Jock McEwen

Jock McEwen was a long-serving civil servant, writer, composer and carver of Scottish descent who was passionate about Māori development. His family predominantly emigrated from Scotland, arriving in the 1840s and settling in Feilding, where he was born and raised.

McEwen’s youth was bi-lingual, and he grew up speaking English and Te Reo at Taonui School where his father, Malcom McEwen, was principal, and by visiting the neighbouring Aorangi Marae where elders, such as the grandparents of Eddie and Mason Durie, corrected his Te Reo. Later McEwen attended Palmerston North Boys’ High School, subsequently completing a law degree at Te Herenga Waka ~ Victoria University of Wellington.

In 1932 McEwen began work in the Department of Native Affairs, where he met Āpirana Ngata. Over his long career as a civil servant McEwen would hold positions as Resident Commissioner of Niue (1953-1956), Deputy Assistant Secretary of Island Territories (1956-1958), and in 1967 was appointed as Chairman of United Nations Visiting Mission to New Guinea.

In 1937 he helped establish Ngati Poneke, a Wellington-based urban pan-tribal cultural club, and continued his involvement with the club upon his retirement. He was also involved with the kapa haka group Māwai Hakona in the 1960s. He coordinated work on the sixth edition of the Standard Maori Dictionary (1957), originally written by the missionary Herbert W. Williams, and sat on the Polynesian Society Council for 60 years, serving as President for 21 of those years.

McEwen was also a proficient practitioner of whakairo. As Richard Benton recounts: "His work notably included an on-going commitment to teaching prisoners at the Rimutaka prison... He strongly believed that … intimate connection with their cultural heritage would help reorient and heal the broken lives of many of these people. Significantly, he insisted that the prisoners working … [in whakairo] be allowed to do so at the Technical College in Petone, rather than at the prison."

He retired in 1975, however remained involved in the community. He was involved with the establishment of Orongomai Marae in Upper Hutt where he led a project to develop carvings for Kahukura, the meeting house. He also led carving projects for houses at Rotorua, Pirinoa, Taita, Naenae and Upper Hutt colleges, as well as Waiouru military camp and managed the carving of two six-metre pou for the foyer of the Michael Fowler Centre (Wellington).

[Note: 'McEwen' is sometimes mis-spelled as 'McEwan' in records.]

See also:

• Richard Benton, 'Obituary : Jock Malcolm McEwen (1915-2010). The Journal of the Polynesian Society, v.119 no.3 2010 09, pp.223-6.
• Yvonne Airey, 'Upper Hutt marae's founding father dies'. Upper Hutt Leader, May 19, 2010.
• 'Jock McEwen'. Upper Hutt City Library Heritage Collection.
• Megan Hutching, Interview with Jock McEwen, 10 May 2004, OHInt-0852-03. Part of State Services Commission public service oral history project.
• 'Jock McEwen' - Wikipedia page