Jock Malcolm McEwen (1915–2010) was a New Zealand public servant, writer and carver who contributed to Māori development. He led the carving by students at Rimutaka Prison of the Māori carved pou (posts) that stand in the foyer of the

Michael Fowler Centre The Michael Fowler Centre is a concert hall and convention centre in Wellington, New Zealand. It was constructed on reclaimed land next to Civic Square, and is the pre-eminent concert site in central Wellington. Commissioned in 1975, building b ...

, Wellington. He helped found Orongomai Marae,

Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city cent ...

, and worked on the sixth edition of

Herbert Williams Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, ...

' ''A Dictionary of the Maori Language'', regarded for many years as the standard dictionary of the

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, an ...

Early life and education

McEwen was born in

Feilding Feilding ( mi, Aorangi) is a town in the Manawatū District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatū District Council. Feilding has ...

in 1915 and was

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non- Māori New ...

of Scottish Highlander descent. His father Malcolm McEwen was the headmaster at Taonui School. McEwen attended this school and learnt

while he was there from being around other speakers. He was supported in his language acquisition by visits to Aorangi Marae where the elders there would correct him. These people included Mason Durie (Meihana Te Rama-Apakura) and his wife Kahurautete. McEwen went to secondary school in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

. He did a law degree at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Z ...

Career and community work

In 1935 McEwen got a job at the

Native Affairs Department The Ministry of Internal Affairs, commonly referred to as INTAF (or Intaf), was a cabinet ministry of the Rhodesian government. One of Rhodesia's most important governmental departments, it was responsible for the welfare and development of the ...

as part of the New Zealand

public service A public service is any Service (economics), service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through pub ...

Āpirana Ngata Sir Āpirana Turupa Ngata (3 July 1874 – 14 July 1950) was a prominent New Zealand statesman. He has often been described as the foremost Māori politician to have served in Parliament in the mid-20th century, and is also known for his work ...

was also working there. MFC WGTN 09

McEwen was part of the founding of the

Ngati Poneke ''Ngati'' is a 1987 New Zealand feature film directed by Barry Barclay, written by Tama Poata and produced by John O'Shea. Production ''Ngati'' is of historical and cultural significance in New Zealand as it is the first feature film written an ...

in 1937, an urban pan-tribal cultural club. He was on the Polynesian Society Council from the 1940s and the president for 21 years. He was a founding member of Orongomai Marae in Upper Hutt. In the early 1950s McEwen was posted to

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

as the Resident Commissioner where he learnt the language and wrote the first dictionary. McEwen was the Secretary of Māori and Island Affairs from 1963 until 1975. As a writer and linguist he was part of revising the Standard Maori Dictionary, sixth edition. McEwen and others taught carving inside Remutaka Prison with prisoners where they created the two '' pou'' (carved posts) for the foyer of the

. Artist

Wi Taepa Wi Te Tau Pirika Taepa (born 1946, in Wellington) is a significant figure in contemporary New Zealand ceramics, and a leading figure in contemporary Māori clay art. Early career and training After leaving school, Taepa worked as a window dis ...

who was a prison officer at the prison also participated, as well as

Ralph Love Sir Makere Rangiatea "Ralph" Love (16 September 1907 – 22 August 1994) was a New Zealand Māori public servant and leader of Te Āti Awa. One of his brothers was Eruera Te Whiti o Rongomai Love (18 May 1905 – 12 July 1942), a New Zealand ...

Legacy and death

When McEwen retired in 1975 he had a ''

tokotoko A tokotoko is a traditional Māori carved ceremonial walking stick. On a marae it is a symbol of authority and status for the speaker holding it. Poets from New Zealand who win the award of New Zealand Poet Laureate are presented with a tokotoko, ...

'' (carved staff) presented to him by the Māori Queen. After living in

Silverstream Silverstream is a suburb of Upper Hutt in New Zealand, just under 7 km south-west of the Upper Hutt CBD. It is in the lower (southern) part of the North Island of New Zealand at the southern end of Upper Hutt, close to the Taitā Gorg ...

, Upper Hutt for over 50 years McEwen died in Wellington on 10 May 2010. Before his burial he lay in state wearing the cloak of a kaumatua in Orongomai Marae. Politician Matiu Rata said of McEwen:

If every area had a Jock McEwen, what a great country New Zealand would be. (Matiu Rata)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McEwen, Jock 1915 births 2010 deaths