"Eruera Stirling was chosen, at a very early age, to carry on the traditions of an ancient whare wananga. For more than twenty years from 1924, he worked with the legendary Sir Apirana Ngata in the fight to gain for Māori people a living on their own lands. When he moved with Amiria to Auckland in the 1950s, he continued to work for his people as founder of the Horouta No. 2 Tribal Committee in 1955 and co-founder of the Auckland District Māori Council in 1956. Awarded an honorary doctorate in literature by the University of Auckland, he was also awarded an MBE in 1977."
Biographical sources
- Te Ao Marama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing editors: Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 1. Te Whakahuatanga O Te Ao: Reflections of Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1992. 22.
Biography
- Eruera: The Teachings of a Māori Elder. Eruera Stirling as told to Anne Salmond. New ed. Auckland, N.Z.: Oxford UP, 1985.
Other
- "The Young Life of Eruera Kawhia Stirling." Amiria: The Life Story of a Māori Woman. As told to Anne Salmond.Wellington, N.Z.: Reed, 1976. Rpt. in School Journal 4.2. (1979): 3-10.
- Stirling recounts stories surrounding his birth and childhood raised in the home of Hiria and Pera Kaongahau, who trained him in tribal lore and whakapapa. He recalls the shock of being sent home to his parents at the age of seven and his eventual adaptation to an English speaking environment.
- "After the Taranaki Wars." Te Ao Marama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing editors: Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 1. Te Whakahuatanga O Te Ao: Reflections of Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1992. 22-23.
- An extract from Eruera: The Teachings of a Māori Elder. Stirling writes in verse form the pain of Māori land losses, the solidarity of tribes supporting Te Whiti, and the intervention of God which helped preserve the lands of Ngāti Porou and Whānau-ā-Apanui through strong Māori leadership.
Traditional
- "He Poroporoaki Mo Arnold Reedy, M.B.E." Na Eruera Kawhia Whakatane Stirling o Te Whanau-a-Apanui, o Ngāti Porou, o Ngāi Tahu [By Eruera Kawhia Whakatane Stirling]. Etita: Te Kapunga Dewes [Ed. Te Kapunga Dewes]. Te Māori: The Official Journal of the New Zealand Māori Council 2.4 (July/Aug. 1971): 12-13. In Māori.
Reviews
Eruera: The Teachings of a Māori Elder
- Ohia, Monte. "A Māori Elder Teaches." Rev. of Eruera: The Teachings of a Māori Elder, by Eruera Stirling as told to Anne Salmond. Tu Tangata 2 (1981): 32-33.