by Buddy Mikaere. Taonga tuku iho : illustrated encyclopedia of traditional Māori life. 2002. [MM 305.899442 R32 2002]

Tangata whenua o Aotearoa: an interactive encyclopedia of Māori culture and lifestyle. Computer database. 1999. [Audiovisual Library CD-ROM L99-001]

Tregear, Edward. The Māori race. 1904. [NZ Glass Case 572.995 T78m]
Aims to be comprehensive.

7.7 Pictorial Sources

It is not easy to locate pictorial material in the library because in most cases it is not specifically described as such in the cataloguing record. Some books have the tag "pictorial works" in the subject field and these ones can be found with a guided keyword search maori pictorial (make sure "all of these" has been selected)
Books with pictures are noted as such in the NOTES field with the words "ill." or "illus" (short for illustrated), "col" (short for colour) and "plates". However, these terms are not searchable. Some of the most important early pictorial sources are:

Ellis, E.M. Early prints of New Zealand 1642-1875. 1978
[NZ & P 016.769995 E47. Also at Fine Arts]
A chronological listing of prints from the published accounts of missionaries, early explorers etc. Only a few are illustrated. The index includes headings for Maoris--Costume and adornment, Maoris--Life and customs, Maoris--Weapons and artefacts, as well as people, places and artists.

Angas, George French. The New Zealanders illustrated. 1847
[NZGlass Case 919.5 A59]
Original quarto volume. Full-size facsimile ed. of 1966 also available. Large paintings in expensive reproductions.

Angas, George French. Savage life and scenes in Australia and New Zealand. 2nd ed. 1847 [NZGlass Case 919.4 A59.]
Full-size facsimile ed. also. As above.

Angas, George French. Early paintings of the Māori. 1979 [NZ & P 919.5 A59e]
Quarto reproductions from the 1847 volumes with extracts from Angas? diaries.

Angas, George French. Māori scenes and portraits. 1979. [NZ & P 919.5 A59m]
Quarto reproductions with diary extracts.

Archey, Gilbert. Whaowhia : Māori art and its artists. 1977 [NZ & P 709.95 A67]
Black and white and colour plate illustrations of panels from whare whakairo, pataka, waka, waka huia, waka tupapaku, weapons and musical instruments.

The art of Captain Cook?s voyages [4 vols] 1985. [NZGlass Case 910.4 C77Tj]
A comprehensive catalogue with small black and white reproductions of paintings, sketches and ddrawings.

Bell, Leonard. The Māori in European art : a survey of the representation of the Māori by European artists from the time of Captain Cook to the present day. 1980
[NZ & P 757.0995 B43.]
Includes many reproductions of mainly early paintings and drawings. Discusses questions of authenticity.

Bell, Leonard. Colonial constructs : European images of Māori, 1840-1914. 1992
[NZ & P 757.0995 B43c]

Collins, R.D.J. New Zealand seen by the French, 1769-1846. 1991 [NZ & P 759.4 C71]
Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name. Contains many illustrations and bibliographies of published material relating to particular voyages and artists.

Edge-Partington, J. An album of the weapons, tools, ornaments, articles of dress of the natives of the Pacific Islands. [NZGlass Case 572.99 E23]
Originally published in 1890 these two volumes consist of line drawings of artefacts from museums and private collections (including the British Museum) indexed by the name of the object and by island group. Includes sections on New Zealand.
Fabish, Robin. New Zealand Māori. 1995 [NZ & P 572.995 F11.]

Gordon, B.E.R. Gottfried Lindauer : his life and Māori art. 1985
[NZ & P 759.995L74.]

King, Michael. Māori : a photographic and social history. 1983.
[NZ & P 572.995 K53. Also in the Short Loan Collection].
Includes photographs from the 1860s.

Hamilton. A. Māori art. 1972 [NZ & P 736.0995 H21] Originally published in 1897. Earlier edition in NZGC. Includes large sections of photograhic plates of items from museum collections. Chapters on canoes, habitations, weapons, ornaments and dress. Vocabularies of Māori terms.

Te Māori : art from New Zealand collections. 1984
[NZ & P 709.95 M29.]

Murray-Oliver, A.A.S.M. Captain Cook?s artists in the Pacific 1769-1779.
[NZ Glass Case 910.4 C77Ymu]
A selection of the more artistic works. Colour reproductions.

Murray-Oliver, Anthony. Augustus Earle in New Zealand. [NZ & P 919.5 E122Ym]

Earle was an artist who visited the Bay of Islands in the 1820s.

Portraits of the famous and infamous : Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, 1492-1970. 1970
[NZGlass Case 757.9099 P85]
Catalogue to portraits in the Rex Nan Kivell collection, including portraits in published books. Small black and white reproductions.

Simmons, D.R. Catalogue of Māori artefacts in the museums of Canada and the United States of America. 1982. [NZ & P 709.95 S59]
400 pages of black and white plates

White, John. The ancient history of the Māori. 1887-1890.
[NZGlass Case 572.995 W58a.]
One unnumbered volume consists entirely of illustrations including portraits, art and material culture.

7.8 Early Accounts of Māori Life

Banks, Joseph. The Endeavour journal of Joseph Banks. 1962
[NZ & P 910.4 B21]

Cook, James. The journals of Captain James Cook on his voyages of discovery. 1955-1974 [NZ & P 910.4 C77b. Also in NZ Glass Case and Short Loan]

Craik, George L. The New Zealanders. 1830 [NZGlass Case 919.5 C88]
Includes notes about early Māori visitors to England and Australia and their impressions of English civilisation.

Earle, Augustus. Narrative of a residence in New Zealand...1966.
[NZ & P 919.5 E122. Also in NZ Glass Case] Earle was a young gentleman artist on an extended holiday. Generally antipathetic to missionary endeavours.

Maning, F.E. Old New Zealand. 1876 [NZ & P 919.5 M27. Also in NZ Glass Case]
Maning's reminiscences of life as a trader in Hokianga in the 1830s. Includes anecdotes of muru, tapu, tohunga, matakite. Originally published in 1863.

Nicholas, John Liddiard. Narrative of a voyage to New Zealand. 1817
[NZGlass Case 919.5 N59] Notes on family life, women, polygamy and adultery, cannibalism, tapu and Māori "character".
Polack, Joel Samuel. Manners and customs of the NewZealanders : with notes corroborative of their habits usages etc...1976. [NZ & P 919.5 P76. Also in NZ Glass Case] Polack was in New Zealand from 1831-1837 working as a trader. The books are mainly about the Bay of Islands and Tolaga Bay.

Polack, Joel Samuel. New Zealand : being a narrative of travels and adventures during a residence in that country between the years 1831 and 1837. 1839
[NZGlass Case 919.5 P76n]
Tolaga, Northland.

Savage, John. Some account of New Zealand : particularly the Bay of Islands and surrounding country : with a description of the religion and government , language, arts manufactures, manners and customs of the natives...1973.
[NZ & P 919.5 S26]

Taylor, Richard. Te Ika-ā-Maui. 1974. [NZ & P 919.5 T247. Also in NZ Glass Case]
Taylor was a missionary stationed at Wanganui. His book includes notes on cosmology, mythology, atua, matakite, patupaiarehe, tapu, karakia, tangihanga and whakatauki.

Yate, William. An account of New Zealand...1835 [NZ Glass Case 919.5 Y31]
Yate was a C.M.S. missionary at the Bay of Islands. Pages 80-164 of his book note his impressions of Māori customs and beliefs. Anecdotal.

7.9 Key to Library Locations
VOYAGER (the on-line catalogue)	Can be accessed from workstations in all University of Auckland libraries and via the University of Auckland Library home page on the Internet.
Library Website	Library Electronic Academic Resources Network. Available on public access workstations in the Library.
General Library	5 Alfred St, Auckland City
MM Mātauranga Māori Collection	At the north-side of Level G, following the wooden display shelving on the right.
Microfilm	Held in the Microtext Reading Room, Level G, to the left of the glass staircase.
NZ Glass Case	A restricted access collection in Special Collections. Ask at the Special Collections reception desk.
NZ & P	Books with these letters preceding the call number are held on the open shelves in the NZ & Pacific Collection, Level G of the General Library Building.
NZ & P Quick Reference	Level G, General Library, on the wooden display shelving at the entrance to the Mātauranga Māori area.
Short Loan Collection	Level 1, Kate Edger Information Commons
Special Collections	To the south-side of Level G of the General Library, left of the glass staircase.
Thesis General Library	Ask for items with this location at the Lending Services Desk, Level G, General Library.
Contact: Māori and Pasifika Services File Last updated by Anahera Morehu: Tuesday, 15 December 2009