Māori Representation in Ramai Te Miha Hayward's Authorship
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
“It came from me” – Māori representation in Ramai Te Miha Hayward’s authorship BY Sian Smith (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe, Pākehā) A thesis submitted to Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka 2020 Contents Mihi – Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... ii nota bene ............................................................................................................................................... iii Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. iv List of Figures .......................................................................................................................................... v Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Voice and Authorship – Theory and Methodology ............................................................................. 4 Chapter Overview ............................................................................................................................... 6 Interlude – Locating Ramai Te Miha Hayward’s Voice ........................................................................... 9 1 – The Romance of Ariana in Rewi’s Last Stand (1940) ....................................................................... 14 Authorship and Collaboration ........................................................................................................... 16 The Foreword .................................................................................................................................... 18 The Romance of Ariana ..................................................................................................................... 20 Ariana’s choice .................................................................................................................................. 29 2 – Beyond the Ending .......................................................................................................................... 44 She Lived: Ariana and Mana Wāhine ................................................................................................ 44 No time for romance ......................................................................................................................... 50 They are their ancestors ................................................................................................................... 51 3 – Social Realism and Educational Documentaries ............................................................................. 57 A World is Turning ............................................................................................................................. 60 New Zealand Children’s Film Series .................................................................................................. 64 Eel History was a Mystery ................................................................................................................. 66 The Arts of Maori Children ................................................................................................................ 69 4 – To Love a Maori – a dramatic documentary ................................................................................... 80 Race Relations and Dual Narrative ................................................................................................... 85 Migration, Exploitation and Racism – challenging Pākehā assumptions .......................................... 91 Bi-cultural Romance – Meeting the Parents ................................................................................... 100 Baskets of Knowledge – Ngā kete o te Wānanga ........................................................................... 111 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 116 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................ 120 i Mihi – Acknowledgements Ko Te Ara a Kiwa ko Te Moananui a Kiwa ngā moana He uri ahau nō ngā iwi ko Ngāi Tahu ko Ngāti Māmoe He uri hoki au nō Ingarani me Aerana ngā whenua I whānau mai au i Kirikiriroa, i raro i te maru o Waikato-Tainui I offer my utmost gratitude to my supervisors, Dr Arini Loader and Dr Giacomo Lichtner, each of whom have influenced my work significantly over the past five years. Their ongoing guidance, support, feedback, and manaakitanga continues to impact my thinking and approach to history. Tēnā rawa atu kōrua, ngā mihi maioha. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou, immense thanks and appreciation to Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision. Tracy White’s support over the course of this work has been invaluable. I am also grateful to Kamaia Takuira-Mita’s early support and to everyone at Ngā Taonga who have assisted in making this work possible. Ngā mihi hoki ki a koutou, e hoa mā ki Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington. In honour of her work, I offer profound acknowledgement and appreciation to Ramai Rongomaitara Te Miha Hayward and her whānau. To my whānau, present and passed on, thank you for everything. I dedicate this work to you. Keri and Ngahere Rimene, you are my world. Ehara taku toa, he takitahi, he toa takitini. ii nota bene Throughout this thesis, I refer to Ramai Te Miha Hayward with both her maiden name that she used in Rewi’s Last Stand (1940) and her married name to distinguish her from Rudall Hayward. Most sources consulted here indicate she identified as Ramai Hayward, or Ramai Rongomaitara Hayward. Furthermore, discussing her background, I generally refer to her as Patricia, the name sources show she identified with until making Rewi’s Last Stand. I have used macrons for kupu Māori (Māori words) throughout this thesis. The only instances in which I do not use macrons reflect their lack of use in the cited sources. Where I use kupu Māori, I occasionally provide in brackets an English language equivalent, or a concept that is closely linked. While this thesis prioritises Māori perspectives, my intention behind these translations and corresponding English words is to provide context to readers who extend beyond the shores of Aotearoa. iii Abstract Addressing the critical question of authorship in historical film, this thesis considers Ramai Te Miha Hayward’s works dealing with Māori and Pākehā intercultural representations. During a time when Māori in film were severely underrepresented, Te Miha Hayward prioritised Māori perspectives in The Arts of Maori Children (1962) and Eel History was a Mystery (1968), subversively critiquing the continuation of assimilationist integration policy. These contributions, and Te Miha Hayward’s extensive interviews and unpublished manuscripts, shed light on the change in intercultural representations between Rewi’s Last Stand (1940) and To Love a Maori (1972), feature films that entail romance narratives. Te Miha Hayward’s positionality is key to each chapter’s methodology, locating her voice in extensive primary and secondary materials. This work challenges the debate around film’s value as a source of history, engaging at an intersection of disciplines. The analysis of Rewi’s Last Stand interprets its narrative text and Te Miha Hayward’s paratextual discussion through mana wāhine and kaupapa Māori theories. Such interpretation looks beyond the finished text, to Te Miha Hayward’s affirmation of its historical relevance. Connecting her work with the social realism genre, To Love a Maori’s dual narrative speaks to Māori and Pākehā audiences in different ways, further criticizing assimilation and Pākehā discrimination towards Māori. Navigating the issues of authorial ambiguity is central to locating Te Miha Hayward’s voice, thereby illuminating her authorship. Hence, I argue her contribution to Māori representation in film demonstrates her self-determination as a filmmaker. iv List of Figures Figure 1 Page 8 Advertisements Column 8 (Otago Daily Times, 24 June 1942) ................................................. 42 Figure 2 (cover image) REWI'S LAST STAND (1940) (Poster, P03843, Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision) ..................................... 49 v Introduction Wāhine Māori perspectives on history have increasingly emerged through numerous disciplinary fields. In her Emissaries exhibition, featured in the 2018 Oceania conference in London, audio-visual artist Lisa Reihana confronted colonial aesthetics in her piece Pursuit of Venus, provoking a critical view of the French wallpaper Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique (1804-5), a popular neoclassical wallpaper depicting “Arcadian fantasy” and Rousseau’s “noble savage”.1 As Linda Tuhiwai Smith states, “The imperial imagination enabled European nations to imagine the possibility that new worlds, new wealth and new possessions existed that could be discovered and controlled.”2 Reihana’s contemporary representation illuminates attitudes of the imperial imagination toward Indigenous peoples through narratives of encounter, reclaiming the original source and representing it through Māori and Pacific perspectives, talking back to New Zealand’s colonial origins.3