Living Among the Northland Mori: Diary of Father Antoine Garin, 18441846 is the first full English translation of the surviving Mangakhia journals and letters of French Marist priest Father Antoine Garin.
Living Among the Northland Mori: Diary of Father Antoine Garin, 18441846泭is the first full English translation of the surviving Mangakhia journals and letters of French Marist priest Father Antoine Garin known to Mori as Perekara or P癡re Garin who was sent to run the remote Mangakhia mission station on the banks of the Wairoa River.
Garins diaries are a human-centred record of life in a Mori community he describes the relationships he formed with Mori 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 he provides vivid accounts of contemporary events, and writes of prominent figures such as Hne 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 厙ぴ勛圖accelerated rapidly. In the 1840s, European settlers, including French missionaries, were spreading out over the country, reaching remote places such as Northlands Wairoa River. However, the role of the French in New Zealands colonisation has been a neglected theme in our written histories, largely because of the challenge of dealing with French language material.
What did Mori 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 Mori speaker and astute observer Garin offers a fascinating first-hand account of his conversations with the Mori people he met and lived among. The three years of Garins 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.
We came across French missionary Antoine Garins diaries many years ago, Tremewan says. I 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.
Living Among the Northland Mori will be launched on 14 April, the 130th泭anniversary of Garins death, at the University Bookshop, Ilam.
About the authors:
Peter Tremewan泭is a retired 厙ぴ勛圖 academic who has written widely about the French in New 厙ぴ勛圖and the Pacific in the 19th century. He was awarded the John Dunmore Medal (1991) and JM Sherrard Award in New 厙ぴ勛圖History (1992) for his research in this area. His publications include泭French Akaroa泭(CUP, 1990, revised 2010). In 2007 the French government made him a Chevalier de lordre des Palmes acad矇miques.
Giselle Larcombe泭is a historian whose publications have focused on the French in New Zealand, 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 Mori: Diary of Father Antoine Garin, 18441846,泭Translated and edited by Peter Tremewan and Giselle Larcombe, published by Canterbury University Press, March 2019,泭ISBN: 978-1-98-850302-8,泭RRP $89.99.
