The Fate of the Land Ko ngā Ākinga a ngā Rangatira Māori Political Struggle in the Liberal Era 1891-1902
DANNY KEENAN
The Liberal era in New Zealand politics — 1891 to 1912 — was a pivotal one for Māori. Rangatira fought hard both within the parliamentary system and outside it to mitigate further land dispossession; millions of acres had already been lost to government and settlers or confiscated after the Land Wars.
Historian Danny Keenan’s (Ngāti Te Whiti ki Te Atiawa) new book, The Fate of the Land Ko ngā Ākinga a ngā Rangatira published in April 2023 by Massey University Press, plugs a significant gap in our understanding of politics and land loss during the Liberal era and in the preceding decades.
‘From today’s perspective, we can see how difficult it really was to stem the losses that would continue at least until 1967 when the Māori Affairs Amendment Act gave rise to Te Rōpu Matakite o Aotearoa and the 60,000-strong Māori land
march of 1972. That march constituted a sobering epilogue to the struggles of rangatira to protect the land,’ says Keenan.
Prominent rangatira like James Carroll, Wiremu Pere, Pāora Tūhaere and Te Keepa Rangihiwinui faced complex challenges in the face of immense state power. To stop further land being lost, Māori leaders were often split — some
believed parliamentary process was necessary to stem the tide; others acted in the pursuit of political independence.
For over two decades, Māori men and women of outstanding ability fought hard to protect Māori land and, thereby, social cohesion, economic security and cultural authenticity. How they fared, and how they should be remembered, is the story of Māori political struggle during the Liberal era.
Keenan’s searching narrative about the major actors of that time — activists and politicians — weaves a compelling portrait, and the more than 60 images included bring the period to life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Danny Keenan completed a PhD in history at Massey University in 1994 and became a senior lecturer there in 2004. In 2009 he won a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award to teach New Zealand history at Georgetown University, Washington DC. He has published widely on Māori and New Zealand history. In 2016, Te Whiti O Rongomai and the Resistance of Parihaka (Huia, 2015) received a Ngā Kupu Ora Māori Book Award and his 2009 book Wars Without End: Ngā Pakanga
Whenua o Mua New Zealand’s Land Wars — A Māori Perspective was revised and reissued in 2021.
PUBLISHED BY MASSEY UNIVERSITY PRESS, 9 APRIL 2023, RRP $65.00
