Living Among the Northland M膩ori: Diary of Father Antoine Garin, 1844鈥1846 is the first full English translation of the surviving Mangak膩hia journals and letters of French Marist priest Father Antoine Garin.
Living Among the Northland M膩ori: Diary of Father Antoine Garin, 1844鈥1846听is the first full English translation of the surviving Mangak膩hia journals and letters of French Marist priest Father Antoine Garin 鈥 known to M膩ori as Perekara or P猫re Garin 鈥 who was sent to run the remote Mangak膩hia mission station on the banks of the Wairoa River.
Garin鈥檚 diaries are a human-centred record of life in a M膩ori community 鈥 he describes the relationships he formed with M膩ori men, women and children, including the chiefs who offered him protection while he lived among them, and also with his European neighbours. Garin came dangerously close to the action of the Northern War 鈥 he provides vivid accounts of contemporary events, and writes of prominent figures such as H艒ne Heke and Kawiti. Father Garin moved to Nelson in 1850 and died there 39 years later. Nelson's Garin College is named after him.
After the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, European colonisation of New 蜜桃儿直播 accelerated rapidly. In the 1840s, European settlers, including French missionaries, were spreading out over the country, reaching remote places such as Northland鈥檚 Wairoa River. However, the role of the French in New 蜜桃儿直播鈥檚 colonisation has been a neglected theme in our written histories, largely because of the challenge of dealing with French language material.
What did M膩ori think of this encroaching culture? How were the daily lives and thoughts of tangata whenua influenced by European activities and relationships? As a fluent te reo M膩ori speaker and astute observer Garin offers a fascinating first-hand account of his conversations with the M膩ori people he met and lived among. The three years of Garin鈥檚 diary have been translated into English and annotated by Peter Tremewan and Giselle Larcombe, making this valuable primary source accessible to historians and general readers.
鈥We came across French missionary Antoine Garin鈥檚 diaries many years ago,鈥 Tremewan says. 鈥淚 discovered some of his writings in Rome and Giselle wrote a biography on him in 2009. All his writing was in French, of course. Over the course of four to five years, we translated his diaries covering 1844-1846 so that English speakers can benefit from these resources.鈥
Living Among the Northland M膩ori will be launched on 14 April, the 130th听anniversary of Garin鈥檚 death, at the University Bookshop, Ilam.
About the authors:
Peter Tremewan听is a retired 蜜桃儿直播 academic who has written widely about the French in New 蜜桃儿直播 and the Pacific in the 19th century. He was awarded the John Dunmore Medal (1991) and JM Sherrard Award in New 蜜桃儿直播 History (1992) for his research in this area. His publications include听French Akaroa听(CUP, 1990, revised 2010). In 2007 the French government made him a Chevalier de l鈥檕rdre des Palmes acad茅miques.
Giselle Larcombe听is a historian whose publications have focused on the French in New 蜜桃儿直播, especially the written records in French of the early French missionaries; her doctoral thesis, completed in 2009 under the tutelage of Dr Peter Tremewan, was on Antoine Garin. She was awarded the John Dunmore Medal (2010) for her contribution to the study of the French in the Pacific.
Living Among the Northland M膩ori: Diary of Father Antoine Garin, 1844鈥1846,听Translated and edited by Peter Tremewan and Giselle Larcombe, published by Canterbury University Press, March 2019,听ISBN: 978-1-98-850302-8,听RRP $89.99.
