Maui Wiremu Piti Naera Pomare

Te Āti Awa

1876 - 1930

Maui Pomare was born at Pahu Pa, near Urenui, the son of Ngāti Awa chief Wiremu Naera Pomare. He spent his childhood in Taranaki and the Chatham Islands and was educated in 1887 at Christchurch Boys’ High School. He transferred to Te Aute College in 1889 after his mother’s death. He studied medicine at Battle Creek, Michigan, in the USA, and at the American Medical Missionary College in Chicago where he graduated with a M.D in 1899. He returned to New Zealand in 1900 and from 1901 to 1911 held the position of Medical Officer to the Māori people. In 1911 at the age of thirty-five he was elected as the Independent Member for Western Māori in the House of Representatives, a seat he held until his death in 1930. In Parliament, he was a member of the Executive Council representing the Māori, Minister of the Cook Islands from 1923-26, Minister of Health from 1923-26 and Minister of Internal Affairs in 1928. He was a member of the Young Māori Party and a member of the Executive of the Polynesian Society. During the First World War he was chair of the Māori Regimental Committee. In 1920 he was awarded the C.M.G. and in 1922 was awarded the K.B.E. He worked with James Cowan on two volumes of Legends of the Māori. (1930). He died in San Francisco on 27 June, 1930.

Biographical sources

  • Cody, J.F. "Maui Pomare and Te Ora O Te Māori." Te Ao Hou 4 (1953): 23-24, 46.
  • "Obituary: Sir Maui Pomare." Journal of the Polynesian Society 39 (1930): 286-287.

    Non-fiction

  • The Māori. Melbourne, Austral.: Government Printer, [n.d.].
  • [Untitled extract of an article]. Daily Democrat [Springfield, Ohio], 30 Aug. 1897. No further details. Rpt. in Man of Two Worlds: Sir Maui Pomare. J. F. Cody. Wellington, N.Z.: A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1953. 39.
  • Pomare gives an explanation of why he studied medicine and discusses his plans to open medical sanatoriums in New Zealand based on the Battle Creek Institution.
  • "Education Among the Māoris." Good Health [Battle Creek, Michigan] 32 (1897): 134-136.
  • "Report of Dr. Pomare, Health Officer to the Māoris.’ Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New Zealand. Session 2, 1906. Report of Department of Public Health. H-31, 1906. 67-68.
  • In this substantial report Pomare provides his report of the Cook Islands, reproduces Buck’s report as Assistant Native Health Officer and Elsdon Best’s report as Sanitary Inspector of the Matatua Māori District, and includes very brief reports of the Māori Council Districts from sanitary inspectors: Haimona Patete of Arapawa District, Waaka Te Huia of Dargaville, Riapo Puhipi of the Mangonui District, Hori Pukehia of the Wanganui District, Taiawhio Te Tau of Maketu, Ihaia Hutana of the Tamatea District, and Rameka Waikerepuru of Pewhairangi and Whangarei Districts. Pomare discusses the causes of the declining Māori population.
  • "Report of Dr. Pomare, Health Officer to the Māoris.’ Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New Zealand. Session 2, 1906. Report of Department of Public Health. H-31, 1906. 68-73.
  • Pomare submits a report on his ‘sanitary inspection’ of the Cook Islands and notes the Cook Island Māori’s links with the Māori of New Zealand. He lists population figures of the islands, writes of their diseases, and notes the impact of syphillis, gonorrhoea, and leprosy.
  • "Integration By the Middle Of The Twentieth Century?" Auckland Star 14 Feb. 1907: 5. Rpt. in Speeches and Documents on New Zealand History. Ed. W. David McIntyre and W. J. Gardiner. Wellington, N.Z.: Oxford UP, 1971: 174-175. Rpt. 1979.
  • "Reports of Dr. Pomare, Health Officer to the Māoris, and of the Native Sanitary Inspectors." Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New Zealand. 1908. Health Dept Annual Report, H-31, Vol. 5, 1908: 118-135.
  • In this comprehensive annual report from 1907-1908 Pomare tabulates the new houses, whares and toilets erected and houses destroyed in the years 1904-1908, notes the havoc of influenza and pneumonia, and writes of the Tohunga Suppression Act of the previous session having ‘had good effect’. He gives a detailed account of the diseases suffered by Māori in the respective geographical regions, reports on the conference of the Sanitary Inspectors and publishes the brief reports of the following Sanitary Inspectors: Ihaia Hutana, T. Te Tau, Hori Pukehika, Horomona Teo Paipa, Elsdon Best, Waaka Te Huia, R. T. Puhipi and Te Rangihiroa.
  • "Part H. - Report By Dr. Pomare On Sanitary Conditions Of The Māori." Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New Zealand. Session II, 1909. Annual Report of the Public Health Department. H-31. Vol. 5 (1909). 59-61.
  • Pomare writes of the physical and mental health of Māori in traditional Māori society, and notes the debilitating effects of living in peace. He writes of the progress made in introducing sanitary reforms to the Māori, notes the Māori nursing scheme and discusses the decreased medical inspection of Native Schools due to few staff numbers. He commends the work of the Māori Sanitary Inspectors and regrets ‘the loss of Dr. Buck’s services’ after three years’ work with the Department.
  • "The Māori." The Māori of New Zealand, Past, Present and Future: With illustrations of Māori life and Māori Versions of Popular English Songs. The Rev. Hoani Parata. London: T. Hughes & Son, 1911. 7-11.
  • An extract of a paper presented to the Australasian Medical Congress by Pomare.
  • The Māori Mother And Her Child. Prepared and printed in Māori by Maui Pomare. Wellington, N.Z.: E. V. Paul, Government Printer, 1942. New ed. Introd. Miria Woodbine Pomare. In Māori and English. New ed. published in English only by direction of the Hon. Mabel Howard, Minister of Health. Wellington, N.Z.: R. E. Owen, Government Printer, 1949.
  • A short but comprehensive guide to child-care, preparation for childbirth, breastfeeding and weaning, and feeding and caring for a baby. The 1949 edition also contains various recipes. Much of this publication was recreated in an amplified form in a series of articles in Te Ao Hou between 1954-56 written under the pseudonym of Keritapu.
  • [Untitled article]. Poverty Bay Herald 1 Apr. 1901. Rpt in Man of Two Worlds: Sir Maui Pomare. J. F. Cody. Wellington, N.Z.: A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1953. 46-47.
  • Pomare discusses some of the Department of Public Health’s plans for reversing the decreasing Māori population.

    • Other

  • "Te Waipiro." Te Pipiwharauroa, He Kupu Whakamarama. 43 (Hepetema [Sept.] 1901): 1-2.
  • "He Kupu Whakahau." Te Pipiwharauroa, He Kupu Whakamarama. 54 (Akuhata [Aug.] 1902): 8.
  • "Te Ropu Mahi. He Whakatupato." Te Toa Takitini 47 (Hune [June] 1, 1925): 246-247.
  • "Era Atu Whakamarama." Te Toa Takitini 47 (Hune [June] 1, 1925): 248-249.
  • Prefatory Note. Songs From the Forests of Tane. T. Chamberlin Chamberlin. Foreword by Sir Maui Pomare. Illust. with seven reproductions of original etchings by Trevor Lloyd. Wellington, N.Z.: Fine Arts, 1930. No further details.

  • Papers/Presentations

  • "Speech At The Tangi For Te Whiti In 1907." Man of Two Worlds: Sir Maui Pomare. J. F. Cody. Wellington, N.Z.: A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1953. 84-85. Rpt. in Māori Is My Name: Historical Writings in Translation. Ed. John Caselberg. Dunedin, N.Z.: John McIndoe, 1975. 144-146.
  • In this eulogy to Te Whiti, Pomare farewells ‘the man of peace and goodwill to all people on the West Coast’ and notes that a new era with the pakeha is emerging that was foretold by the ancestor in the tribal sayings "Shadowed behind the tattooed face the stranger lurks. He is white. He owns the earth’ and ‘When the net is old and worn it is cast aside and the new net goes fishing.’

    • Traditional

  • Legends of the Māori. Illus. Stuart Peterson. [Auckland, N.Z.]: Southern Reprints, 1987-[1989].
  • Written in collaboration with James Cowan.
  • Legends of the Māori. Ed. James Cowan. Vol. 2. Auckland, N.Z.: Southern Reprints, [1989].

    Other

  • Battle Creek Moon 21 Apr. 1898. Rpt. in Man of Two Worlds: Sir Maui Pomare. J. F. Cody. Wellington, N.Z.: A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1953. 41-42.
  • Short extracts from press reportings of Pomare’s lectures in the late 1890s.
  • Boyes, V. "Critically Assess The Contribution Of Sir Maui Pomare And Sir Peter Buck To Māori Health." University of Auckland Historical Society Annual 1978: 1-6.
  • Cody, J.F. Man of Two Worlds: Sir Maui Pomare. Wellington, N.Z.: Reed, 1953.
  • Cody, J.F. "Maui Pomare and Te Ora O Te Māori." Te Ao Hou 4 (1953): 23-24, 46.
  • Hui Whakamahara Ki a Maui Pomare, Manukorihi Pa, Waitara, Hune 23-27, 1936. New Plymouth, N.Z.: McLeod & Slade, [1936].
  • This is a souvenir booklet accompanying the memorial ceremonies for Sir Maui Pomare, which were held in June 1936 at Waitara. The booklet contains a short biography of Pomare, provides the Māori text of Rima Wakarua’s welcome speech, and contains various parliamentary tributes to Pomare. The publication also includes a tribute to Lady Miria Pomare, extracts from the writing of Sir Peter Buck and a detailed description of the carved memorial runanga house, Te Ikaroa-a-Maui. The booklet concludes with a collection of Māori songs and photographs.
  • R.R.A. "Pomare, Sir Maui Wiremu Pita Naera, K.B.E., C.M.G., M.D. (1876-1930)." Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ed. A. H. McLintock. Vol. 2. Wellington, N.Z.: R. E. Owen; Govt. Printer, 1966. 816-817.
  • Wilson, John. "Working To Overcome The Legacy Of War." New Zealand Historic Places 28 (Mar. 1990): 49-53.
  • "Obituary: Sir Maui Pomare." Journal of the Polynesian Society 39 (1930): 286-287.
  • Taylor, C. R. H. A Bibliography of Publications on the New Zealand Māori and the Moriori of the Chatham Islands. Oxford: Clarendon, Oxford UP, 1972. 47.
  • Williams, John A. Politics of the New Zealand Māori: Protest and Cooperation, 1891-1909. [Auckland, N.Z.]: Auckland UP, 1969. 188.