Sir Peter Buck’s sword
Welcome to this week’s preview of Tamaki Paenga Hira, an informative program currently featuring on Maori Television exploring 13 taonga Maori from the Auckland War Memorial Museum collections.
Episode 10: Sir Peter Buck’s sword
This week we are introduced to Sir Peter Buck (Te Rangi Hiroa) whose military service sword is held in the Auckland Museum.
Buck was born at Urenui in December 1877 and had a largely European upbringing due to the influence of his father. He excelled through his school years and by 1896 he was attending Te Aute College where he was named dux and passed his medical exams. This entitled him to attend the University of Otago Medical School, where he completed his MB and ChB in 1904, and an MD six years later. He was a keen athlete during this period and he twice became national long jump champion.
In November 1905, after qualifying as a doctor, Buck was appointed as a medical officer to Māori, working under Maui Pomare. One of the features of his time in this position was the successful campaign to improve sanitation in the many rural Māori communities around the country.
In 1909 Buck was asked by Native Minister James Carroll to contest the Northern Māori seat after the sitting MP died suddenly. Buck accepted and was elected in the subsequent by-election, and he went on to become a member of the Native Affairs Committee. It was during this period that Buck first developed an interest in the Pacific, spending short periods while on leave in both Niue and the Cook Islands as a medical officer.
The outbreak of World War One saw Buck involved in encouraging Māori to volunteer to serve King and Country, before he himself joined the Māori volunteer contingent as medical officer. He travelled to the Middle East in 1915 and served at Gallipoli, before transferring to the infantry in 1916 where he rose to the rank of major. He was eventually Second-in-Command of the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion. It was during this period in the infantry that he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, “For distinguished service in the field [in France & Flanders].” He returned to the medical staff in 1918.
Major Peter Buck accompanying Sir Thomas Mackenzie, New Zealand High Commissioner in London, in France during World War I. Photograph taken 9 or 10 September 1917 by Henry Armytage Sanders.
After the war Buck’s interests turned to anthropology, and he worked with ethnographer Elsdon Best to record the culture and music of Māori communities. He later commenced significant field work in the Pacific for the Bishop Museum (located in Hawaii) and eventually became that museum’s Director.
Buck wrote numerous publications during his time at the Bishop Museum, the most popular of which was Vikings of the Sunrise (1938). Buck died in Honolulu in December 1951 and his ashes were laid to rest at Okoki near Urenui in 1954.
Please note that the sword is not currently on display.
Tamaki Paenga Hira, Episode 10: Sir Peter Buck’s Sword screens on Maori Television, Wednesday 21st December 2011 at 8.30.
RSS
Leave a Comment