Tiaki Mitira was born at Wairoa, adopted and taken to Thames. He stayed in Thames for fifteen years before returning to his birth-place where he remained for the rest of his life. “He was a dairy farmer and Māori interpreter, and in his later years he devoted all his energy and influence to the erection of the Takitimu Carroll Meeting House and the writing of Takitimu. An unusual feature of this history of Ngāti Kahungunu is that the book was not published for monetary reward, but was distributed gratis to libraries, Māori colleges and museums.”
Biographical sources
- "Māori Authors." Te Ao Hou 2 (Spring 1952): 58.
Non-fiction
- Takitimu: A History of the Ngāti Kahungunu People. Wellington, N.Z.: Reed, 1944. Facsim. ed. with added preface, 1972.
- This is the story of the migration of the Ngāti Kahungunu people from Hawaiki to Aotearoa. The book is divided into four main sections: Part One sketches the history of the Māori up to the departure of Takitimu and the other canoes of the Great Migration; Part Two is the history of the Ngāti Kahungunu tribe; Part Three contains short biographies of Sir James Carroll, Sir Maui Pomare and the Rev. Tamihana Huata; while Part Four is made up of appendices describing important charms, proverbial sayings, the interpretation of dreams and signs, and the Māori almanac. Finally there are some genealogical tables - a valuable book.’ ["Two Māori Authors." Te Ao Hou 2 (Spring 1952): 58.
Reviews
Takitimu
- J.C.A [Johannes C. Andersen?] Journal of the Polynesian Society 54.2 (1945): 117-124.
- W. G. [W. Greenwood?] Journal of the Polynesian Society 54.1 (1945): 87-90.
- "Two Māori Authors." Te Ao Hou 2 (Spring 1952): 58.
- Roberton, J.B.W. Journal of the Polynesian Society 82.3 (1973): 314-316.