In early 1817 Tuai, a young Ngare Raumati chief from the Bay of Islands, set off for England. He was one of a number of Māori who, after encountering European explorers, traders and missionaries in New Zealand, seized opportunities to travel beyond their familiar shores to Australia, England and Europe in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. They sought new knowledge, useful goods and technologies, and a mutually benefi cial relationship with the people they knew as Pākehā. On his epic journey Tuai would visit exotic foreign ports, mix with teeming crowds in the huge metropolis of London, and witness the marvels of industrialisation at the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire. With his lively travelling companion Tītere, he would attend fashionable gatherings and sit for his portrait. He shared his deep understanding of Māori language and culture. And his missionary friends did their best to convert him to Christianity. But on returning to his Māori world in 1819, Tuai found there were difficult choices to be made. His plan to integrate new European knowledge and relationships into his Ngare Raumati community was to be challenged by the rapidly shifting politics of the Bay of Islands. With sympathy and insight, Alison Jones and Kuni Kaa Jenkins uncover the remarkable story of one of the first Māori travellers to Europe.

The Iban or the Sea Dayaks of Sarawak have probably been the best known of the indigenous peoples of Borneo for well over a century. Much has been written about them, but until the results of Dr Freeman's field research were published by the Government of Sarawak and by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in 1955 there was little information on their methods of agriculture and their social system. The book has become a landmark in the studies of shifting cultivation and of cognatic kinship organization; and the ideas around which it is written have proved over the years to be a continuing and powerful stimulus in the development of kinship theory. The field work on which the account is based was undertaken from 1949 to 1951. Although fundamental changes have taken place in the life of the Iban since the book was first published, it has been decided to republish it substantially unaltered.

Around the late 1870’s red deer from the Scottish Highlands were transported to New Zealand and released into both Islands for the purpose of the odd bit of sport and know doubt for a bit of variety to the pot. Under total protection for eighteen years the numbers increased along with the spread and by the 1930’s the population had become beyond the ability of the Acclimatisation Society to contain the rapid expansion. The Internal affairs department took over the task from 1930 to 1956, and then the DPF, Department Protection Forest division of the culling. During the war with no hunting pressure the deer in the bush and high country had become enormous herds beginning to do some serious damage. Under the control of the Internal affairs department hunters were sent into the back country with pack horses, ex-army 303 Lee-Endfields and endless supplies of 303 ammunition. The hunters were required to take the deer skins and were paid an expense of ten bob per skin. After about 1955 tail tallies were taken, the price per tail from ten bob to a couple of quid depending on the area being hunted. Young men from all around the globe and all walks of life were drawn to the adventure of being paid (not a lot) to hunt in some of New Zealand’s remotest country. As the hunting became more challenging with the deer expanding into the remotest area of the country the forest Service set up a training camp for hunters in a remote “Wairau Valley” called Dip Flat. Three months of extensive training was under taken by prospective hunters who had first past a selection course. Days were spent on the range learning basic fire arm skills, first aid, cooking, river crossings, and all the skills needed to be able to work for long periods on your own. Over the three months trainees were assessed as to the type of hunting areas they were best suited for, mountain, country, bush or more open country, then sent to blocks all around the country. However the job was partially suited to the individual loner type or bloke who tended to rely on himself and is aware of his own capabilities and some people are just not at ease working and living for long periods alone. There is no accounting for it; it’s just the way it is so although having passed through Dip Flat, hunter turnover was still an average of three to four months.