James Cowan (14 April 1870 – 6 September 1943) was a New Zealand non-fiction author, noted for his books on colonial history and Maori ethnography. A fluent Maori speaker, he was able to interview many veterans of the Land Wars and his book The New Zealand wars: a history of the Maori campaigns and the pioneering period (1922—23) was considered the definitive account until recent times.