Dame Anne Salmond, 71, professor of anthropology, author and former New Zealander of the Year, explains why 2017 has been the culmination of her life's work so far
This year has been amazing. I've been shooting in York, London, Oxford and Newcastle for Maori TV's Artefact documentary series, which has meant a new way of communicating.
It's a way of exploring many of the ideas in my new book, Tears of Rangi, in a new way. It feels very liberating, because you can use sound and images and talk with lots of other people.
The book is subtitled "experiments across worlds" and it's about the innovative and sometimes tragic but often quite exciting ways in which Maori and Europeans from the beginning of our shared history have engaged with each other. The possibilities for that to carry on into the future are exciting.
It's taken more than 50 years of study to get here. It goes back to when I was about 16, when I first became entranced with Maori ways of living. I've never lost that fascination and sense of wonder. I've been able, with the new way of working this year, to grant it its own power, in the sense where, as a scholar, I don't feel the need to claim final authority over any of the interpretations and understandings I have. I can just say, "Look here's the best I can do from where I started, 55 years or so ago. Here are the stories that explore these understandings. Make of it what you will."