Book. Maori Folk Lore for Brownies

This book, published in 1951, was designed to give Brownies in Aotearoa New Zealand an introduction to aspects of Māori culture.

Brownies are junior members of the Girl Guide 'family' aged between seven and nine and a half years of age. Originally founder Agnes Baden-Powell called this junior group 'Rosebuds,' but her brother Robert Baden-Powell renamed them 'Brownies' after a mischievous Scottish elf or pixie. In New Zealand the concept of the Brownie was blended with aspects of Māori mythology and Brownies could be named after figures from British folklore: Elf, Fairy, Gnome or Sprite, or Māori folkore: Hakuturi, Patu-pai-arehe, Roro, Turehu.

The book includes descriptions of patupaiarehe (also known as tūrehu and pakepakehā), which in Māori tradition are fairy-like creatures of the forests and mountain tops. Work by James Cowan and Elsdon Best informs the book, which aims to introduce Brownies to the fairies of New Zealand - 'fairies who can make an interesting and perhaps a thoroughly unique contribution to the whole bright pattern of the world's fairy folk lore.' The book demonstrates the NZ Girl Guide Association's appropriation of aspects of Māori culture in order to give the movement a New Zealand identity.