History of New Zealand

New Zealand, considered the last major land mass to be discovered and the youngest country on earth. That history began about 700 years ago when Polynesians discovered the island and developed a distinct Maori culture centered on kinship links and land. Their leadership was based on a system of chieftainship, which was often but not always hereditary. These chiefs were either male or female and needed to demonstrate leadership abilities to avoid being superseded by more dynamic individuals. The extended family was important in Maori society and after that the tribe. Conflict between tribe was relatively common. They preserved their history orally through narratives, songs and chants. Skilled oral history chant experts could recite the tribal genealogies back for hundreds of years. They rarely practiced cannibalism.

1846 Maori

Hinepare, 1890

Meri Te Tai Mangakahai

The European history of New Zealand is closely tied to that of Australia. The first European explorer came to New Zealand in 1642 with the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. Tasman and his ships Heemskerck and Zeehaen anchored at the northern end in Golden Bay in December and after clashing with local Maori he sailed to Tonga. Before leaving Tasman sketched sections of the two main islands' west coasts and called them Staten landt after the States-General of the Netherlands. Dutch cartographers changed the name to Nova Zeelandia in Latin, from Nieuw Zeeland, after the Dutch province of Zeeland. When James Cook visited the islands more than 100 years later he Anglicized it to New Zealand.

First map of New Zealand drawn by Captain James Cook

The Europeans began settling the islands in the early 1800 and the first European infant, Thomas King, was born in 1815 in the Bay of Islands. Many Europeans bought land from maori but misunderstanding and different concepts of land ownership led to conflict and bitterness. Because of the lawless white sailors and adventurers in New Zealand the British Government appointed James Busby as Official Resident in 1834 to bring order to the land. Busby encouraged Maori chiefs to assert their sovereignty with the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1835 but Busby was provided with neither legal authority nor military support and was not effective in controlling the European population.

In 1839 the New Zealand Company announced plans to establish colonies in New Zealand. Because of the continuing lawlessness of many settlers the British decided to take stronger action. Captain William Hobson was sent to New Zealand to persuade Maori to cede their sovereignty to the British Crown. On February 6, 1840 about forty Maori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi in the Bay of Islands. Copies of the Treaty were taken around the country to be signed by other chiefs. Many refused but in all about five hundred eventually signed.

The Treaty gave Maori control over their lands and possessions and all of the rights of British citizens. The English version of the treaty can be said to give the British Crown sovereignty over New Zealand. But the Maori version the Crown receives lesser power. That dispute remains an issue today. But the results of the treaty was extensive European and and some Asian settlement and most of the land passed from Maori to European ownership.

From 1840 there was considerable European settlement, primarily from England, Scotland and Wales, but also from Ireland and even some from the United States, India, and parts of continental Europe. By 1911 there were a million Europeans in New Zealand.

The Maori fought this settlement, with the settlers and between themselves. Their numbers fell to around 42,000 in 1896.

New Zealand was part of New South Wales from 1788 until 1840 when it was proclaimed a separate colony. New Zealand decided against joining the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 and went from being a colony to a separate dominion in 1907, equal in status to Australia and Canada.

Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi