The arrival of the Anglican Church with its claims to religious power was soon followed by British imperial claims to temporal power. Political, legal, economic, and social institutions were designed to be the bastions of control across the British Empire. However, they were also places of contestation and engagement at a local and national level, and this was true of New Zealand. Māori culture was constantly capable of adaptation in the face of changing contexts.

This ground-breaking book explores the emergence of Te Hāhi Mihinare - the Maori Anglican Church. The ways in which Mihinare (Māori Anglicans) engaged with the settler Anglican Church in New Zealand and created their own unique Church casts light on the broader question of how Māori interacted with and transformed European culture and institutions.

Hirini Kaa of Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahangungu, Rongowhakaata, is an historian and Anglican minister (like family members before him). Kaiarahi for the Faculty of Arts at the University of Auckland, he leads innovative projects to embed Māori and Pacific values in teaching and the faculty. Dr Kaa has worked in the social services sector, for the Anglican Church, and for his iwi. Since researching and presenting the historical documentary series The Prophets for Maori Television, he has gone on to become a significant media commentator on a range of critical topics.

Paperback

23cm x 17cm x 1.8cm