title: ‘Pakeha Bill’: William John McClear, a Pakeha who lived at Te Aroha

authors: Hart, Philip

abstract: Born in Ireland to a Scottish soldier named McAleer, McClear, as he would re-name himself, was uncertain of his age, his birthplace, and the spelling of his name – for, like his parents, he was illiterate. After his drunken father, who abandoned his wife and family, sold him to unknown Maori at an unknown date, he was educated in a Maori school and was unable to speak English until the early 1870s, when he was living with Ngati Rahiri at Omahu pa, at Te Aroha. When Pakeha visitors first met him in 1877, he was a popular resident there and known as Pakeha Bill (or Pakeha William).
Possiby involved in mining before the Te Aroha rush, he both invested in and mined in several claims there from 1880 onwards, and at the end of that decade was one of a small group of Waiorongomai miners who took up a claim at Thames. When not mining, he took whatever jobs were available, struggling financially, in part because of a fondness for drink. As, unlike other Pakeha Maori, there was no evidence of his forming a close relationship with any Maori women, he did not benefit from a Maori wife’s landholdings, and he died in poverty.

text: ‘Pakeha Bill’: William John McClear, a Pakeha who lived at Te Aroha Born in Ireland to a Scottish soldier named McAleer, McClear, as he would re-name himself, was uncertain of his age, his birthplace, and the spelling of his name – for, like his parents, he was illiterate. After his drunken father, who abandoned his wife and family, sold him to unknown Maori at an unknown date, he was educated in a Maori school and was unable to speak English until the early 1870s, when he was living with Ngati Rahiri at Omahu pa, at Te Aroha. When Pakeha visitors first met him in 1877, he was a popular resident there and known as Pakeha Bill (or Pakeha William).
Possiby involved in mining before the Te Aroha rush, he both invested in and mined in several claims there from 1880 onwards, and at the end of that decade was one of a small group of Waiorongomai miners who took up a claim at Thames. When not mining, he took whatever jobs were available, struggling financially, in part because of a fondness for drink. As, unlike other Pakeha Maori, there was no evidence of his forming a close relationship with any Maori women, he did not benefit from a Maori wife’s landholdings, and he died in poverty.

year: 2016

title: Insecure, unpredictable, hoping to survive: Four cases of Māori people living precariously in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Uerata, Lynley Moana

subjects: Māori

abstract: A conceptualisation of precarity is introduced and adopted. A critique of contemporary conceptualisations of precarity is presented, drawing especially on Stuart Hall’s interpretation of articulation and Marx’s concept of relative surplus population. Much of the literature on precarity focusses on the neoliberal mode of contemporary capitalism originating in the late 1970s. However, there is limited literature which explores precarity as a way of life. A precarious way of life is characterised by interacting forms of precarity which embed insecurity, instability, and unpredictability in the everyday lives of real people. An account of the Māori experience of precarity since the pre-colonial era to the present-day is presented. Māori are the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand who were colonised by the British Empire in the 1800s. 
The main research questions addressed in my thesis are: What forms of precarity are present in the everyday context? How do forms of precarity relate to each other? How do forms of precarity relate to being Māori? What kinds of support do those living with precarity gain from social structures, institutions, and social actors? What is the role of culture in the way Māori experience and mediate precarity? An analysis of semi-structured in-depth engagements with Māori people living precariously in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand in 2016, based on four case studies, shows the character and significance of forms, sources, and effects of precarity in everyday life. As historical processes continue to overdetermine experiences of social structures and institutions in the present, in a contemporary capitalist context precarity arises from a wide range of interacting sources, forms, and effects of precarity. Among the different kinds of actors and organisations which comprise the support systems constructed to mediate precarity in the everyday context, cultural practices and resources can play a significant role for people who are culturally connected. When people are integrated into their local and cultural communities, they can cope better with a precarious way of life.

text: Insecure, unpredictable, hoping to survive: Four cases of Māori people living precariously in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand A conceptualisation of precarity is introduced and adopted. A critique of contemporary conceptualisations of precarity is presented, drawing especially on Stuart Hall’s interpretation of articulation and Marx’s concept of relative surplus population. Much of the literature on precarity focusses on the neoliberal mode of contemporary capitalism originating in the late 1970s. However, there is limited literature which explores precarity as a way of life. A precarious way of life is characterised by interacting forms of precarity which embed insecurity, instability, and unpredictability in the everyday lives of real people. An account of the Māori experience of precarity since the pre-colonial era to the present-day is presented. Māori are the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand who were colonised by the British Empire in the 1800s. 
The main research questions addressed in my thesis are: What forms of precarity are present in the everyday context? How do forms of precarity relate to each other? How do forms of precarity relate to being Māori? What kinds of support do those living with precarity gain from social structures, institutions, and social actors? What is the role of culture in the way Māori experience and mediate precarity? An analysis of semi-structured in-depth engagements with Māori people living precariously in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand in 2016, based on four case studies, shows the character and significance of forms, sources, and effects of precarity in everyday life. As historical processes continue to overdetermine experiences of social structures and institutions in the present, in a contemporary capitalist context precarity arises from a wide range of interacting sources, forms, and effects of precarity. Among the different kinds of actors and organisations which comprise the support systems constructed to mediate precarity in the everyday context, cultural practices and resources can play a significant role for people who are culturally connected. When people are integrated into their local and cultural communities, they can cope better with a precarious way of life.

year: 2021

title: The preservation of last-glacial (>50 to 40 ka) colluvium on low-relief surfaces in Alishan, an actively uplifting mountain in southwestern Taiwan

authors: Hsieh, Meng-Long

subjects: low-relief surface

abstract: Geomorphic studies on the Taiwan orogen have long focused on the rapid erosion and efficient sediment transport in response to active tectonic uplift and frequent earthquakes/heavy rains. Little attention has been paid to the common low-relief surfaces in high mountains that appear to have been geomorphically stable for a long period of time. We undertook a study on a group of such gentle surfaces in Alishan, which consist of poorly drained hummocky slopes averaging 15° and as wide as 2 km. These gentle slopes are underlain by mass-wasting gravels 60–100 m thick, from which 22 radiocarbon dates >50 to 40 ka BP in age were obtained. Below these thick colluvial deposits are ~20° bedrock bedding planes apparently exposed by dip-slope failures. Combining these data reveals alternating hillslope erosion and deposition, along with episodic river downcutting, at a time scale of several 10⁴ yr. We relate this temporal change in geomorphic processes to glacial-interglacial climate change. During the wet inter-/post-glacial periods characterized by frequent heavy rains, landslides/debris flows prevailed and rivers were capable of conveying most sediment eroded from hillslopes. Frequent debris flows combined with sufficient bedload sediments serving as tools for fluvial erosion caused rapid river downcutting. In contrast, the low river erosion/transport capacity during the dry last-glacial period allowed progressive deposition of thick colluvium on the preexisting, gentle bedding surfaces probably eroded during the last interglacial period. This study shows how glacial-interglacial climate change influenced the river/hillslope processes and landscape evolution of the Taiwan orogen.

text: The preservation of last-glacial (>50 to 40 ka) colluvium on low-relief surfaces in Alishan, an actively uplifting mountain in southwestern Taiwan Geomorphic studies on the Taiwan orogen have long focused on the rapid erosion and efficient sediment transport in response to active tectonic uplift and frequent earthquakes/heavy rains. Little attention has been paid to the common low-relief surfaces in high mountains that appear to have been geomorphically stable for a long period of time. We undertook a study on a group of such gentle surfaces in Alishan, which consist of poorly drained hummocky slopes averaging 15° and as wide as 2 km. These gentle slopes are underlain by mass-wasting gravels 60–100 m thick, from which 22 radiocarbon dates >50 to 40 ka BP in age were obtained. Below these thick colluvial deposits are ~20° bedrock bedding planes apparently exposed by dip-slope failures. Combining these data reveals alternating hillslope erosion and deposition, along with episodic river downcutting, at a time scale of several 10⁴ yr. We relate this temporal change in geomorphic processes to glacial-interglacial climate change. During the wet inter-/post-glacial periods characterized by frequent heavy rains, landslides/debris flows prevailed and rivers were capable of conveying most sediment eroded from hillslopes. Frequent debris flows combined with sufficient bedload sediments serving as tools for fluvial erosion caused rapid river downcutting. In contrast, the low river erosion/transport capacity during the dry last-glacial period allowed progressive deposition of thick colluvium on the preexisting, gentle bedding surfaces probably eroded during the last interglacial period. This study shows how glacial-interglacial climate change influenced the river/hillslope processes and landscape evolution of the Taiwan orogen.

year: 2018