Books by Judith Binney

Rua Kenana was an extraordinary prophetic leader from the Urewera. Resisting threats to expel the Tuhoe people from their ancestral lands, he established a remarkable community at Maungapohatu, identifying himself as the 'Mihaia' or 'Messiah' for Tuhoe. Judith Binney, Gillian Cha...plin and Craig Wallace researched the history of the community in the 1970s, working first with a collection of photographs that they took to the Urewera. Sharing these photographs with descendants of Rua and his followers, they found that 'strangers opened their hearts to us, and shared their stories'. This biographical account focuses on a dramatic moment in Urewera history, one that incorporated a shocking episode in early twentieth-century New Zealand. The rich photographic record documents not only the police assault on the Maungapohatu community but also the lives of the people and Rua's utopian vision. The prophet lived into the 1930s, a leader still working to support and sustain his followers. Described on publication as 'an unparalleled record of a community through time', this remarkable history has been in demand since first publication by Oxford University Press in 1979.
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Drawn from the landmark publication, Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History (2014), Te Ao Hou covers the Maori history of the nineteenth century.

Examines contact stories from indigenous and newcomer populations from New Zealand and throughout North America. Focusing on misunderstandings embedded in the stories of first contacts and these narratives' contemporary relevance, production, and performance, this book introduces... different tools for understanding the genre.
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