Notes

captured by Māori : first-hand accounts 1816-1884
Trevor Bentley.
292 pages
illustrations (some colour), portraits (some colour)
Summary: Transgressing Tikanga is a collection of 20 first-hand accounts written by Europeans who were captured by Māori between 1816 and 1884. These Pakeha men and women were seized when they either committed blatant acts of aggression or unknowingly transgressed Tikanga Māori (customary law), for which utu was required. These captivity narratives create a vivid picture of nineteenth-century interactions between Māori and Pakeha and provide a rich insight into early Māori life, including the principles of captivity and utu, social order, religious practices, everyday customs, and the conduct of warfare. The book includes notes giving detailed historical context.