Sir Peter Henry Buck

Sir Te Rangi Hīroa Peter Henry Buck was an anthropologist, physician, soldier, ethnologist, and politician. He was a renowned figure of his time with his career spanning across various disciplines. His father was William Henry Buck, from Armagh, Ireland. His mother was Ngarongo-ki-tua, descended from Ngāti Mutunga. Although there has been some discussion around his birth, Ngarongo-ki-tua raised him as her son. She named him first Mate-rori after his uncle passed away during his travel to another iwi. She later called him Te Rangi Hiroa as this was his uncle’s name, who was named after one of their tūpuna.  

In a book he wrote called “Vikings of the sunrise”, Buck stated a significant figure in Buck’s life was his grandmother Kapua-kore. Due to the 1800s wars, she lost many of her loved ones. He vividly remembered her chest and cheeks bearing cuts and burn marks she etched into herself from black obsidian and charcoal. He recalled these marks bore her pain and suffering for those lost in the wars. He grew up remembering her stories about their whakapapa and was influenced by her as he lost his mother at an early age. 

Contribution to Te Ao Māori

Significantly, Buck was among the first generation of Māori who were encouraged to become educated within the Western world. From 1899 to 1904, Buck studied medicine and after a year of internship at a hospital he became a Medical Officer of Health for Māori and held this position for three years.

He intended to improve the medical care for Māori. Although this led to many difficulties, upon returning home, he found pronunciation and communication were now challenging as he had integrated into Western society for a substantial portion of his studies. Thus, he was challenged to fully immerse himself into learning local tikanga, culture, language, haka and various waiata.

After time spent among his whanaunga (relatives) building relationships, he was able to learn different teachings under experts of various iwi. Hence, he became an anthropologist for the purpose of understanding Māori and Te Ao Māori in a way that he would be able to better help support Māori.

This was crucial as many problems arose from the transitions of Westernisation occurring within Māori communities at the time. From his work within the Māori community, he became a reputable figure that was well-versed, and he received recognition for his contributions. In 1909, he was invited by Ngāpuhi and various allied iwi to become their spokesperson within Parliament, to which he accepted and became a politician until 1914. However, due to the outbreak of World War 1, he left in 1915 to join and serve within the New Zealand Medical Corps and Pioneer Battalion. He was later decorated as a lieutenant colonel, and he was knighted in 1946. Furthermore, he was awarded various honorary doctorates from Yale, Hawaii, Rochester, and New Zealand.

During his time, he was a beloved kaumatua who walked a journey which took him across two worlds where he utilised his knowledge and education to benefit his whānau, hapū, iwi and the Māoridom. Therefore, he is an honourable figure in Te Ao Māori with a legacy that will be remembered. 

Biographical information compiled and written by Ngaki Te Kare - Ruaine