Mervyn McLean traditional music of Aitutaki and Mangaia, Cook Islands recordings
Scope and Contents
Having researched Māori traditional musical forms extensively in Aotearoa New Zealand, Mervyn McLean secured funding from the American National Science Foundation to conduct a survey in the Cook Islands looking for similarities or insights considering the two nations’ linguistic similarities.
This collection consists of the recordings made during the survey in the Cook Islands, predominantly at Aitutaki and Mangaia, from September to November 1967. More than 40 different song types feature, in over 400 recordings.
Song texts and further information for some items can be found in the original finding aid, published as the ‘Catalogue of McLean collection recordings of traditional music of Aitutaki and Mangaia Cook Islands, Sept-Nov 1967'.
Dates
- Sep-Nov 1967
Creator
- McLean, Mervyn (1930-2022) (Person)
- Mokotupu, Tepaki (Person)
- Naku, Simona (Person)
To request or comment
To request access to items in this collection, or to provide comment or corrections, please complete the following: Archive of Māori and Pacific Sound request form
ICIP position statement
Cultural Collections acknowledges and respects the Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property (ICIP) rights of Pacific peoples in the contents of this collection and encourages engagement and collaboration to improve this resource to align with the aspirations and needs of Pacific communities.
To view our full statement on ICIP, please visit: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/library/about-our-collections/cultural-collections/our-kaupapa/indigenous-cultural-intellectual-property.html
Biographical / Historical
Mervyn McLean was a prominent ethnomusicologist and founding director of the Archive of Māori and Pacific Music.
Born in Invercargill, McLean attended Otago University in the late 1950s, where he studied for a Master of Arts in History and Literature of Music. It was during this time he heard waiata recordings from the Māori Purposes Fund Board and decided to pursue the topic for his thesis. After successfully completing his Masters, he went on to a PhD which he completed in 1965.
On completion of the PhD, McLean left New Zealand on a three-year post-doctoral fellowship, during which time he travelled to Indiana University to study with Alan P. Merriam, a pioneer in the anthropology of music; conducted field work on Aitutaki and Mangaia in the Cook Islands; and took an appointment for a semester at the Music Department at the University of Hawai’i.
Offered a fellowship by Bruce Biggs at the University of Auckland, McLean returned to New Zealand and commenced the role in 1969. Here he taught courses in the Anthropology, Music, and Māori Studies departments, as well as being the founding director of the Archive, becoming an associate professor in 1975.
McLean retired from the University of Auckland in 1992 and passed at the age of 92 on July 8, 2022.
Extent
0.48 metres : 24 open reel tapes
Language of Materials
Rarotongan; Cook Islands Maori
Other Finding Aids
Original finding aid published as the ‘Catalogue of McLean collection recordings of traditional music of Aitutaki and Mangaia Cook Islands, Sept-Nov 1967', ISBN: 0959800565.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Mervyn McLean in 1989
- Title
- Inventory of the Mervyn McLean traditional music of Aitutaki and Mangaia, Cook Islands recordings
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- William Hamill. Additions by Huni Mancini.
- Date
- November 2023
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Archive of Māori and Pacific Sound, University of Auckland Repository
Level 3, General Library
5 Alfred Street
Private Bag 92109
Auckland 1010 New Zealand
+64 9 923 5008
amps@auckland.ac.nz