Introduction
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Maria Nugent
Abstract
The introduction explains the objective of the collection, which is to plumb the ideas and interpretations which Indigenous people of the British settler colonies have formulated and articulated about or through Queen Victoria in response to the colonial encounter. Essays also consider how the representatives of the Crown employed the figure of the monarch in their interactions with Indigenous people. The introduction explains the scope of the collection, why the focus is on the settler colonies. It describes how this is an innovative, original, timely and significant contribution. It brings together scholarship that has been isolated within the confines of national histories, and contributes to understandings of comparable colonial cultures and networks and webs of empire. It is explained why the collection is divided into three parts, and the themes and issues that link the chapters. Each chapter is summarized. It concludes with the hope that this will generate further interdisciplinary scholarship.
Abstract
The introduction explains the objective of the collection, which is to plumb the ideas and interpretations which Indigenous people of the British settler colonies have formulated and articulated about or through Queen Victoria in response to the colonial encounter. Essays also consider how the representatives of the Crown employed the figure of the monarch in their interactions with Indigenous people. The introduction explains the scope of the collection, why the focus is on the settler colonies. It describes how this is an innovative, original, timely and significant contribution. It brings together scholarship that has been isolated within the confines of national histories, and contributes to understandings of comparable colonial cultures and networks and webs of empire. It is explained why the collection is divided into three parts, and the themes and issues that link the chapters. Each chapter is summarized. It concludes with the hope that this will generate further interdisciplinary scholarship.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of maps and figures vii
- List of contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xii
- Maps xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I Monarch, metaphor, memory
- 1 ‘We have seen the son of Heaven/We have seen the Son of Our Queen’ 25
- 2 ‘We rejoice to honour the Queen, for she is a good woman, who cares for the Māori race’ 54
- 3 ‘The faithful children of the Great Mother are starving’ 78
- 4 The politics of memory and the memory of politics 100
- 5 ‘My vast Empire & all its many peoples’ 125
- 6 Māori encounters with ‘Wikitoria’ in 1863 and Albert Victor Pomare, her Māori godchild 144
- 7 Southern African royalty and delegates visit Queen Victoria, 1882–95 166
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Part III Sovereign subjects?
- 8 Sovereignty performances, sovereignty testings 187
- 9 Bracelets, blankets and badges of distinction 210
- 10 Chiefly women 228
- Select bibliography 246
- Index 249
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of maps and figures vii
- List of contributors ix
- Acknowledgements xii
- Maps xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I Monarch, metaphor, memory
- 1 ‘We have seen the son of Heaven/We have seen the Son of Our Queen’ 25
- 2 ‘We rejoice to honour the Queen, for she is a good woman, who cares for the Māori race’ 54
- 3 ‘The faithful children of the Great Mother are starving’ 78
- 4 The politics of memory and the memory of politics 100
- 5 ‘My vast Empire & all its many peoples’ 125
- 6 Māori encounters with ‘Wikitoria’ in 1863 and Albert Victor Pomare, her Māori godchild 144
- 7 Southern African royalty and delegates visit Queen Victoria, 1882–95 166
-
Part III Sovereign subjects?
- 8 Sovereignty performances, sovereignty testings 187
- 9 Bracelets, blankets and badges of distinction 210
- 10 Chiefly women 228
- Select bibliography 246
- Index 249
