pre-1840 contact

Events In History

Articles

A frontier of chaos?

  • A frontier of chaos?

    In the years before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, relations between Māori and Europeans were marred by a number of high-profile incidents.

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  • Page 2 – Overview

    The experiences of the explorers Abel Tasman, James Cook and Marion du Fresne convinced many Europeans that New Zealand was a dangerous place.

  • Page 3 – Māori values and practices

    Māori responses in the early contact period were determined by well-established customs and practices.

  • Page 4 – The Boyd incident

    In December 1809 the sailing ship Boyd was anchored in Whangaroa Harbour. It was attacked by a group of Māori who killed most of its crew and passengers in retaliation for the

  • Page 5 – Captain Stewart and the Elizabeth

    In 1830 Captain William Stewart of the brig Elizabeth made an arrangement with the Ngāti Toa leader Te Rauparaha to ferry a taua (war party) of 100 warriors from his base on

  • Page 6 – The Harriet affair

    The rescue of Betty Guard and her two children from Ngāti Ruanui in the spring of 1834 involved the first use of British troops on New Zealand soil.

  • Page 7 – Kororāreka

    The missionaries divided the Europeans who came to New Zealand in the early 19th century into two groups: the agents of virtue (themselves) and the agents of vice (almost

  • Page 8 – Further information

    Links and publications relating to case studies of Māori–Pākehā clashes before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi

Go-betweens

  • Go-betweens

    An important feature of early cross-cultural contact in New Zealand was the role of intermediaries (kaiwhakarite) who acted as go-betweens – people from one culture who lived within the other culture and helped bridge the gap between the two.

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  • Page 2 – Pākehā-Māori

    Europeans who settled in Māori communities and adopted a Māori lifestyle were described as 'Pākehā-Māori' .

  • Page 3 – Māori intermediaries: Ruatara

    In 1805 the Ngāpuhi chief Ruatara left New Zealand on the whaling ship Argo with the intention of meeting King George III.

  • Page 4 – The first woman settler?

    Charlotte Badger is believed to have been one of the first two European women to live (albeit briefly) in New Zealand.

  • Page 5 – Further information

    Publications and links relating to Pakeha-Maori and Maori-Pakeha in the pre-1840 period

Missionaries

Sealers and whalers

  • Sealers and whalers

    A European population explosion first impacted on New Zealand in the closing decade of the 18th century when sealers and whalers began to arrive in their hundreds seeking to exploit local resources.

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  • Page 1 - Sealers and whalersA European population explosion first impacted on New Zealand in the closing decade of the 18th century when sealers and whalers began to arrive in their hundreds seeking to

Treaty timeline

He Whakaputanga - Declaration of Independence

  • He Whakaputanga - Declaration of Independence

     On 28 October 1835,  34 rangatira signed He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni (the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand). 

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  • Database of signatories to He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni (known in English as the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand)

  • Page 3 – Further information

    Further reading relating to He Whakaputanga - the Declaration of Independence

Taming the frontier

  • Taming the frontier

    In 1832 James Busby was appointed as the official British Resident to New Zealand. After arriving in the Bay of Islands in May 1833 he took steps to tame what he saw as a chaotic frontier society.

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  • Page 2 – New South Wales and New Zealand

    By the early 1830s humanitarians were encouraging the British government to take a more active role in New Zealand affairs.

  • Page 3 – Choosing a flag

    The selection of the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand as New Zealand's first flag

  • Page 4 – Land issues on the eve of the Treaty of Waitangi

    In the late 1830s the British government became concerned about how land was being obtained from Māori. Action was needed, it decided, to protect Māori from the worst ravages

  • Page 5 – A separate Crown colony

    Protecting Māori, regulating land purchases, controlling the activities of settlers and dealing with the potential influx of migrants underpinned British policy in 1839. New

  • Page 6 – Further information

    Links and further information relating to the first New Zealand flag and the Declaration of Independence

A history of New Zealand 1769-1914

  • A history of New Zealand 1769-1914

    In the period between the first European landings and the First World War, Aotearoa New Zealand was transformed from an exclusively Māori world into one in which Pākehā dominated numerically, politically, socially and economically.

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  • Page 1 - History of New Zealand, 1769-1914 In the period between the first European landings and the First World War, Aotearoa New Zealand was transformed from an exclusively Māori world into one in which Pākehā

Encounters

Biographies

  • Guard, Elizabeth

    Betty Guard is believed to be the first European woman to settle in the South Island. In 1834 she was taken hostage by a group of Taranaki and Ngati Ruanui Māori before being rescued several months later by her husband Jacky and a detachment of 60 men from the 50th Regiment.

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