Judith Binney's work focussed on religion in New Zealand, especially the Maori Ringatu religion founded by Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki and continued by Rua Kenana.
14 Facts About Judith Binney
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Judith Binney wrote extensively on the history of Ngai Tuhoe.
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Judith Binney graduated with a first-class honours degree in history from the University of Auckland in 1965, and started work at the university as a lecturer in the History Department the next year.
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Judith Binney wrote biographies of both Te Kooti and Kenana, as well as a book on Kenana's followers, and another on missionary Thomas Kendall.
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Judith Binney was awarded a three-year James Cook Research Fellowship in 1999 for research on the history of Urewera.
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Judith Binney was awarded $60,000 at the Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement in 2006.
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Judith Binney's writing draws on oral histories and communal memories, and uses photographic sources as an integral part of the written historical discourse.
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In 2007, Judith Binney was named an inaugural fellow of the New Zealand Academy of Humanities, and she was a historical consultant for Vincent Ward's film, Rain of the Children.
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Judith Binney was married twice: to painter Don Judith Binney, and later to fellow academic Sebastian Black.
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On 4 December 2009, Judith Binney received serious head injuries after being struck by a truck while crossing Princes St in Auckland City.
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Judith Binney showed great understanding of the traditional manner of non-linear thinking of Maori that lasted long into the post contact period and has strong echos in the 21st century and was a strong advocate of Maori separatism.
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Judith Binney emphasized that Maori history has a quite different purpose to Western history, with its strong emphasis on preserving and enhancing the mana of a whanau or hapu rather than examining and explaining historical events in a sequential, rational manner based on documented evidence.
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Judith Binney contrasted strongly the Maori belief in evidence based on mysticism, spirits, prophesy, in song and stories to explain why events happen with the quite different Western system.
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An October 31,2022 article in the New Zealand Herald recounts a claim that Judith Binney was the target of a fire-bombing attack on September 29,1986.