City prepares for relaunch of book

Don Stafford, the late Rotorua hisotorian and author. PHOTO/FILE

Rotorua will this week celebrate the relaunch of one of the most important books to emerge from the city - the late Don Stafford's Te Arawa: A History of the Arawa People.

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick will join Te Arawa representatives, the Stafford family, Professor Paora Tapsell, McLeods Booksellers and invited guests at the launch at the Rotorua Museum on Wednesday night.

This epic history tells the story of Te Arawa from the iwi's origins in the South Pacific until
European contact.

Before the book's publication on Thursday, the book will be blessed at the launch, and
tributes paid to Te Arawa tupuna, and to the author.

Mr Stafford, known as "Mr Rotorua" for his lifelong commitment to the history of the city and region, has a wing of the Rotorua Museum named in his honour.

Professor Tapsell, who has written a new foreword in the new book, said nearly 50 years on from its first publication, Te Arawa remained as relevant as ever to descendants of the iwi and students of New Zealand history.

Professor Tapsell was a protege of Mr Stafford during the period he was curator at Rotorua Museum in the early 1990s.

Mr Stafford (1927-2010) was a historian and writer who dedicated his life and work to Rotorua and its environs.

Fluent in te reo Maori, he travelled on foot to every corner of Te Arawa's rohe, and played a significant role in preservation of historical sites and objects. He was Rotorua's official historian, and received honours including an MBE, CBE and honorary doctorate.