Through interviews with former followers and members of the local community, this cultural history discloses the insiders’ perspectives on noted New Zealand poet James K. Baxter and his international community, Jerusalem. Founded under the mana of the local hapu, Ngati Hau, the Jerusalem commune proved a magnet for disaffected and damaged young people. The settlement quickly became the country’s most famous hippie community as well as a media byword for the idealism and excess of the emerging youth culture. Rather than treating Jerusalem as a cultural dead end, this reconstruction views the community as an early prototype of the bicultural struggles in which New Zealand society remains engaged. Unlike previous explorations, this unique survey answers questions such as What was life really like at Jerusalem? What did it mean for the local community to be deluged with long-haired strangers and the media attention that followed them? and How did the Maori and Pakeha interact? and reveals an image of what a bicultural Aotearoa might yet become.… (more)