Sir Peter Henry Buck (ca. October 1877 – 1 December 1951), also known as Te Rangi Hīroa or Te Rangihīroa, was a New Zealand doctor, military leader, health administrator, politician, anthropologist and museum director. He was a prominent member of
Ngāti Mutunga
Ngāti Mutunga is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand, whose original tribal lands were in north Taranaki. They migrated from Taranaki, first to Wellington (with Ngāti Toa and other Taranaki Hāpu), and then to the Chatham Islands (along with ...
, his mother's
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
iwi
Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...
.
Early life
Peter Buck was born in
Urenui
Urenui is a settlement in northern Taranaki, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 3 close to the shore of the North Taranaki Bight, 13 kilometres east of Waitara and 6 km south-west of Mimi. The Urenui River ...
, New Zealand, the only child of
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...
immigrant William Henry Buck and Rina, a
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
woman. William's wife Ngarongo-ki-tua had been unable to have children and, in line with Māori custom, Rina, one of Ngarongo's relatives, became part of the household and produced a child for the couple. Rina died soon after Peter was born, and Ngarongo raised him as her own. He claimed to have been born in 1880, but the register of the primary school he attended records October 1877, which is likely to be correct.
![RangiHiroa1904](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/RangiHiroa1904.jpg)
Te Rangi Hīroa was descended on his Māori (maternal) side from the
Taranaki
Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont.
The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...
iwi of Ngāti Mutunga. In his teens, his elders gave him the name Te Rangi Hīroa (also written Te Rangihiroa) in honour of an uncle of Ngarongo's and an earlier notable ancestor. His paternal ancestry was English and Irish. Though he was largely brought up within the
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 Ze ...
community, Ngarongo-ki-tua and his great-aunt Kapuakore instilled a love of Māori tradition and
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
in him.
After Ngarongo's death in 1892 he moved with his father to the
Wairarapa
The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...
. In 1896 he enrolled at
Te Aute College
Te Aute College (Māori language, Māori: Te Kura o Te Aute) is a school in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. It opened in 1854 with twelve pupils under Samuel Williams (missionary), Samuel Williams, an Anglicanism, Anglican missionary, and n ...
, a school that produced many Māori leaders of the time. In 1899 he was named
Dux
''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, '' ...
and passed a medical preliminary examination entitling him to attend the
University of Otago
, image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg
, image_size =
, caption = University clock tower
, motto = la, Sapere aude
, mottoeng = Dare to be wise
, established = 1869; 152 years ago
, type = Public research collegiate u ...
Medical School.
Te Rangi Hīroa was later associated with the
Young Māori Party
The Young Māori Party was a New Zealand organisation dedicated to improving the position of Māori. It grew out of the Te Aute Students Association, established by former students of Te Aute College in 1897. It was established as the Young Māori ...
.
Medical school and practice
Buck did well at Otago Medical School, where he also succeeded in sport, becoming national
long jump
The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...
champion in 1900 and 1903. He completed his MB ChB in 1904, and an MD six years later. His doctoral thesis, completed in 1910, was titled ''Medicine amongst the Maoris in ancient and modern times''. During this time, in 1905, he married Irish-born Margaret Wilson. Their long marriage was often fiery, but was strong, and it was Margaret who often gave the impetus to Peter's career.
In November 1905 Buck was appointed as a medical officer to Māori, working under
Māui Pōmare
Sir Māui Wiremu Pita Naera Pōmare (1875 or 1876 – 27 June 1930) was a New Zealand doctor and politician, being counted among the more prominent Māori political figures. He is particularly known for his efforts to improve Māori health and ...
, initially in the southern
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
, then in the far north. Between them Pomare and Buck campaigned successfully to improve sanitation in the small Māori communities around the country.
Parliament and war
![RangiHiroa1930s](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/RangiHiroa1930s.jpg)
In 1909,
Hone Heke Ngapua Honing is a kind of metalworking.
Hone may also refer to:
* Hone (name) (incl. Hōne), a list of people with the surname, given name or nickname
* Hõne language
Hõne is a Jukunoid language spoken in Gombe State and Taraba State, Nigeria
...
,
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Northern Maori
Northern Maori was one of New Zealand's four original parliamentary Māori electorates established in 1868, along with Eastern Maori, Western Maori and Southern Maori. In 1996, with the introduction of MMP, the Maori electorates were updated, an ...
died suddenly. Buck was singled out by Native Minister
James Carroll to be his replacement. Buck accepted and was elected in the
subsequent by-election.
He became a member of the Native Affairs Committee. He did not seek re-election to the seat in
1914
This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...
, but stood for the
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for its ...
electorate, where he lost with a narrow margin.
By this time, Buck had developed an interest in Pacific Island peoples, working briefly as a medical officer in both the
Cook Islands
)
, image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, capital = Avarua
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Avarua
, official_languages =
, lan ...
and
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 ...
during parliamentary breaks.
During the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Buck helped in the recruitment of a Māori volunteer contingent. Buck joined this contingent as medical officer, travelling to the Middle East in 1915. He took part at
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...
, later being awarded a
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...
for his heroism. He later saw action in France and Belgium, before being posted to the No 3 New Zealand General Hospital at
Codford
Codford is a civil parish south of Salisbury Plain in the Wylye Valley in Wiltshire, England. Its settlements are the adjacent villages of Codford St Peter and Codford St Mary, which lie some southeast of Warminster.
The two villages are on th ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, in 1918.
Returning to New Zealand, Buck was appointed as Chief Maori Medical Officer, and in 1921 was named director of the Maori Hygiene Division in the Department of Health.
Bishop Museum
![Peter_and_Margaret_Buck_passport_application_(1927)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Peter_and_Margaret_Buck_passport_application_%281927%29.jpg)
Buck gained a five-year research fellowship at the
Bishop Museum
The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the lar ...
in
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
,
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
, in 1927. At the end of the fellowship in 1932 he was appointed Bishop Museum visiting professor of anthropology at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
. He was promoted to Director of the Bishop Museum in 1936, a position he held until his death in 1951. He also served as a Trustee and President of the Board of Trustees of the museum.
During his directorship, Buck applied for
U.S. Citizenship
Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...
, which was denied. According to Buck, he “could not become an American citizen under the . . . law for an applicant has to be over 50% Caucasian. The Polynesians are classed as Orientals in spite of anthropological evidence of their Caucasian origin so I could only show 50%.”
Awards and tributes
In 1935, he was awarded the
King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.
In the
1946 King's Birthday Honours, Buck was appointed a
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III.
It is named in honour ...
for services to science and literature.
The
Te Rangi Hiroa Medal
The Te Rangi Hiroa Medal is a social sciences award given by the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi. The medal was established in 1996 and is named in memory of Te Rangi Hīroa, also known as Sir Peter Buck, a New Zealand medical practitio ...
is a social sciences award given biennially by the
Royal Society of New Zealand
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a cit ...
. It is awarded for work in one of four disciplines: historical approaches to societal transformation and change; current issues in cultural diversity and cohesion; social and economic policy and development; and medical anthropology.
One of the residential colleges of the
University of Otago
, image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg
, image_size =
, caption = University clock tower
, motto = la, Sapere aude
, mottoeng = Dare to be wise
, established = 1869; 152 years ago
, type = Public research collegiate u ...
is named
Te Rangi Hīroa College in his honour.
Bibliography
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Footnotes
Further reading
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External links
eTexts of books (5) by Te Rangi Hīroa''Military Personnel File online'' digitised record at Archives New Zealand.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter Buck)
1877 births
1951 deaths
New Zealand Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
New Zealand Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Māori history
Māori in the military
New Zealand MPs for Māori electorates
New Zealand public health doctors
20th-century New Zealand historians
New Zealand Liberal Party MPs
New Zealand people of World War I
People from Taranaki
University of Otago alumni
Historians of Hawaii
New Zealand anthropologists
People educated at Te Aute College
New Zealand Māori medical doctors
New Zealand Māori academics
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
Unsuccessful candidates in the 1914 New Zealand general election
Māori studies academics
20th-century New Zealand medical doctors
New Zealand male long jumpers
Māori and Pacific Island scientists
Yale University faculty