David Simmons (ethnologist)

David Roy Simmons MBE (6 September 1930 – 30 November 2015), also known as Rawiri Te Puru Terehou, was a New Zealand ethnologist, historian and author.

Born in 1930,[1] Simmons studied at Victoria University College and the University of Auckland, graduating from the latter with a Master of Arts with honours.[2] From 1962 to 1968 he was the keeper in anthropology at Otago Museum in Dunedin. He was appointed as the ethologist at the Auckland Institute and Museum in 1968, and became the assistant director of Auckland War Memorial Museum in 1978.[2]

He wrote many books relating to Māori art, culture and history, including:

  • The Maori Hei-tiki (1966) with Henry Devenish Skinner
  • The Great New Zealand Myth (1976)
  • Tā Moko (1986)
  • Whakairo (1994)

He is credited with effectively demolishing Percy Smith's "great fleet" hypothesis.[3][4]

He also edited:

  • J.D.H. Buchanan's The Māori History and Place Names of Hawke's Bay (1973)
  • George Graham's Maori Place Names of Auckland (first published 1980).[2]

In the 1985 Queen's Birthday Honours, Simmons was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to ethnology and the Māori people,[5] and in 2013 he was awarded the Auckland Museum Medal and appointed an associate emeritus of Auckland War Memorial Museum.[2]

Simmons died on 30 November 2015.[1]

References
  1. "David Simmons death notice". New Zealand Herald. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  2. "Auckland Museum honours outstanding researchers, announces Research Advisory Panel". Auckland War Memorial Museum. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  3. Taonui, Rāwiri. "The meaning of canoe traditions". Te Ara. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  4. Howe puts it more strongly, stating that Smith's great fleet was "a fabrication", and that Simmons "also demonstrated that Smith manipulated tradition and other evidence to produce the story he wanted." Ideas of Māori origins, 1920s–2000, New Understanding.
  5. "No. 50155". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 15 June 1985. p. 2.
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