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January 08, 2016
Church lessons and land rights on Papers Past website
Waatea Team
Posted On January 8, 2016
Several newspapers published for or by Maori are among the latest publications to be digitised for the National Library’s Papers Past website.
The earliest was Auckland philanthropist Charles Davis’s Ko Aotearoa, or the Maori Recorder, of which two issues published in 1861 and 1862 have been found.
The 1892 Aotearoa: he Nupepa ma nga Tangata Maori stated it was published exclusively for the benefit of Maori people and Pakeha will have no part in its organisation.
Te Pipiwharauroa was started in 1898 by Anglican Reverend Peneti (Bennett) as He Kupu Whakamarama (Words of Enlightenment) to assist people in interpreting the scriptures, especially those without ready access to ministers.
It continued at Te Pipiwharauroa until 1913, when it was renamed Te Kopara and included wider coverage of church activities.
In 1921 Te Rau Press fell into financial difficulties and the newspaper was moved to Hastings and renamed Te Toa Takitini, where it continued until 1932 under the control of the Komiti Tumuaki Standing Committee of the Bishop of Waiapu.
Maori Record: a journal devoted to the advancement of the Maori people ran from 1904 to 1907 targeted at Pakeha readers, with many of its subscribers being lawyers and judges. It is critical of Sir James Carroll and his Government's Maori land policies.
The Maori titles were previously accessible online through the University of Waikato Department of Computer Science, but are now also searchable on the Papers Past website.
Papers Past has also added a number of newspapers that emerged during the gold rush of the 1860s and 70s, including the Cromwell Argus, Dunstan Times, and Lake County Press.
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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