Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Ministry of Culture & Heritage Public History Talks Resume

Our regular public history talks will resume on Wednesday 2 March and we're delighted that Dr Monty Soutar is to be our first speaker in 2011. Monty has recently rejoined Manatu Taonga - Ministry for Culture and Heritage - as Project Coordinator of the 28th Māori Battalion website project.

The author of Nga Tama Toa: The Price of Citizenship, he is a former soldier, teacher and academic who has worked as Director of Tairāwhiti Museum in Gisborne and as Chief Executive of the Ngāti Porou Rūnanga.

Monty recently spoke on Ngāti Porou’s stance during the New Zealand Wars at the Tutū te Puehu conference in Wellington. For those unable to attend that event, we are pleased to offer you another opportunity to hear his address .

‘He Iwi Piripono: a loyal people? An iwi perspective’

Ngāti Porou’s stance during the wars of the 1860s was not so much about loyalism as it was about maintaining a greater measure of tribal independence and control in the face of rapid change. Neither passive assimilation into Maori nationalism or into the paler mainstream was appealing to Ngāti Porou, but faced with the inevitable choice, their leaders opted for the ally most likely to align with their own aspirations. Some chose the British, others the Kingitanga and, subsequently, still others the Pai Marire movement. Monty Soutar examines the motivations behind the alliances Ngāti Porou formed during the wars of the 1860s and discusses these against the backdrop of 30 years of colonisation on the East Coast, in which Christianity became central to the tribe’s beliefs and behaviour.

Time: 12.15pm to 1.15pm approx

Venue: Ministry for Culture and Herigage,
Te Wharenui meeting room, ground floor, Radio NZ House,
155 The Terrace, Wellington

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