A Super Quick History of New Zealand

Sources:
"A Concise History of New Zealand" (2012) by Philippa Mein Smith. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
"The Penguin History of New Zealand" (2003) by Michael King. Penguin Group, Rosedale, NZ.

Pictures Requiring Attribution:

Audio Requiring Attribution:

#newzealand #history

[maxcy]

New Zealand might be a beautiful country with alot of sightseeing and culture but its housing and cost of living issues are an actual pain to live through on minimum wage.

[calikai]

I'd like to mention that a lot of grief and conflict between Maori and Europeans is due to the fact the Te Reo Maori and English versions of the initial treaty aren't one for one. There are many miss translations, these are still being dealt with to this day. Also early on Europeans where sold NZ land while in England, then when they arrive here they find a native tribe calling it home. Mainly because the Europeans understanding of land use and ownership was very different from the Maori. But also because those who sold the land didn't care much for the end result, they just wanted to sell as much land and make money off nothing, as they themselves didn't do much to gain the land.

[yoloswagbigswagmoments]

This is cool. My dad straight up told me I was a direct descendant of Hone Heke, and I believed him because that's my family name, until I visited my great aunt for the first time a couple of weeks ago and she told me that his dad lied to him about that and we're actually non-direct descendants because mans had no surviving children LMFAO. When I was a kid I went around telling literally everyone I was Hone Heke's direct descendant for YEARS. Anyway I don't know why I said this. Thank you for your video. Peace out

[naniok]

I'd like to add more information here that came directly from the oral history of Moriori descendants as there appears to be some who don't know the true stories of the Moriori people. This is an essay I spent 4 hours writing into the wee hours after seeing some misinformed comments. Read if you'd like, cross-checking is encouraged and feel free to leave a comment below to share your thoughts!



The Myth of Moriori:

For generations the myth of our history has been that: New Zealand Mainland was home to a race of people called the Moriori and that they were a primitive and inferior people, with red hair and of Melanesian “stock”. They lived without war and lived in peace for hundreds of years. And that eventually, when Maori arrived, Moriori were slaughtered, cannibalised, and were forced out of New Zealand into the Chatham Islands. Maori are the reason that the first people of NZ are extinct.

Paraphrasing from Maui Solomon:

"The Moriori myth is powerfully ingrained in the psyche of New Zealanders because it provides a convenient justification for European migrants, to the colonisation of Maori in Aotearoa and their displacement from their lands. If Maori can do it to Moriori, then the British can do it to Maori.”

Original Inhabitants of the Chatham Islands:

Moriori actually travelled directly from Eastern Polynesia and settled in the Chatham Islands. Then later waka from the East Coast of the North Island found people living there and then there were then two settlements that created a composite of people within the Chatham Islands. These great ancestors lived a pacifist lifestyle that followed the teachings of their tribal elder Nukunuku, where war was banned and peace was the forefront of their unique culture.

The Maori Invasion:

After hundreds of years of living in peace with one another... this all changed, because in 1835 two Maori tribes from Taranaki (Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Tama) invaded the Chatham Islands, killing around 300 of 2000 Moriori people, despite offerings of peaceful hospitality. Moriori did not fight back because of their strong pacifist beliefs, leaving them overrun by their invaders. The Maori tribes responsible, cannibalised, enslaved and forced, brutal labour upon Moriori, they took away their language and the right to marry or have children. Their slavery did not end until the late 1860's.

NZ Governments Failings & The Injustice:
(Mainly sourced directly from Maui Solomon)

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 and Moriori did not receive any recognition or relief of their slavery until long afterwards. Decades after the invasion, in 1862, Moriori elders pleaded in a letter to New Zealand's Governor George Grey to help them bring justice, emancipation and restoration of their land rights through the colonial government. And while things started to look hopeful, no help came their way. Instead, by the 1870's the Native Land Court, which proceeded, in just one week of sittings, awarded 98 percent of all the land on and around the Chatham Islands to, their enslavers, the Ngati Mutunga tribe.

Ngati Tama, who had returned to their homes in Taranaki by 1868, didn’t make any claims to land. By 1870, a significant majority of Ngati Mutunga had also returned to their traditional home in Taranaki.

Judge John Rogan, who had sat on the Taranaki courts in the mid-1860s and had “fixed ideas” before he even arrived on the island, presided over the court hearings. He determined that Moriori had been “conquered” by Maori and therefore had forfeited their right to practically all of their lands — even though, by 1870, Moriori outnumbered Maori living on the Rekohu (Chatham Islands).

Judge Rogan paid no regard to the ancient custom of peace that Moriori had lived by on Rekohu (Chatham Islands) for many centuries, or to the fact that they had made a conscious decision, at a large gathering in early 1836, not to fight and kill the Maori invaders by way of retaliation. Many of the young men present at that meeting wanted to fight back but the leading elders forbade it.

Moriori, having lost their lives, lands, liberty, and language — they were forbidden to speak their language by their captors — they were then subject to widespread slander and deliberate mythmaking by some historians and the education system. Throughout all this time, The Crown was aware of these crimes against Moriori, and still, they purposefully refused to intervene despite their obligations to protect Moriori as “British citizens”, as is guaranteed in Article 3 of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Moriori Today:
(Conclusion)

Over the past 40 or so years, Moriori have been gaining recognition and finally in 2020 received a deed of settlement from The Crown. The tribunal found that the Crown should pay Moriori compensation for the slavery they suffered under Maori during the mid-1800s. The terms include an agreed account of Moriori history; a Crown apology; the transfer of culturally significant land on Rekohu (Chatham Islands); and compensation to the tune of $18 million. The report also officially acknowledges and declares Moriori as the true tangata whenua of the Chatham Islands. Moriori are the indigenous peoples of Rekohu (Chatham Islands) and Rangihaute (Pitt Island), with their own unique language (70 percent surviving re Moriori differs from te reo Maori) history and traditions. 90 percent of Moriori live off Chatham Islands and their legacy continues through the following generations, mixed with other ethnicities and even have hokopapa/whakapapa/genealogy that connects them to the Ngati Mutunga tribe aswell. However, while this is a great triumph for Moriori people, there are still fights to be won and to this day they seek to fight for peace, justice and are looking to create a brighter future as tangata whenua of the Chatham Islands.

Thanks for reading :)
Edit: Grammar

[drixtrix]

As a New Zealander, I am very satisfied with the detail you put in the video Well done!

[alliebean]

Golden Bay is the name of the whole region from Farewell Spit to Taupo Point, and there's still a small bay within that region called Murderer's Bay that you can only reach by boat. It's a beautiful spot! My family almost got stranded there when a storm rolled in once, which is fitting i guess

[Corithaniel]

For anyone curious, The Aotearoa History Show channel has done a great deep dive into our countries history from back in the day of the dino up until today.

While this video does a good job of the major plot points and general history, there is much more to learn for those who are willing to do so!

[maapauu]

Hi! As a New Zealander, this was well researched for the most part, but I do have some feedback:
1: Maori is pronounced with a trilled R
2: The plural form of Maori is still Maori
3: I noticed you pronounced Wharenui like Wharanui
4: The incident at Murderers bay had casualties on both sides, inflicted by both parties
5: In the Boyd massacre, the offenders were previously provoked in some way, and, when the Europeans wanted revenge, they attacked the wrong iwi, despite the offending iwi admitting to being the offenders
6: The Maori didn't sign the same treaty as the British, the Maori version allowed the Maori to keep sovereignty over Aotearoa, with the British having governance
7: The "purchasing" was very unfair a lot of the time, for example, one Marae was sold to the British by a fake owner, what's worse is that the British had the option to cross-check the owner but didn't, this happened frequently
8: In the New Zealand land confiscations, the British took land unfairly, unlawfully, and also took land from the few iwi who sided with them which was... interesting

[mrpukio]

Ah yes. The high quality of life which may or may not include 2 million dollar shacks we call ‘2 bedroom 1 bath houses’.

[echidna]

as a New Zealander (Kiwi) you perfected that accent at the beginning

[CommentManHimself]

It is rather funny that a mini-documentary angled towards people outside of New Zealand has a comment section full of New Zealanders, and very few outsiders. I would generally be annoyed at someone who is not from New Zealand doing a video on NZ history, but there were no wrong facts, and at least you are Australian. Keep it up!

[jadengrant]

Big thing. The pakeha weren’t the best translators so a lot of the things in the English version didn’t carry through to the Maōri version. This is what caused a lot of feud and violence

[zebraz]

New Zealand is one of my favorite countries it’s such a peaceful and calm country with amazing nature
+kiwi bird (and the kakapo)

[shaejones]

I've been waiting for this video ever since I found your channel. Pronunciations were a bit off with some words but other than that it was overall a great video and Im incredibly happy to see a well rounded recounting of New Zealands history. As a side note Maori is pronounced more like mold-ie than mau-ri. People get in trouble but it usually doesn't matter as long as it is a genuine mistake rather than an intentional insult.

[mspaint]

Thank you for this awesome video, love from NZ! :)

[teenagemutantammnite]

The man who performed the first transgender operation (Harold Gillies) was from New Zealand, he was a plastic surgeon in WW1.
They also have the longest place name (84 letters)

[yingo]

this is probably the best nz history video i’ve seen done by a non-kiwi! your pronunciation wasn’t perfect but so much better than other channels, well done 👍

[mrrraow]

as a kiwi i think its wonderful seeing people talk about our country.
thank you for this, its important for people to stay educated.
i believe it was done pretty well :o)

[Reg_Mori]

as A Kiwi myself i've gotta say you've got this spot on

[crumbo]

As a New Zealander this video was fantastic, well done mate! Easily the best country in the world. Cheers for making this video and keep it up!