Te Rangi HÄ«roa

Sir Peter Henry Buck KCMG, DSO (* October 1877 in Urenui, New Zealand, † December 1, 1951 in Honolulu), in New Zealand better known as Te Rangi Hiroa, was a prominent member of his Ngāti Mutunga - Māori tribe in New Zealand, athletes, chemist, doctor, politician and anthropologist.

Early life

Peter Buck was born in Urenui, New Zealand, the only child of William Henry Buck. He was raised by William and his wife Ngarongo -ki- tua, although she was not the biological mother. According to customs, when a couple finds out that they can not have children, turned out one of Ngarongos relatives, Rina, as biological mother available. Rina but died soon after Peter's birth.

Peter Buck comes from the mother of Māori, especially the tribe of Ngāti Mutunga of the Taranaki Region. Meanwhile, tribal elders called him Te Rangi Hiroa in honor of a famous ancestor. Father's side, Peter Buck is an English and Irish descent. Peter was mainly brought up in an era marked by Pākehā environment, learned, however, by his mother and her relatives, the customs and the language of the Māori.

His mother died in 1892. From 1899 Peter Buck studied at the University of Otago medicine and chemistry.

Studies and doctor

During his time as a student, Peter Buck also impressed as an athlete. So he was in the years 1900 and 1903 New Zealand champion in the long jump.

He finished his studies in medicine and chemistry 1904. 1905 he married the Irish Margaret Wilson.

In November 1905 he started his first job as a doctor for Māori and worked Maui Pomare, first in the south of the North Island, and later in the far north. Together with Pomare began a very successful medical work for Māori throughout the country.

Parliament and War

1909 died suddenly Hone Heke Ngapua, Member of the New Zealand Parliament for the Māori of the Northland region. Buck has been proposed as its replacement. He accepted and became a member of the Native Affairs Committee. However, he declined re-election from 1914 and left the Parliament. At this time was his personal interest to the people of the Pacific Islands, and he worked briefly as a physician in the Cook Islands and Niue.

During the First World War Buck supported the recruitment of Māori who could join the army voluntarily. Buck himself was a medical officer, and was appointed in 1915 to the Middle East. He participated in the Battle of Gallipoli, and was decorated for bravery with the Distinguished Service Order. Later he fought in France and Belgium before 1918 was offset to No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital in Codford, England.

Upon his return to New Zealand Maori Buck Chief Medical Officer was, and in 1921 Director of Maori Hygiene Division in the Ministry of Health.

Anthropology

Bucks active interest in Polynesian anthropology meant that he was considered a leading expert in the culture of Māori from the late 1920s. In addition, he was increasingly seen as an outstanding lecturer. 1926 offered him the Bernice P. Bishop Museum in Hawaii, a five-year research position at which he accepted. Thanks to this point, Buck was able to expand his extensive research on other Polynesian peoples of the Pacific Islands. He was known both in Hawaii and in the United States as a lecturer and has received numerous academic awards. From 1932 to 1933 Buck was then a visiting professor of anthropology at Yale University. This led him as a lecturer and researcher from the United States and Europe.

In 1946 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. Due to the religious statutes he was raised to the British peerage, was awarded by King George VI. knighted and thus became Sir Peter Buck. He also received Sweden's highest award, the Kungliga Nordsjarneorden (Royal Order of the Polar Star ).

Despite his absence from New Zealand Buck remained in close contact and engaged from afar for Māori health. Most recently, he returned in 1949, already ill with cancer, back to New Zealand. Te Rangi Hiroa died on December 1, 1951 in Honolulu. His ashes were returned to his birthplace Urenui.

Works

• Les migration of Polynesia. [ Preface de Maurice Leenhardt. Traduction de Jacqueline Foulque - Villaret. ] Payot, Paris, 1952.

Te Rangi Hiroa medal

In 1997, the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Rangi Hiroa a the medal to honor achievements in the social and economic sciences. It is awarded every two years.