Together with being considered as one of the most beautiful countries in the world, New Zealand is also special in being one of the youngest. It was discovered by Europeans as the last huge land mass, and today, this amazing and unspoiled country has many reminders of its rich Maori and Colonial history.
Basics:
New Zealand (Aotearoa in Māori) is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island) and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long isolation New Zealand developed a distinctive fauna dominated by birds, many of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and introduced mammals. With a mild maritime climate, the land was mostly covered in forest. The country’s varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks owe much to the uplift of land and volcanic eruptions caused by the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates clashing underfoot.[1]
The Maori arrived in New Zealand in the 10th century AD. They called the new land Aotearoa, which means Land of the Long White Cloud. The Maori brought dogs and rats. They also brought yams and kumara or sweet potatoes and gourds. The Maori also ate fern roots. There was also an abundance of seafood in New Zealand. The Maori hunted dolphins, whales and seals and they ate fish and shellfish. They also hunted large, flightless birds called moa – until they became extinct.
The first European to see New Zealand was a Dutchman called Abel Tasman who arrived in 1642. Ominously Europeans fought with the Maori and the Europeans were not keen to return. However the new land was named New Zealand after a Dutch province.
Europeans left New Zealand alone until 1769 when Captain James Cook arrived in his ship The Endeavour. The first encounters with the Maori were violent so Cook called the place Poverty Bay and sailed away. However later, at Mercury Bay, Cook managed to befriend the local Maori. He went on to circumnavigate New Zealand and to accurately map it.
Towards the end of the 18th century sealers began to sail to New Zealand. The first group arrived on South Island in 1792. Then, at the beginning of the 19th century whalers came to New Zealand.
Missionaries went to New Zealand. The first was Samuel Marsden who arrived in 1814. However at first the missionaries had little success. The first Roman Catholic missionaries arrived in 1838.
Then in 1817 the laws of New South Wales were extended to New Zealand. At first the British government reluctant to make New Zealand a colony. However they changed their minds when they feared the French were about to do so. In 1840 William Hobson persuaded the Maori to accept annexation by the treaty of Waitangi.
In 1852 the Constitution Act divided New Zealand into 6 provinces. Each one had a provincial council. In 1856 New Zealand was granted self-government. Wellington was made the capital of New Zealand in 1865.
Many Britons migrated to New Zealand hoping for a better life and to escape conditions in Britain.Meanwhile a new era began in 1882 when a refrigerated ship called The Dunedin took meat from New Zealand to Britain. Previously only wool was exported to Britain. Refrigeration allowed New Zealand’s farmers to export meat as well, bringing new prosperity.
New Zealand was made a dominion in 1907.Meanwhile soldiers from New Zealand fought in the Boer War of 1899-1902. Many also fought in the First World War. Many men from New Zealand fought in the Second World War in North Africa and against Japan and in 1947 New Zealand became completely independent from Britain. [2]
The earliest known settlers in the two islands were the seafaring Maori, who arrived sometime between 1000 and 1300 AD, although some evidence suggests they were there earlier. The Maoris named the new land Aotearoa, meaning “Land of the Long White Cloud”, a name that still seems appropriate today.
The Dutch were the first Europeans to discover the two islands, naming them Nieuw Zeeland, after the Dutch province of the same name. The explorer Abel Tasman first sighted the land in 1642 – although the first visit was not a success as there was fighting between the Maoris and the Dutch. Tasman later named the bay where he had anchored “Murderer’s bay”.
The Maoris were left in peace for the next hundred years until the British explorer Captain James Cook arrived in the 18th century. Cook’s group had their misfortunes too – Maori warriors killed and ate nine members of the ship’s crew.
The British signed a treaty to colonize the islands in February, 1840 – the Treaty of Waitangi. While most Maoris were agreeable to this, not every tribe was amenable and this led to more fighting – a period known as the New Zealand Wars. The following year New Zealand officially became a British colony and the New Zealand Constitution Act was established in 1852.
New Zealand declared independence from the UK in 1907, although the country remained a part of the British Empire and New Zealanders fought alongside the British in both world wars. A period of cooperation with the United States led to the signing of the ANZUS treaty in 1951, guaranteeing that New Zealand, Australia and America would assist each other if any of the countries were to be invaded.
Today, New Zealand is an independent nation within the British Commonwealth and still retains strong bonds with Britain. The British Union Jack appears on the country’s flag and an image of the Queen can still be seen on some banknotes. [3]
New Zealand Mythology:
The Maui legend embodies the South Pacific idea of a hero, while not a god he was gifted, clever and walked between the realms of gods and men. Polynesian and Maori mythology include numerous legends of Maui fishing up new land, the North Island of New Zealand was the largest.
Maui is the gifted, daring, supernatural demigod of Polynesian mythology, tradition and folklore responsible for fishing up the North Island of Aotearoa, New Zealand.Maui acquired magic powers and walked between the realms of gods and men. He was a demigod with some of the limitations of mankind, but with abilities that enabled him to have a measure of control over the forces of nature.
Legend has it that Maui could assume shapes at will, a favourite was that of the kereru or woodpigeon. Now a protected bird species, the kereru makes its home in native forests throughout the New Zealand.
The Maui story is said to contain a large number of unique and ancient myths, older than those of any other legendary character in the mythology of any nation. There are about 20 Maui legends in all. [4]
New Zealand’s colourful history commences from the time when the Rangitata Land mass separates from the ancient super continent of Gondwana 80 million years ago, evolving over time to become modern New Zealand.
As Polynesians discover and settle New Zealand, thought to be sometime between 950 and 1130 AD, the Moriori people are settling, possibly around the same time, the Chatham Islands, or Rekohu, a small group of islands off the coast of New Zealand.
In 1642 the first of the European explorers, Abel Janszoon Tasman from Holland, sails into New Zealand waters. The first encounter between Māori and European is violent, leading to bloodshed. After partly charting the coastline, Tasman leaves New Zealand without ever having had the occasion to set foot ashore.
One hundred years pass by before the next Europeans arrive. In 1769 James Cook, British explorer, and Jean François Marie de Surville, commander of a French trading ship, both arrive by coincidence in New Zealand waters at the same time. Neither ship ever sights the other.
From the late 1790′s on, whalers, traders and missionaries arrive, establishing settlements mainly along the far northern coast of New Zealand.
Māori chiefs sign a Treaty with the British on 6th February 1840, to be known as the Treaty of Waitangi. The subsequent influx of European settlers leads to the turbulent period of the New Zealand Wars, also known as the Land Wars, which last for over twenty years.
Hostilities between Māori and European commence in 1845. By 1870 the British government withdraws the last of its Imperial Troops from New Zealand, not wishing to invest any further in a costly overseas war which was likely to continue indefinitely.
The Māori, although inferior in number, proves a formidable foe.
The battle of Gate Pa is possibly the battle which made the greatest impact in the history of The New Zealand Wars. [5]
Short-tailed bats Mystacina tuberculata were widespread throughout the forest that dominated prehuman New Zealand, but extensive deforestation has restricted them to scattered populations in forest fragments. In a previous study, the species’ intraspecific phylogeny was investigated using multiple mitochondrial gene sequences. Six phylogroups were identified with estimated divergences of 0.93–0.68 Ma. In the current study, the phylogeographical structure and demographic history of the phylogroups were investigated using control region sequences modified by removing homoplasic sites. Phylogeographical structure in the North Island was generally consistent with an isolation-by-distance dispersal model. Coalescent-based analyses (i.e. mismatch distributions, skyline plots, lineage dispersal analysis and nested clade analysis) indicated that the three phylogroups found in central and southern North Island expanded before the last glacial maximum, presumably during interstadials when Nothofagus forest was most extensive. Genetic structure within a central North Island hybrid zone was consistent with range expansion from separate refugia following reforestation after catastrophic volcanic eruptions. Phylogeographical structure in the South Island was consistent with southern populations originating during rapid southward range expansion from refugia in northern South Island following postglacial reforestation of the South Island 10–9 kya. [6]
Conclusion:
This land of amazing natural beauty and places of nature to be seen has a rich history regardless of its young age. European and Maori culture interwined make a very interesting combination and mixture of mentalities which created New Zealand in what it is today.
References:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand
[2] http://www.localhistories.org/newzealand.html
[3]“A Brief History of New Zealand” by: Craig Elliot
[4] http://www.newzealand.com/int/article/the-legend-of-new-zealand
[5] http://history-nz.org/
[6] “The demographic history of the New Zealand short-tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata inferred from modified control region sequences” by: Brian D. Lloyd
Special thanks goes to http://www.shareaccommodation.com/ for “Short history of New Zealand” topic suggestion.
