The Māoris - What Kind of People Are They? By Brigadier James Hargest

Rights Information
Year
1944
Reference
32507
Media type
Audio
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Rights Information
Year
1944
Reference
32507
Media type
Audio
Series
D series, ca. 1935-1950s.
Categories
Nonfiction radio programs
Radio programs
Radio speeches
Sound recordings
Duration
00:13:15
Broadcast Date
11 May 1944
Credits
RNZ Collection
Hargest, James, 1891-1944, Speaker/Kaikōrero

Brigadier James Hargest gives radio talk entitled "The Maoris - What Kind of People Are They?" [recorded in England for the BBC during World War II].

Brigadier Hargest refers throughout to his admiration for the men of the 28 Māori Battalion. He mentions the Battalion often as he gives a condensed history of Māori arrival in New Zealand, the impact of European settlement, and more recent post-colonial history.

He says much of New Zealand's successful racial history is due to Māori themselves, noting they came into the Treaty of Waitangi as full partners - there was no conquest. He gives a brief account of the Land Wars, including the battle of Orakau in the Waikato. He speaks admiringly about Te Reo Māori, oratory, and song. He ends with an account of the Māori Battalion in action in Crete.