Permanent human settlement in what is now New Zealand is thought to have started in the 13th century. It came from the Pacific Islands, but beyond that, not a lot is known for certain. The land had possibly been discovered upwards of 500 years earlier, but no record of that remains. Those that came and stayed are now referred to as Maori. I tend to anglicize it to “MOW-ree”, because not rolling the ‘r’ when you pronounce it properly and say “MO-ree” apparently refers to some cannibal tribe and can be quite insulting. Fair enough.
The Maori brought plants and animals and quickly went to work on the land. In fact, by the time white man settled, only 45% of the original forest remained, which I’d find hard to believe if I hadn’t read it myself in the national museum. The Maori initially settled all over, but when the first contact with whites occurred, 95% of the islanders lived on the North Island.
Abel Tasman, a Dutchman, officially discovered the country back in 1642, but failed to do much else except name it. Captain Cook arrived in 1769, officially claiming it for Great Brittania.
Abel Tasman, a Dutchman, officially discovered the country back in 1642, but failed to do much else except name it. Captain Cook arrived in 1769, officially claiming it for Great Brittania.
New Zealand isn’t quite as old, colonially speaking, as Australia, AND as they’re quick to mention, doesn’t have the prison-colony history either.
The history of conflict with the natives is of course complicated, but much can be left to the imagination. Suffice to say, when Cook arrived, there were about 200,000 Maori, and by 1896, less than 50,000 remained. Currently, NZ’s native situation seems to fall at the better end of the spectrum, with Australia’s outright hostility taking up the rear and Canada’s falling somewhere in the middle. There seems to have been a great deal of remediation and retribution having taken place. Today, there is a definite Maori pride and any Maori blood in the family is proudly mentioned. That isn’t to say that the Maori don’t fall short when it comes to all sorts of socio-economic statistics, but there’s a certain respect between races that doesn’t seem to always exist in other places. One of our rides while hitchhiking pointed out that “you don’t have to have a drop of Maori blood in you to identify as Maori.” To which I ought to have proudly and immediately identified as African-American based on the fact that I listen to black-power hip-hop. Catch my drift?
The history of conflict with the natives is of course complicated, but much can be left to the imagination. Suffice to say, when Cook arrived, there were about 200,000 Maori, and by 1896, less than 50,000 remained. Currently, NZ’s native situation seems to fall at the better end of the spectrum, with Australia’s outright hostility taking up the rear and Canada’s falling somewhere in the middle. There seems to have been a great deal of remediation and retribution having taken place. Today, there is a definite Maori pride and any Maori blood in the family is proudly mentioned. That isn’t to say that the Maori don’t fall short when it comes to all sorts of socio-economic statistics, but there’s a certain respect between races that doesn’t seem to always exist in other places. One of our rides while hitchhiking pointed out that “you don’t have to have a drop of Maori blood in you to identify as Maori.” To which I ought to have proudly and immediately identified as African-American based on the fact that I listen to black-power hip-hop. Catch my drift?
I haven't heard others mention it, but it's my belief that one factor leading towards NZ's better native situation is that they all speak the same language, so a dying language isn't adding to all the troubles. Most placenames are Maori: Whangarei, Takaka, Kerikeri, Whariwharangi, Pakawau, Wharariki ('wh's is treated as an "f"), etc. Lots of signs are bilingual as well. So the language thing seems to help, but those are the only dots I've been able to connect so far.
New Zealand was the last country in the world to be “discovered” and the first to have a democracy. Although lacking the benevolent intentions you’d expect, NZ was nevertheless the first country to allow women to vote (in 1893).
This was also the first country to have a welfare state. So all this seems to be the basis for the belief of kiwis that their country has a wonderfully egalitarian tradition. While the standard of living WAS comparably high early on (though far from ideal), that all started to fall apart in the 70s and 80s as the country’s markets went from the most regulated to one of the least. Things seem to have gotten worse since and part of the reason seems to date back to Britain joining the European Union and having to pledge to buy more EU goods, thus leaving New Zealand’s produce for industry market system out in the cold.
It was around this time that the government started gutting the unions, which was actually a left-leaning government. I haven't quite figured out the political spectrum here. Overall, the left-right thing is pretty obsolete anyways, but it's interesting to note the difference.
So that's NZ history according to Dan. I read somewhere that the biggest private land deal in history was some guy bought the whole South Island for a few hundred pounds. It was quickly nullified, but what a score!
One last bit: while shying away from complete prohibition, from 1918-1967, NZ pubs were forced to close at 6pm. The effects of that are still being unravelled.
Dan
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