Te Rangi Hīroa

Te Rangi Hīroa, 1904

Sir Te Rangi Hīroa KCMG , DSO (born October 1877 in Urenui , New Zealand ; † December 1, 1951 in Honolulu ), also known in New Zealand under Sir Peter Henry Buck , was a prominent New Zealand athlete , chemist , doctor , politician and anthropologist .

Early life

Peter was the only child of William Henry Buck . He was raised by his father and his wife Ngarongo-ki-tua , who, however, was not his birth mother. According to local custom (when a married couple could not have children) Ngarongo's relative Rina had made herself available as the biological mother. She died soon after Peter's birth.

On his mother's side, Peter Buck comes from the Māori tribe of the Ngāti Mutunga from the Taranaki region . The tribal elders honored him with the name of a famous ancestor: Te Rangi Hīroa .

On his father's side, Buck is of British and Irish descent. Although he grew up in a European environment, he also learned the customs and traditions as well as the Maori language through his mother and her relatives . The mother died in 1892.

Study and doctor

From 1899 Buck studied medicine and chemistry at the University of Otago . During this time he also impressed as an athlete, for example was New Zealand champion in the long jump in 1900 and 1903 . He graduated in 1904 and married Margaret Wilson from Ireland in 1905 .

In November 1905 he began to work as a doctor for the Māori under Maui Pomare , first in the south of the North Island , later in Northland . The collaboration with Pomare was very successful.

Parliament and War

Te Rangi Hīroa with taiaha (spear), around 1930

In 1909, Hone Heke Ngapua , a member of the New Zealand Parliament for the Māori of the Northland region, died suddenly . Buck was proposed, accepted, and became a member of the Native Affairs Committee . However, he refused re-election in 1914 and left parliament. At that time he was interested in the people of the Pacific Islands , and he worked briefly as a doctor in the Cook Islands and Niue .

During the First World War , Buck helped recruit Māori who could volunteer to join the army. He was transferred to the Middle East as a medical officer in 1915 , took part in the Battle of Gallipoli and was awarded the DSO . He later fought in France and Belgium before becoming No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital in Codford , England .

On his return to New Zealand, Buck was first Chief Maori Medical Officer and in 1921 Director of the Maori Hygiene Division of the Ministry of Health.

anthropology

Buck's interest in Polynesian anthropology made him the leading expert on Māori culture from the late 1920s . In 1926 he was offered a five-year research position by the Bernice P. Bishop Museum in Hawaii , which he accepted. This enabled him to expand his research to other Polynesian peoples. He was valued as a lecturer in both Hawaii and the United States and has received numerous academic awards. From 1932 to 1933 Buck was visiting professor of anthropology at Yale University .

In 1946 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George , which, according to the statutes, also meant elevation to the British nobility . Sir Peter Buck also received Sweden's highest honor, the North Star Order

Despite a long absence, Buck continued to work for the Māori health care from afar . He last visited New Zealand in 1949, already suffering from cancer. He died on December 1, 1951 in Honolulu . His ashes were buried at his birthplace, Urenui .

Works

• Ethnology of Mangareva , Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin No. 157 , Honolulu 1938. 519 pp.
• Vikings of the Sunrise , Frederick A. Stokes Company , 1938 - 335 pages.
  Reprint: Whitcombe and Tombs, Christchurch 1975. ISBN 0-7233-0021-6
• Les migrations of Polynesia. Les Vikings du soleil levant. Payot, Paris 1952.
• Arts and Crafts of Hawaii , Bishop Museum Press 1964 - 606 pages. ISBN 0-910240-34-5

Te Rangi Hīroa Medal

In 1997 the Royal Society of New Zealand introduced the Te Rangi Hīroa Medal to honor achievements in social and economic sciences . It is awarded every two years.

Web links

• MPK Sorrenson : Buck, Peter Henry . In: Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , July 4, 2012, accessed August 21, 2012 . 
• University announces name of new residential facility: Te Rangi Hiroa College . University of Otago, October 10, 2013,accessed January 5, 2016. 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Photograph courtesy of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington , New Zealand, No. 1 / 2-037931-F
2. ↑ MPK Sorrenson : Buck, Peter Henry . In: Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , July 4, 2012, accessed August 21, 2012 .  
3. ↑ Photograph courtesy of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington , New Zealand, No. 1 / 2-078259-F
4. ↑ Te Rangi Hiroa Medal . The Royal Society of New Zealand , archived from the original on October 14, 2008 ; accessed on September 17, 2014 (English, original website no longer available).