Henry Matthew Stowell (1859–1944), also known by the pen-name Hare Hongi, was a New Zealand language interpreter and genealogist of European and MÃÂori descent.
He was born in Waimate North, Northland, New Zealand on 4 February 1859. His father was John Shephard Stowell, a sawyer who had come from the United States. His mother was Hà «hana (Susan) Farley, daughter of Matthew Farley and Rëmaumau (Maumau), a high-born woman of the NgÃÂpuhi iwi. He attended schools in Auckland, firstly, Singer's School, Parnell and later, Three Kings College (Wesleyan Native Institution), Mount Roskill, after intervention from Governor George Grey.
In his teens, he spent over a year at Waitaha village, near Ahipara, where he learned MÃÂori lore from NgàKuku Mumu, a tohunga. He went to live at Waiwhetà «, in the Hutt Valley.
After school, he became a surveyor in Northland, and, in 1888, became an authorised MÃÂoriâÂÂEnglish interpreter in the Native Land Court at Taranaki and later, Wellington. He travelled from Cape Reinga to the Bluff twice, studying MÃÂori language, and collecting histories, lore and legends. He published books, articles and produced radio broadcasts.
In November 1886, Stowell had a son, Hector Arthur NgÃÂpua Stowell, with his brother Samuel's wife, Ellen. In 1891, he married Mary Rachel Robson, the daughter of James Robson, a sawmiller, and Mere NgÃÂmai, also known as Mary Harrison. They had six daughters including Eileen Constance Cowan, an illustrator, photographer, and painter, and a son, who died during the influenza epidemic.
He published on MÃÂori issues, often with The Journal of the Polynesian Society and with Christchurch's Weekly Press. Between 1920 and 1940, he struggled to have his writings published, in a space dominated by PÃÂkehÃÂ. He would occasionally publish with the title of "Professor of MÃÂori," which did not otherwise exist. It was noted that Stowell was "unusual in claiming the role of a MÃÂori authority in a forum dominated by PÃÂkehÃÂ, such as the press."
Stowell died in Wellington on 23 March 1944.
Stowell authored the MÃÂoriâÂÂEnglish Tutor and Vade Mecum, published in 1911, the first MÃÂori grammar written by a MÃÂori author, which also included MÃÂori topics such as "ailments and diseases, sport and past times, tohunga, the lore of tapu, marriage customs and land tenure." It used the NgÃÂpuhi dialect as standard MÃÂori language, and considered all other versions as dialects.
He published several articles under the name Hare Hongi, including:
In 1929, he began a series of radio broadcasts on the pronunciation and meaning of MÃÂori place names, which was shortly abandoned. Hare Hongi also published several poems including "The Defence of Orakau" and "Maori Hymn to the Creator."
There are extensive archives of his unpublished work now held in Te Puna MÃÂtauranga o Aotearoa The National Library of New Zealand.