Continuing our series on Family History - The Best of 2016. Here's Maata, our Maori Reference Librarian, with her "best of."
He manu hou ahau, he pi ka rere – I am a chick just learning to fly
The above Maori proverb describes my recent experience as a new staff member at Te Kohinga Rangahau o Tamaki Makaurau - Auckland Research Centre, aptly. Albeit perplexing at times, my seven months navigation of the research centre and its environs, the nearby stacks, the library basement and the Sir George Grey Special Collections has been very rewarding. Also discovering the depth and breadth of the cultural and historical material within the numerous collections held on the Heritage floor has been inspiring. As an unwitting fledgling, now airborne, I feel very honoured to be a kaitiaki/guardian of this extremely important environment that is rich with the cultural heritage of Aotearoa-New Zealand, the Pacific and Great Britain. I would like to share some of the highlights of this wonderful journey.
Hinemihi: Firstly, locating information about the Whare tipuna Hinemihi of Te Arawa was emotive but enormously worthwhile. This treasured Whare Tipuna was uprooted from Aotearoa/NZ and relocated to England by William Hillier, 4th Earl of Onslow, a colonial Governor of New Zealand during the late 1800s. He purchased the meeting house as fond memorabilia of Aotearoa, to take back to his family home in England. There are many books in Auckland Libraries on Hinemihi, along with a blog post from Heritage et Al.


Hinemihi meeting house at Te Wairoa. Original photographic prints and postcards from file print collection, Box 8. Ref: PAColl-6075-19. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22821942

Piuipiu:  I also responded to an international enquiry from Utah regarding the current status of the Piupiu in Aotearoa. The art of piupiu making is thriving in Aotearoa and is being upheld by custodians such as Hetet whanau, Christina Wirihana and many others. Traditional and contemporary piupiu making techniques are currently used, and a number of Maori Art and Craft training providers throughout Aotearoa provide piupiu making as a part of their curriculum. Furthermore, piupiu are worn at the official Matatini Kapa Haka Festival which is a major New Zealand event 

'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 471-9724'

Heritage Images.

NZ Card Index

'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-400

Two academic staff at the University of Otago, Judith A. Bennett and Angela Wanhalla, have edited this excellent book, Mothers' Darlings of the South Pacific, tracing stories of those children born to Pacific Island women and American servicemen during the Second World War.  Making use of oral histories, the various authors interviewed children of these love affairs: relationships that took place in the South Pacific islands during the war.

There are chapters covering islands from New Caledonia, to Tonga, the Gilbert Islands and the Solomons, but a must-read is the chapter on New Zealand: "I don't like Maori girls going out with Yanks." Between the years 1942 and 1944, 100,000 American soldiers were stationed here, as the February 1942 Battle of Darwin made the threat of invasion frighteningly real. The Kiwi girls were taken with the American men, as Mihipeka Edwards remembered: We (would) gaze at these beautiful specimens of manhood, so handsome. Even the not-so-handsome are tall and beautifully turned out, smartly uniformed and very military in their stance. I am carried away. I forget I am married.

The book is about the children born out of these relationships: some relationships were short lived, while others were true love stories that existed amidst the social climate of the time, the difficulties in dealing with bureaucracy, and the reality of men serving in a world war, men who were always going to leave New Zealand. Some of those babies were raised under the Maori whangai system, with young mothers playing the part of aunt or even a much older sister. There are stories of the men who wanted to stay with their "new" family but were unable to, such as Raymond Gipe who served in the US Navy, fell in love with Vivienne, fathered a son, Leroy, but who had to return home. As his family recalls:
"He loved Vivienne. It was not just a one night stand. He married her. He had his son registered and he was named after his father...  I think he tried on several occasions to get Leroy and Vivienne to come over. We understood that she was fearful of the ugly side of America, being Maori." Raymond provided for Leroy and on his death, left his estate to him.

There are the stories of mothers and families who tried to keep the identity of the father secret, of men who promised to return but couldn't or wouldn't, and stories of those children anxious to learn the truth of their birth parents. In some cases, information was deliberately withheld; for some mothers, there was a fear the children would be sent to America to live. John, for example, went searching for his birth father, Don, but discovered he'd passed away some years before. Yet in finding his American family, he learnt his father had known all about him, that his birth mother had sent photos and news of him to America, that Don had told his wife he had a New Zealand son, and that up to his death, he carried a photo around of John - the son he had never known.

Rusty Floyd (US Navy) His niece has been searching for her Tongan relative. (p.173)

There are wonderful stories of reunions, although stories of sadness, too, from both sides of the "family." The descendants of Rusty Floyd who served in the US Navy, know he fathered (and abandoned) a child in Tonga but have no idea if the child was male or female, making the search for their relative near impossible. And in the chapter on the Cook Islands, Helen talks about having a pampered childhood as the only American in her family, and treasuring a photo of her USA grandmother that her father, Tom, left for her.  But there was grief for her mother, Ito. "When Tom learned he was being shipped out, he requested an army transport to bring Ito to the base to say goodbye. This request arrived too late, and Ito was so upset she refused to talk about this for many years. Helen believes her mother was traumatised by this experience of being pregnant, and not having the opportunity to say goodbye."
Might pay to grab a tissue for this one, people!
There are borrowable copies on the catalogue but be warned. This is one popular book, and you'll most likely need to place a hold/request, but there's no charge to do this, and you can pick the book up at any of our 55 libraries - whatever is convenient for you.

Joanne - Central Research

An old institution: the first Land Court building erected in New Zealand, built at Hokianga. Sir George Grey SpecialCollections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19070502-2-4

To search the minute books you will need to use the Māori Land Court Minute Book Index. This index was created in the 1990s by librarians at the University of Auckland. The index covers 1,100 minute books from the whole country for hearings held between 1865-1910.

The index is available via two platforms. Either through Knowledge Basket, which Auckland Library members can access via the Digital Library, or through DBTextworks.

Auckland Library members can search the DBTextworks version on pcs at the Central Auckland Research Centre, the South Auckland Research Centre and the West Auckland Research Centre. We recommend using the DBTextworks version if possible as it enables specific field searching, the results can be easier to interpret and you can utilise the ‘browse feature’ to look up terms used in the index (helpful if you are unsure of spellings etc).

The index does not contain the content of the minute books themselves, so you will need to note the district, bookname and page numbers to then refer to the appropriate hard copy or microfilmed minute book. The hard copies can sometimes be easier to read than the microfilmed versions. Also, multiple volumes can be included on one reel of microfilm; each volume is only indicated at the start of that volume - which can make finding the appropriate volume and page more difficult.

When searching, you would usually be using some of the following information:

• Names of land blocks
• Names of people who may have given evidence in court between 1865-1910 or died before 1910
• Names of hapū or iwi who may have been mentioned in court between 1865-1910

Other possibilities include date, place of sitting, judge, type of case or district.



This screenshot shows a search for succession cases on the Wairoa block involving Wiremu Kauika, using the Advanced Search:

Note that the database uses the surname, first name format. Eg Kauika, Wiremu

As is often the case when database searching, ‘less is more’, and it may be appropriate to include search information in only one field; sometimes just searching on a surname is sufficient. If you get too many irrelevant results than you can add more information to narrow your search.

A useful tip for name searching which accommodates the fact that names may have been recorded in the minute books in different orders, is to use the ‘within’ operator. Eg a search for Wiremu W2 Kauika will find all records where ‘Wiremu’ is within two words of ‘Kauika’ (in either order) allowing for an intervening middle name.

‘North Auckland's Native Lands: Maoris attending the Land Court at Ahipara’ (1904). Sir George GreySpecial Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19041027-11-1

The Māori Land Court minute books are a very important resource for whakapapa research. They are also valuable for local history, early Māori history, and Waitangi Tribunal research.

“Whakapapa literally means the ‘laying down of generations’ layer upon layer. Whakapapa is about people, it is a link to tūpuna, to heritage, to identity. For Māori it is a taonga, and for many it is also tapu. Traditionally whakapapa was handed down orally to a member of the whānau deemed appropriate to look after the whānau whakapapa.” (Paewai, 2015, p2).

The Native Land Court (renamed Māori Land Court in 1947) was established in 1865 with the purpose of translating customary Māori land ownership into legal land titles recognisable under English Law.

Traditional Māori land rights involved communal ownership of land. The hapū (sub tribe) or iwi (tribe) had to prove their traditional rights to land on the basis of occupation, conquest, or ancestry. The gifting of land was also taken into account. Occupation was symbolized by the term "ahi kaa" meaning "to keep the home fires burning". This meant that the hapū had to establish their genealogical connections as well as their physical and emotional ties to a piece of land… When an owner of Māori land dies it is necessary for the person or persons succeeding to that land, to prove their entitlement or right of succession. To do this they must present their whakapapa to the Māori Land Court. (Paewai, 2015, p6).

The Māori Land Court is still in operation, and is organised by seven districts: Taitokerau, Waikato-Maniapoto, Tairāwhiti, Waiariki, Aotea, Tākitimu, and Waipounamu. View maps and details of district offices. Current ownership of Māori land can be searched through Māori Land Online.

As Māori were brought before the court to determine native land entitlements and ownerships, the oral traditions of Māori citing their relationship to the land and the ancestors of it were recorded in the historical minute books. These recitals provide a profound insight into the heritage of the land and the people referred to. (Clement, 2012)

Page from Kaipara Minute Books (Taitokerau Court) Volume 2 3 Sept 1866 - 9 March 1871

The original minute books are held by the Māori Land Court. Photocopied or microfilmed versions are held elsewhere, including some large public and tertiary libraries and branch National Archives offices.
In recognition of their value as a unique archival resource and taonga Māori, in 2012 the minute books were listed in UNESCO’s New Zealand Memory of the World documentary heritage register.

It should be noted that there are four types of minute books:

• District minute books
• Judges / Commissioners minute books
• Appellate minute books (appeals were held by a special Native Appellate Court from 1894 onwards)
• Papatipu / Papatupu minute books – these are held in district offices only. District offices also hold additional records (block order files, application files, correspondence files, whakapapa files and nominal indexes for owners of land)

Auckland Libraries holds the following minute books:

• Auckland Central Research Centre – all districts on microfilm, hardcopies of the following minute books: Northern, Auckland, Hauraki, Ōrākei, Kaipara, Mahurangi, Taitokerau, Waikato 
• South Auckland Research Centre – all districts on microfilm
• West Auckland Research Centre – all districts on microfilm, all districts in hardcopy
• North Auckland Research Centre – hard copies of the following minute books: Auckland, Kaipara, Mahurangi and Ōrākei

‘A sitting of the Native Land Court at Temuka, Canterbury’ (1926).  Sir George Grey SpecialCollections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19260916-49-4

It is important to acknowledge that the processes around applying for Native Land Court title were complex and problematic, and some of the content in the minute books is controversial and subject to dispute. The rush from the Crown to individualise title resulted in errors, and representations were sometimes received from those without a genuine mandate. See Te ture – Maori and legislation and Background to the Māori Land Court minute books for further information.


Part 2 of this post will cover searching the Māori Land Court minute books.

References
Clement, Christine (2012). ‘Discovering Māori links. Inside History, Jan/Feb, p42-44.
Paewai, Raewyn (2015) ‘Whakapapa for Beginners’. [Handout produced for Auckland Libraries’ workshops and customer use.]

Rachel, Reference Librarian - Heritage

With assistance kindly provided by:
Robert Eruera, Senior Librarian Pou Ārahi Taonga
Raewyn Paewai, Senior Librarian Māori Research
Linda Hogan, Librarian – Research
I would also like to acknowledge the talk on this subject given by Margaret Ngaropo, former Pou Kohinga Matua

Sometimes in family history, you come across a story that sounds more like the plot of a sweeping historical saga than a real life event. Such is the case of the story of the Spaniard, Manuel Jose.

Māori Children on a North Island East Coast Farm, 1937 Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19370630-51-3

The story began in 1840 when Manuel - reportedly tall, red-haired, and green-eyed  – settled on the East Coast of the North Island in the Waiapu Valley north of Gisborne – Ngati Porou land.  His background was cloaked in mystery, and still is. He came to New Zealand as a whaler, set up business as a trader, and subsequently married five times –folklore has him as being an attractive man, and liked by women ( probably not liked quite as much by the men!)  All his wives were Māori, and all the marriages resulted in children. You can imagine the descendants of these Spanish-Māori unions now number in their thousands.


More information is available at www.manueljose.org.nz

Joanne

O’Neill’s Point Cemetery, Bayswater, Auckland

From 1915, a number of recruits from the Pacific trained at Narrow Neck Camp in Devonport before being shipped to the battlefront. The Third Maori Contingent included 50 from the Cook Islands along with 153 Niueans, Tahitians, 15 Fijians, Gilbert and Ellis Islanders (now Kiribati) and Western Samoans. However, of the Niueans only 140 completed their training at Narrow Neck Camp and were sent to Egypt – 12 were discharged back to Niue due to illness and one, Private Vilipate, died at Narrow Neck Camp on 25 December 1915 and was buried in the O'Neill’s Point Cemetery. The Third Contingent sailed on 5 February 1916.

Showing exterior view of church at O'Neills Point Cemetery, surrounded by gravestones   Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-6273 Heritage Images

Two more Niuean soldiers and one Cook Island soldier were buried in that cemetery during the training of more Contingents in 1916. A returning Cook Island solider, Sergeant Beni Banaba was buried there as well in 1917, having served in Egypt and Palestine.

The influenza epidemic of late 1918 hit Narrow Neck Camp particularly hard, and at one stage in early October 1918 there were 226 cases of influenza at the Camp. Ultimately 21 either died in the Camp or in the nearby Barracks and all but one were buried in the O'Neill’s Point Cemetery, including three from Kiribati, one from Fiji and one from the Cook Islands.

In 1919, another Fijian soldier and two Cook Island soldiers were buried in O’Neill’s Point Cemetery, from Auckland Hospital. They were returning home in the troopships.

Visiting O'Neill’s Point Cemetery today, you can see the well-tended and orderly graves of Pasifika soldiers buried there, most with New Zealand Expeditionary or Defence Force emblems on their graves.

David Verran