The Tribes of Muriwhenua: Their Origins and Stories—Dorothy Urlich Cloher and Merimeri Penfold (2002)
Writing with respect for the value of oral testimony and a sensitivity towards the sometimes-competing stories which have emerged out of the disruptions of colonisation, Cloher and Penfold have produced an important history of Muriwhenua.
Cloher, D. U. and M. Penfold. The Tribes of Muriwhenua: Their Origins and Stories. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2002.
About the book
During the Muriwhenua claim, presented to the Waitangi Tribunal during the 1980s to 1990s records of traditional history were provided and often recited by the remaining elders of Muriwhenua. The Tribes of the Muriwhenua captures many of those stories and is testimony to Dorothy Cloher’s (Ngāpuhi, 1930-2011) belief that such stories should not disappear. It is the history of the Far North and the iwi Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupōuri, Ngāi Takoto, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Kahu. For each iwi, Cloher gives whakapapa and a variety of iwi stories, all of which have been discussed and authorised by local kaumātua.
The Tribes of the Muriwhenua has been expertly translated by Dr Merimeri Penfold (Ngati Kuri, 1920-2014) a respected Taitokerau elder and scholar. The bilingual text is illustrated with photographs of the Muriwhenua landscape.
This publication is part of the series Te Takarangi: Celebrating Māori publications - a sample list of 150 non-fiction books produced by a partnership between Royal Society Te Apārangi and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga.