First a public servant in the Native Lands Purchase Department then later MP for Napier and Minister for Native Affairs, Sir Donald McLean (Makarini) was a major architect in the most formative period of our colonial history (c.1850–1880). His fluency in te reo Māori and his willingness to visit Māori in their own communities gained the respect of many rangatira of that time.

A great body of letters written to Makarini in te reo Māori rests in the Alexander Turnbull Library. Originally thought to number about 3000 but actually closer to 7000, these letters have been used only selectively by scholars. Because of difficulties with transcription and inability to read te reo Māori, only 200 or so letters had been translated, mainly in support of Waitangi Tribunal claims. Nonetheless, these alone indicated that, besides providing supporting evidence in various claims, they revealed what the rangatira thought and their responses to the events during this period of the colony. These letters gave new insights into the language; showing vocabulary, structure and idiom used at the time. Staff at the Turnbull Library digitised the letters and, with Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga funding, thought it most appropriate to transcribe and translate the full collection first. Later aspects of the project will include scoping and sorting the letters, a literature review of the period when Makarini was most influential to contextualise the correspondence, and analysis by subject matter, tone and relationships expressed between the writers and McLean.

Many rangatira saw Makarini as one of the few government officials who could mediate on their behalf with land-hungry settlers demanding freehold title to Māori land. They believed (or perhaps hoped) that he would convey their concerns to an otherwise distant and hostile settler government. Rangatira from some hapū were frequent correspondents, others less so, especially those who did not hold Makarini in high esteem throughout his public career. Therefore there are few letters in the archive from his detractors.

The majority of letters transcribed and translated to date relate directly to land issues and illustrate the diverse views that Māori had about sale or retention and ownership of their land; other issues included poverty, indebtedness, the inability of people to buy food or to clothe their families, or the desire to see their children educated without selling land to do so. Still others traverse mundane events in the writers’ lives, their hopes and dreams, the good and bad between Māori and government, Māori and Māori, and Māori and settlers. The letters also witness the many roles that Makarini played: mentor, friend and confessor, a hoped for source of many goods – of guns, medicines, implements, food, clothes or tobacco. The letters are full of interest linguistically. Many are plain and prosaic, while others are complex and poetic. They capture some of the traditional, oral features of the language, in the formalities of mihi to begin a letter or the quotation of whakatauakī or waiata. They are testimony to all that was new in the writers’ lives; including literature, transliterated and newly coined words, and references to the Bible and newspapers. But apart from the charm and poignancy and fascination of the letters, they are often a challenge to the translator.

The first of these relate to vocabulary. Many words, including transliterations and loan words from English, have passed out of common use as technology has changed; for example, words relating to sailing ships and navigation, horses and horse-driven transport, and warfare and weaponry. Some of these have been difficult to translate. Of course, 21st century Māori has a vastly enlarged vocabulary that reflects the social and technical realities of the time. It is hoped that the letters will generate a greater understanding of our common history.

Go to http://mp.natlib.govt.nz/?l=en to see the digitised, transcribed and translated letters uploaded to date.