Minister pays tribute to Dame Judith Binney

Arts Culture and Heritage Minister Christopher Finlayson today paid tribute to the life and career of Dame Judith Binney, who passed away last night.

“Dame Judith was a leader in a number of fields,” Mr Finlayson said. “She had been a valued member of the Arts Council and the Historic Places Trust, a pioneer in New Zealand history, and a widely respected teacher and scholar. Dame Judith did an enormous amount to further New Zealanders’ understanding of our own history.”

“Her work with Tūhoe will be an enduring legacy. Her magnum opus, Encircled Lands, recovered the ‘lost history’ of Te Urewera, the Ngāi Tūhoe people and members of neighbouring iwi such as Ngati Whare.”

“In particular, it documented the first hundred years of Te Rohe Pōtae o Te Urewera – the “encircled lands” of the Urewera – following European contact.”

Encircled Lands won the Book of the Year Award in the NZ Post Book Awards in 2010.

Judith Binney, DNZM, was Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Auckland. Dame Judith was a pioneer of oral history in New Zealand, and used this methodology extensively in her work. Her approach was described as ‘history in the round’, which involved consideration of the landscape and listening to people speak about their experiences.

In addition to her teaching, Dame Judith edited the New Zealand Journal of History and wrote on a range of historical topics. She was awarded the Prime Minister’s Lifetime Literary Achievement Award for Non Fiction in 2006, and In 2009 she received the Polynesian Society’s Elsdon Best Medal. In 2006 she was awarded DCNZM (later DNZM) for her historical research.

Dame Judith appeared as an independent historian at the Urewera’s claimants hearings before the Waitangi Tribunal in 2005. Tūhoe bestowed the name Tomairangi o Te Aroha – the heavenly dews of love – on Dame Judith at Ruatoki.

“My thoughts go out to her family, friends and colleagues at this time,” Mr Finlayson said.