Out of print for over two years this book is now being reissued by popular demand. Pip Williams spent his life observing and recording the use by local Maori of native plants for medical purposes. This book brings together his observations on 43 New Zealand plants and the health problems they were used to treat, colourfully interspersed with anecdotal evidence and beautifully illustrated with watercolours and engravings. Much of the information was told to the author by kuia and kaumatua over 40 years ago.

Anyone can learn to make a plaited kete, one of the oldest and most popular of Maori art forms, from the leaves of New Zealand flax (phormium tenax). Te Mahi Kete gives detailed, step-by-step instructions, illustrated with numerous line drawings and black-and-white photographs, for preparing the flax and plaiting two simple types of kete. It also shows variations in technique for starting and finishing, making the handles and incorporating a decorative pattern.

Throughout history, certain individuals with a rare passion for justice and a gift of insight have been able to rally and motivate people through periods of great social change, sometimes defying all odds and being greatly misunderstood in the process. Tahupotiki Wiremu Ratana was such a man, called to prominence at a pivotal time, with a message for the Maori people and for the wider world. After a profound vision he became a healer of people's physical ailments and a lifter of ancient curses; and he was also a leader in healing the 'land sickness' of the Maori, after decades of land confiscation by the Government and the Crown. As founder of the Ratana Church and the Ratana movement, he led his followers in the quest to unite all Maori under one God, and to restore the Treaty of Waitangi as the founding document of the nation, giving Maori equal rights to British citizens. Ratana - The Prophet, based on some 20 years of research, distils for a general audience the extraordinary depth of T. W. Ratana's political, spiritual and social legacy.

A PHOTOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY

Renowned historian Michael King (1945-2004) presents a comprehensive and searching documentary of Maori culture and society, and Maori-Pakeha contact, conflict and co-operation.

From the earliest daguerreotype around 1852 to the strong protest images of the 1990s, King records and analyses changes and upheaval in the commentary that is always intelligent and objective.

This book leaves the reader with not only a better understanding of the past but a challenge for the future.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY: Michael King became New Zealand's leading writer on Maori history. Until his untimely death in 2004, he contributed a wealth of research and literature, including several biographies of influential Maori leaders, a prize-winning television series on Maori life and the bestselling The Penguin History of New Zealand. King was awarded an OBE for services to literature and, in 2003, the inaugural Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in non-fiction.

Over 50 full colour photos present intricate pendant designs hand-crafted from New Zealand Paua Shell accompanied by practical advice on the equipment and methods required to hand-craft objects made from this beautiful, naturally-occurring material. The author dips into a rich store of Maori symbology and traditional iconography, touching on the significance of designs such as dolphins, whales and whale flukes, cats and dogs, other native animals, the koru, the silver fern, fish-hooks, circles and some astrological and religious signs. Interesting information on the biology of several paua species, differing shell grades, restrictions on collecting and the traditional use of paua shell complement valuable advice on conceptual designs for pendants and jewellery, working with hand-tools and power-tools, vital safety issues, buying and selling paua and New Zealand paua shell suppliers.