New Zealand’s Greatest Tribal History Returns To Print A Century After Its First Publication

‘As a tribal historian and a Tūhoe descendant, I believe we are fortunate that this book was published; otherwise our tribal histories and our whakapapa may have been lost forever.’ - Rāpata Wiri, from the book’s preface

Oratia Books is honoured to bring back into print what has been described as ‘New Zealand’s greatest tribal history’, 100 years on from its first publication.

Tuhoe: The Children of the Mist is a monumental publication in its own right, with a first volume of over 1200 pages and a second that presents detailed whakapapa (genealogical charts) and maps.

During the early twentieth century ethnologist Elsdon Best lived for many years in the Urewera country, Carefully documenting the culture, beliefs, customs and whakapapa of the Ngāi Tūhoe people – whom he called ‘the children of the mist’.

This celebrated two-volume work comes back into print with the guidance of scholar Dr Rāpata Wiri (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Ruapani), whose doctoral thesis provided a re-evaluation of Best’s work.

Volume 1 presents Best’s history of the Urewera, from the first settlement from Polynesia through to the arrival of Europeans and resultant conflict. In detail he presents the traditions, myths, religious beliefs and practices of the Urewera peoples.

The large-format volume 2 contains the many whakapapa relating to Ngāi Tūhoe and other iwi descended from the Mātaatua waka.

A collectors’ slipcased set is also available.

Tuhoe: The Children of the Mist is on sale in good bookstores nationwide.

The author

Elsdon Best lived from 1895 to 1910 among the Ngāi Tūhoe people in the then-remote Te Urewera, where European presence was minimal. He filled notebooks with information that took shape in the present book. Eventually he became an officer of the Dominion Museum, where he compiled many publications. He was a foundation member of the Polynesian Society, and in 1914 was awarded the Hector medal for research in ethnology. Best passed away in 1931.

Tuhoe: The Children of the Mist
By Elsdon Best; preface by Rāpata Wiri
Vol. 1, ISBN: 978-1-99-004286-7 | RRP $100 | Hardback, 1232 pages
Vol. 2, ISBN: 978-1-99-004287-4 | RRP $65 | Hardback, 104 pp
Slipcased set, ISBN: 978-1-99-004291-1 | RRP $175
www.oratia.co.nz

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