Obituary: Margaret Orbell

Margaret Orbell described her efforts as 'the tip of the iceberg'.

* Dr Margaret Orbell, CNZM, anthropologist, author. Died aged 72.

Margaret Orbell approached her task of recording Maori mythology and traditional poetry and songs with a sense of urgency.

She was concerned at the amount of written history lying largely ignored in the country's museums and libraries and fretted that it would never see the light of day.

"When I think of what could be done and of what must be done ... we hurtle towards the future with such speed."

She believed that the skills and knowledge required to translate and collate the material may be disappearing as fewer people were available to make the connections between what was written and what was meant by many of the legends.

She described her own efforts as "the tip of the iceberg".

Many of the manuscripts were written in collaboration between Maori and Pakeha, in the days when collectors such as Sir George Grey were familiar with Maori traditions and customs and saw the value in recording them.

Maori themselves, with a high level of literacy, also recorded their own stories.

"There is so much material, and so many of these people wrote in the expectation that they would be published," said Orbell.

Then there is the information contained in 19th century Maori language newspapers.

Their purpose was to convey Government policy, but they were also used for communication between iwi and to share tribal legends.

New Zealand's libraries contain the largest collections of indigenous writing in the world and Orbell made it her life's work to bring as much as possible to public attention.

Her published work includes Maori Poetry; An Introduction (1978), Traditional Songs of the Maori (with Maori music archivist Mervyn McLean), winner of the New Zealand Book Award for non-fiction in 1976, and The Natural World of the Maori, illustrated by photographer Geoff Moon.

Orbell described her book The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Maori Myth and Legend as a grab bag, making no claims to be definitive.

The stories she left out were "like sand on the beach", too numerous to be included.

Margaret Orbell was born in Auckland and educated at St Cuthbert's College and Auckland University. Her interest in Maori traditional material was whetted when she edited Te Ao Hou, the magazine of the Department of Maori Affairs.

After studying Maori in Wellington with Wiremu Parker, she gained her PhD with a thesis on waiata aroha (love songs).

She lectured in Maori at Auckland University from 1974-75 before moving to Canterbury University, retiring as associate professor in 1974 to concentrate on fulltime writing.

Later works include Birds of Aotearoa: A Natural and Cultural History, published in 2003. Songs of a Kaumatua, with Mervyn McLean and sung by Kino Hughes, was a 2003 Montana Book Awards finalist.

Orbell married artist Gordon Walters in 1963, and was created a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002.

She is survived by her son David and daughter Alexa.