Abstract
This thesis examines the historical research practices of New Zealand historians James Cowan (1870-1943) and Herries Beattie (1881-1972). Today, Cowan’s and Beattie’s works are often approached with caution, especially in a context of calls for "decolonization" in the discipline. By examining the practices of these two historians, we can begin to articulate what "faithfulness" meant to them and how this can translate into our understanding of our past and how we work towards redress. Cowan’s and Beattie’s distinct methodologies—transcribing oral histories, interviewing authorities at historical sites, and intensive corroboration—would later be adopted by professional historians and emulated by Waitangi Tribunal researchers. Their published books, specifically Cowan’s two volume work, The New Zealand Wars, and Beattie’s Traditional Lifeways of the Southern Māori, are widely regarded as important books. However, there has not been a comprehensive analysis of their unpublished materials and newspaper publications. Close analysis of that material produces insights into how they determined the authority of their sources. In turn, we can grapple with how they constructed the historical narratives that they later published. This construction process demonstrates the production of the oral-written, an underexplored phenomenon in New Zealand history writing. I demonstrate that Cowan and Beattie are not only comparable because of their shared investment in the methodology of oral history, but because of their commitment to what they argued was their particular "faithfulness" to the historical record.