Old New Zealand
A Tale of the Good Old Times by a Pakeha Maori

Published in 1863, this vivid account documents the traditional Maori way of life that was vanishing due to European influences.

Frederick Edward Maning (Author)

9781108039819, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 December 2011

254 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.5 cm, 0.33 kg

First published anonymously in 1863, this classic book recounts the experiences of Frederick Edward Maning (c.1811–83), an Anglo-Irish trader who emigrated to Tasmania with his family as a boy and later relocated to New Zealand. A self-styled 'Pakeha-Maori' ('Pakeha' is the Maori word for a white New Zealander), Maning acquired land and settled down with a Maori woman, occupying a tenuous position between the two cultures. Observing that the old Maori way of life was rapidly disappearing due to the increased European presence in New Zealand, Maning endeavoured to record Maori customs and material culture before all knowledge of them disappeared. Old New Zealand is a mixture of history, autobiography and anecdote, and the author insists all the incidents and people described are real. The language is informal, and the narrative vigorous and rapid, with lively dialogues and occasional Maori phrases. A glossary explains Maori words and concepts.

Preface
1. Introductory
2. The market price of a pakeha
3. A wrestling match
4. A little affair of 'flotsam and jetsam'
5. Every Englishman's house is his castle
6. How I kept house
7. Excitement caused by first contact with Europeans
8. The Muru falling into disuse
9. The Tapu Tohunga
10. The priest evokes a spirit
11. The local Tapu
12. The Tapa
13. 'My Rangatira'
14. Trading in the old times
15. Mana.

Subject Areas: Australasian & Pacific history [HBJM]