Bruce Biggs Rohe Pootae land case transcript.

Collection

Identifier: MSS-Archives-C-36

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

A transcript made by Professor Bruce Biggs of portions of vols. 6 and 7 of W.G. Mair's Native Land Court Notebooks, 1883-91, concerning the Rohe Pootae case, a contest for ownership of a block of land in the King Country by five tribes. The hearings were conducted in Otorohanga and were notable for their orderly proceedings. Judge Mair was commended for his handling of the case. Professor Biggs has attempted some analysis, by hyphenation, of many of the place- names and has also used double-vowel orthography to indicate long vowels.

Dates

1986

Creator

Biggs, Bruce (Person)
Mair, Gilbert (Person)

Language of Materials

Some of transcript is in Maori.

Conditions Governing Access

Not restricted

Biographical / Historical

Bruce Biggs (1921-2000). Linguist. Born in Auckland on 4 September 4 1921, Biggs was of Ngati Maniapoto descent with connections to Te Keeti marae in Otorohanga. Educated at Mt Albert Grammar School Biggs attended Auckland Teachers College and qualified as a teacher in 1940. Appointed as a part time lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Auckland University College in 1950 he was responsible for the development of the University's first Maori language courses. Biggs was instrumental in the establishment of both Maori studies and linguistics as academic subjects at Auckland and was head of Anthropology from 1971-1974 and of Maori Studies until his retirement in 1983. He was president of the Polynesian Society 1979-1993, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and was awarded a CBE and OBE for services to education and the Maori people.

For a full Biography see - Pawley, Andrew. (2001). Bruce Biggs, 1921-2000: A Tribute. Oceanic Linguistics, (40)1: 1-19.