Judith Binney: Lost Histories

Trying to understand history across cultural differences has been a life-long interest for historian Judith Binney.

Her book 'Redemption Songs: A Life of Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki' won the Montana Book of the Year, and has been published in Australia and Hawai'i. This followed Binney's earlier writing on the people of Te Urewera - 'Mihaia', a co-authored study of the Tuhoe prophet leader Rua Kenana and his community at Maungapohatu. Ngā Mōrehu: The Survivors, another co-authored book, tells the stories of eight Māori women, largely in their own words. This "unanticipated trilogy" reveals histories previously hidden, and acknowledges different ways of remembering and recording the past.

Binney's new book, 'Encircled Lands: Te Urewera, 1820-1921' recovers the lost history of an area that was once this country's only legally recognised tribal enclave. Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Auckland, Binney was given the 2006 Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in Non-fiction.

This session is chaired by Paul Diamond.

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