New Zealand Heritage

Discovered by Maori around 950AD, New Zealand was named Aotearoa (land of the long white cloud). Maori migrated to Aotearoa on waka (canoe) from their ancestral Polynesian homeland Hawaiki (believed to be near Tahiti). By the early 1800s there were believed to be over 100,000 Maori settled throughout Aotearoa.

In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to sail into New Zealand waters; however the Maori settlers prevented Tasman and his crew from coming ashore. Over 100 years later in 1769, British explorer James Cook was the first European to set foot on New Zealand soil. Cook chartered 2,400 miles of New Zealand coastline over six months and throughout this time encountered Maori, with both parties sharing rival conflicts. Cook left New Zealand on 31 March 1770 and later returned a further two times once in 1773 and again in 1777.

In the closing decades of the 18th Century, Dutch, French, Russian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, British and even North American whalers, traders and missionaries began to arrive in New Zealand in their hundreds. They encountered a Maori world and therefore began to form relations with the indigenous people. The relationship between Maori and new settlers was not one without its conflicts and disparities, however, the new settlers relied on Maori for local knowledge, food resources, labour and most importantly the guarantee of new comer’s safety.

In 1840 New Zealand became a British Colony through the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Consequently the British were offered a paid passage to New Zealand driving around 40,000 British migrants to New Zealand between 1840 and 1860. By 1858 it was thought that both Maori and European populations were equal.

The 1860s saw the South Island gold rush attract many migrants to New Zealand from all corners of the world. The Scottish migrants from this period made the lower South Island around Otago and Southland home, naming Dunedin the city of Otago after the old Celtic name for Edinburgh Dun Edin.

In the late 19th Century New Zealand suffered a labour shortage and with the assistance from the New Zealand government more migrants from the British Isles and Europe came to New Zealand. In Example over 5000 migrants from Dalmatia flocked to New Zealand’s far north around the 1890s, most working in the gum fields, digging for gum from the famous Kauri tree. Later the Dalmatians became involved with farming and viticulture, establishing famous New Zealand wineries such as Pleasant Valley.

In the 1960s and 70s New Zealand was again struggling from a labour shortage. This time New Zealand looked to the Pacific Islands and as a result a large amount of Pacific Islanders migrated to New Zealand, namely Auckland and now make up 5% of New Zealand’s population. Auckland has become the largest Polynesian city in the world and today this influence can be seen in professional sport and industries such as fashion, music, television and arts.

In more recent years New Zealand has encountered considerable migration from Asia. Educated migrants from mainly Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea and Japan have had a positive impact on the New Zealand economy.