Rangatiratanga and Gentlemanship: A conversation in 1825
by Grant Hodgson
This book can be read within half a day and is part of a wider series entitled The Puckey/Davis Chronicles. Hodgson describes the writing as “an examination…a record of a conversation that illustrates the initial relationship between Māori and missionaries at Kerikeri in 1825”.
The importance of Hodgson’s work is that he is returning this intimate conversation into current public consciousness from material first published in Rev. John Noble Coleman’s A Memoir of the Rev Richard Davis, in 1865, and more recently by Cloher in Hongi Hika: Warrior Chief in 2003. This conversation starkly contrasts with the current repression of Te Ao Māori through government policies toward Māori agencies and removal of te Reo intiatives. Alongside present-day Ngāpuhi grievances being aired through the Waitangi Tribunal and fewer people identifying with a religious faith, this book invites a refreshing look at a meaningful relationship that was fostered between Māori and missionaries of the Bay of Islands in the midst of tribal, political and religious conflict.
Even with the shortness of the book, 104 pages, Hodgson has made some erudite comments regarding the nature of the interwoven relationships of the time, place and people. The conversation involved two of Hodgson’s ancestors, missionaries Davis and Puckey, as well as H. Williams, Kemp and Clarke. Puckey is conjectured to have translated the word “rangatiratanga” as “gentlemanship” in a quote from Hongi Hika – “the gentlemanship of the English is not altogther derived from their forefathers, but from their great learning” – hence the use of this term in the title of the book. With rangatiratanga still being debated today in its essence and outworking perhaps this sentiment of “great learning” is what Hodgson seeks to pass on through these publications as a guide for learning and even a critique on present day relational foibles.
This book serves as an excellent insight into the world of Māori, missionary and settler history of northern Aotearoa New Zealand in the 1820’s. Its concise nature is helpful, in its punchy and fact-driven content that draws on a wide range of verified sources. Recent research by Hodgson, alongside Māori, has uncovered, translated and documented previously library-bound material that greatly enriches this work. An argument could be proffered that a greater emphasis on Hongi Hika, given his well-recorded exploits and character, is at the expense of the other chiefs Rewa, Hihi, Ururoa, Te Nānā, Pakira and Titore. Nonetheless, this narrative shares an overall theme, and exemplar, of love-aroha as the foundation for these relationships amongst a setting and time of great cultural change related to modernity, muskets and immigration to these northern shores.
by Grant Hodgson
This book can be read within half a day and is part of a wider series entitled The Puckey/Davis Chronicles. Hodgson describes the writing as “an examination…a record of a conversation that illustrates the initial relationship between Māori and missionaries at Kerikeri in 1825”.
The importance of Hodgson’s work is that he is returning this intimate conversation into current public consciousness from material first published in Rev. John Noble Coleman’s A Memoir of the Rev Richard Davis, in 1865, and more recently by Cloher in Hongi Hika: Warrior Chief in 2003. This conversation starkly contrasts with the current repression of Te Ao Māori through government policies toward Māori agencies and removal of te Reo intiatives. Alongside present-day Ngāpuhi grievances being aired through the Waitangi Tribunal and fewer people identifying with a religious faith, this book invites a refreshing look at a meaningful relationship that was fostered between Māori and missionaries of the Bay of Islands in the midst of tribal, political and religious conflict.
Even with the shortness of the book, 104 pages, Hodgson has made some erudite comments regarding the nature of the interwoven relationships of the time, place and people. The conversation involved two of Hodgson’s ancestors, missionaries Davis and Puckey, as well as H. Williams, Kemp and Clarke. Puckey is conjectured to have translated the word “rangatiratanga” as “gentlemanship” in a quote from Hongi Hika – “the gentlemanship of the English is not altogther derived from their forefathers, but from their great learning” – hence the use of this term in the title of the book. With rangatiratanga still being debated today in its essence and outworking perhaps this sentiment of “great learning” is what Hodgson seeks to pass on through these publications as a guide for learning and even a critique on present day relational foibles.
This book serves as an excellent insight into the world of Māori, missionary and settler history of northern Aotearoa New Zealand in the 1820’s. Its concise nature is helpful, in its punchy and fact-driven content that draws on a wide range of verified sources. Recent research by Hodgson, alongside Māori, has uncovered, translated and documented previously library-bound material that greatly enriches this work. An argument could be proffered that a greater emphasis on Hongi Hika, given his well-recorded exploits and character, is at the expense of the other chiefs Rewa, Hihi, Ururoa, Te Nānā, Pakira and Titore. Nonetheless, this narrative shares an overall theme, and exemplar, of love-aroha as the foundation for these relationships amongst a setting and time of great cultural change related to modernity, muskets and immigration to these northern shores.
Review by Mark Redgrave
Title: Rangatiratanga and Gentlemanship: A conversation in 1825
Author: Grant Hodgson
Publisher: Gentlemanship Publications, in association with Writes Hill Press
ISBN: 9781991171061
RRP: $29.99
Available: bookshops, or publisher Gentlemanship.net
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