![Media; [Imaging Team]; MA_B.001153; MU000523/001/0001; Untitled [Scene from the New Zealand (Mäori) Pioneer Battalion 'Hui Aroha', Gisborne]; May 1919; McDonald, James; black and white silver gelatin glass negative; silver; black-and-white photograph](https://media.tepapa.govt.nz/collection/352677/preview)
item details
NameUntitled [Scene from the New Zealand (Māori) Pioneer Battalion 'Hui Aroha', Gisborne]
ProductionJames McDonald; photographer; May 1919; Gisborne
Classificationgelatin dry plate negatives, black-and-white negatives, group portraits
Materialsblack-and-white film, cut film, nitrocellulose
Materials Summaryblack and white film negative, nitrate
Techniquesblack-and-white photography
DimensionsImage: 6.5 (width), 4.5 (height)
Registration NumberMU000523/005/0717
Overview
In May 1919, a 'Hui Aroha' was held in Gisborne for East Coast members of the New Zealand (Māori) Pioneer Battalion returning from World War I.
Ethnologists Elsdon Best, James McDonald and Johannes Andersen attended the hui to record aspects of Maori culture for the Dominion Museum. This photograph, which shows the soldiers, their families and supporters sharing a meal at the Gisborne Racecourse (where the Hui Aroha was held), was taken by McDonald.