An introduction to Maori religion

At the beginning of his work (c. 1941), Jim Irwin had as his guides into the kawa (protocol) of the Maori people a number of Maori elders who were born shortly after the 1860's. One was 104 years old in 1950. Another had been an adopted son of the great Te Kooti. These elderly Maori people Jim was honoured to call his koroua and kuia (equivalent to grandparetns). They were for him a source of information not always open to Europeans. In this work, Jim Irwin has used this source, though always careful not to reveal any privileged information.