To Tatau Waka

In the engrossing book To Tatua Waka, a leading ethnomusicologist, Mervyn McLean, tells the story of his fieldwork recording waiata and other traditional Maori songs over a span of more than twenty years (1958-79). These recordings have been of great importance in revitalising Maori music in many tribal areas and have preserved the songs and the voices of many great kaumatua. McLean travelled throughout New Zealand, often in primitive conditions, showing extraordinary dedication and painstaking care in his important task and meeting and working with most of the Maori leaders of the period. To Tatau Waka includes over 80 photographs, two maps, a glossary of song types, an index of names, and (in the hard-copy book) an audio CD containing 37 waiata from his collection, performed by kaumatua whose photographs appear in the book. Sensitive writing and attention to the challenges of anthropological fieldwork gives this work wide appeal. It will be of particular interest to Maori, to anthropologists and to all those with an interest in Maori and indigenous cultures or world music.

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