Peter Buck (anthropologist)

Peter Henry Buck was born in Urenui, in northern Taranaki, the only child of an Anglo-Irish immigrant, William Henry Buck. William's wife Ngārongo-ki-tua, whom he met at Urenui, had been unable to have children and, in line with Māori custom, Rina, one of Ngārongo's close relatives, became part of the household and produced a child for the couple. Rina died soon after Peter was born, and Ngārongo raised him as her own. He claimed to have been born in 1880, but the register of the primary school he attended records October 1877, which is likely to be correct.[1]

Rangi Hiroa in 1904

Buck's paternal ancestry was Anglo-Irish. Though he was largely brought up within the Pākehā community at Urenui, Ngārongo-ki-tua and his great-aunt Kapuakore instilled a love of Māori tradition and language in him.[1] Buck was descended on his maternal side from the Taranaki tribe of Ngāti Mutunga. In his teens,[2] his elders gave him the name Te Rangi Hīroa (also written Te Rangihiroa) in honour of an uncle of Ngārongo's, an earlier notable ancestor. He would later use it as a pen-name.

After Ngārongo's death in 1892 he moved with his father to the Wairarapa. In 1896 he enrolled at Te Aute College, a school that produced many Māori leaders of the time. In 1899 he was named dux and passed a medical preliminary examination entitling him to attend medical school at University of Otago.

Buck was later associated with the Young Māori Party.

Buck did well at Otago Medical School, where he also succeeded in sport, becoming national long jump champion in 1900 and 1903.[3] He completed his MB ChB in 1904, and an MD six years later. His doctoral thesis, completed in 1910, was titled Medicine amongst the Maoris in ancient and modern times.[4] During this time, in 1905, he married Irish-born Margaret Wilson. Their long marriage was often fiery, but was strong, and it was Margaret who often gave the impetus to Peter's career.

In November 1905 Buck was appointed as a medical officer to Māori, working under Māui Pōmare, initially in the southern North Island, then in the far north. Between them, Pōmare and Buck campaigned successfully to improve sanitation in the small Māori communities around the country.

Te Rangi Hīroa holding a taiaha, circa 1930[5]

In 1909, Hone Heke Ngapua, Member of Parliament for Northern Maori died suddenly. Buck was singled out by Native Minister James Carroll to be his replacement. Buck accepted and was elected in the subsequent by-election.[6] He became a member of the Native Affairs Committee. He did not seek re-election to the seat in 1914, but stood for the Bay of Islands electorate, where he lost by a narrow margin.[7] By this time, Buck had developed an interest in Pacific Island peoples, working briefly as a medical officer in both the Cook Islands and Niue during parliamentary breaks.

During the First World War, Buck helped in the recruitment of a Māori volunteer contingent. Buck joined this contingent as medical officer, travelling to the Middle East in 1915.[8] He took part at Gallipoli, later being awarded a Distinguished Service Order for his heroism. He later saw action in France and Belgium, before being posted to the No 3 New Zealand General Hospital at Codford, England, in 1918.

Returning to New Zealand, Buck was appointed as Chief Maori Medical Officer, and in 1921 was named director of the Maori Hygiene Division in the Department of Health.

Peter and Margaret Buck passport application (1927)

Buck gained a five-year research fellowship at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1927. At the end of the fellowship in 1932 he was appointed the Bishop Museum visiting professor of anthropology at Yale University. He was promoted to Director of the Bishop Museum in 1936, a position he held until his death in 1951. He also served as a trustee and president of the board of trustees of the museum.[1] During his directorship, Buck applied for U.S. Citizenship, which was denied.[9] According to Buck, he “could not become an American citizen under the ... law for an applicant has to be over 50% Caucasian. The Polynesians are classed as Orientals in spite of anthropological evidence of their Caucasian origin so I could only show 50%.”[10]

Buck died in Honolulu, on 1 December 1951 after some years with cancer. His ashes were returned to New Zealand in 1953 and he was honoured with a ceremony at Ōkoki, near his hometown of Urenui, on 8 August 1954.[1]