The First New Zealand / Natural History of New Zealand
Two hundred million years ago, the world was vastly different to how it is today. The southern continents of South America, Africa, Australia and Antarctica were not spread separately around the globe as they are now. Instead, they were locked together in a single continent called Gondwana.

The site of New Zealand lay largely submerged off the eastern fringe of Gondwana, beneath seas scattered with active volcanic islands. For millions of years, this was how things had remained. But beneath the surface of this sea, sediments were slowly gathering. Erosion from nearby parts of Gondwana, now corresponding to Australia and Antarctica, washed silts and mud’s to the coast, where they settled on the seabed. Layer upon layer they accumulated, amassing in deposits many kilometers thick.

At such depths, intense heat and pressure forged the soft silts and muds into hard rock, laying down the foundations for a future land. Then, about 130 million years ago, they became caught in a series of earth movements that lifted them above the waves. The ancestral New Zealand land had been born!

Almost as soon as it was lifted from the sea, earth movements started that would ultimately fragment Gondwana. South America and Africa were the first to break ties, giving birth to the South Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Similar rifts opened between Australia and New Zealand, so that by 100 million years ago an infant Tasman Sea had developed between them.

These earth movements were happening at a critical time for life on our planet. The three major living groups of flowering plants, birds and mammals were dispersing on dry land, however time was running out as the land was dividing. The appearance of new seas was blocking their dispersal routes, and for New Zealand which was beginning to detach itself completely from other continents, this was particularly the case.

Some flowering plants spread across Gondwana, reaching New Zealand before it lost its land connections. The best known of these are the southern beech trees (Nothofagus), which today cover large areas of New Zealand with forest.

The birds evolved from reptiles and started to assert mastery of the air at about the same time as flowering plants were spreading on land. Aided by flight, they did not find the seas that separated the land insurmountable. One group, however, may have reverted to flightlessness. The “ratites” distributed by foot across Gondwana by the time it was breaking up and consequently became isolated on the various southern continents. The ratites that once walked into New Zealand were the ancestors of the moa and possibly the kiwi. Other modern-day ratites include the rhea of South America, the ostrich of Africa and the cassowary of Australia. To read more about New Zealand’s flightless birds, click here.

The mammals diversified and spread later than the flowering plants and birds and were therefore less successful in covering the dividing Gondwana. Marsupials mammals probably first appeared in the Americas and then colonized Antarctica and Australia. By the time they approached New Zealand, it was too late. Earth movements about 80 million years ago had finally pulled New Zealand from Gondwana, and seas now barred the way for land migrants. Because of this critical timing, the island continent of New Zealand was not dominated by mammals, until humans spread across the globe 80 millions years later.

The Maori Legend on the Creation of New Zealand is a fascinating story, click here to read it.

The First People
We do not know exactly when the first people set foot on New Zealand soil, or exactly where they came from. Evidence suggests they arrived from islands of the Marquesas, Cooks or Society groups. These Polynesian colonists, the ancestors of the Maori, were skilled sea people and fishermen. They traveled across the ocean in canoes, and whether by design or accident, the first settlers found the temperate islands of “Aotearoa” (The Land of the Long White Cloud) around 700AD.

They had learnt to domesticate plants and animals for their needs. However, this new land abounded with large and relatively defenseless flightless birds. Its coasts and rivers teemed with fish, shellfish and seals. The first colonists therefore, adopted a largely hunting and gathering lifestyle to reap this bounty.

Soon to be harvested were the moas, a spectacular flightless bird which grew up to 3.7 meters tall. Their large size made them an ideal food source, and they were easy to catch, resulting in the moa being hunted to extinction in the first 500 years of the first Polynesian arrival. Many other unusual flightless birds also vanished during this period. Animals such as the tuatara, takahe and kakapo also became very restricted in their range.

Despite their simple technology and the handful of plants and animals they brought to New Zealand, the coming of the Maori had far-reaching effects on the local ecology. However, the next colonists, the Europeans, arrived with even greater means of change at their disposal.

European Settlement
In 1642 Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sailed up the West Coast of New Zealand, but didn’t stay long after his only landing attempt resulted in several of his crew being killed and eaten. He christened the land Niuew Zeeland, after the Netherlands province of Zeeland.

Later in 1769, British navigator and explorer Captain James Cook sailed around New Zealand in the Endeavour. Cook sailed right around the coast of NZ on three voyages altogether, mapping as he went. After discovering that his Tahitian interpreter could communicate with the Maori, Cook made friendly contact with them on several occasions.

When the British began their antipodean colonizing they opted for the larger and even more lightly populated Australia. New Zealand’s first European settlers were temporary – sealers (who reduced the seal population dramatically) and then whalers (who did the same to whales). They also introduced diseases, prostitution, and firearms. When they exchanged muskets for greenstone meres, the Maori soon embarked on wholesale slaughter of one another. The Ngapuhi tribe of Northland embraced the new technology and sent raiding parties throughout the central North Island as far south as Hawkes Bay on the East Coast, and Taranaki in the west. By 1830, the Maori population was falling dramatically.

The Treaty of Waitangi
In 1838 the British sought annexation of NZ because of the lawlessness and the unscrupulous ‘purchases’ of Maori land. A treaty was drawn up in 1840 in the Bay of Islands to persuade the Maori to relinquish their sovereignty to the British Crown. After much deliberation and a few amendments, the treaty was signed on the 6th of February, 1840.

Over the next seven months, the treaty was carried throughout New Zealand by missionaries and officials, eventually being signed by over 500 Maori chiefs. Captain William Hobson proclaimed British sovereignty and established his capital at Kororareka but moved it to Auckland a year later.

Under the terms of the treaty, the chiefs ceded their sovereignty to the Queen of England in exchange for the Queen’s protection and the granting to Maori people of all citizenship rights, privileges and duties enjoyed by citizens of England. The treaty guaranteed the Maori possession of their land and stipulated that they could only sell their land to the Crown. The Queen’s agent would then sell the land to settlers in an orderly and fair fashion.

The treaty seemed to promise benefits for both sides, but when settlers arrived and needed land and the Maori didn’t want to sell, conflict inevitably erupted.

The Maori Wars
The first visible revolt came when Hone Heke, the first chief to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, chopped down the flagpole at Kororareka which flew the British flag. Despite new poles and more guards, Heke managed to chop the pole down four more times until it was covered with iron. The skirmishes that followed resulted in the British governor posting a £100 reward for Heke’s head, to which the chief responded by offering a £100 reward for the governor’s head!

This was only one in a long series of conflicts between the Maori and Europeans. The increasing number of settlers meant that the pressure on the treaty increased. Many disputes involving land sales resulted in tribal conflict. The government pressed on with developing the colony. The Constitution Act of 1852 divided New Zealand into six states that administered local governments and took control over the responsibility for land purchases and sales.

In 1859, the Maori were so alarmed by events that they united to elect a Maori ‘King’ and resisted land sales and European settlement in the Waikato and King Country region until the 20th century.

Between 1860 and 1865, fully fledged wars broke out in many parts of the country, the worst of which were in Taranaki. Skirmishes also arose in the East Coast region, with the rise of Hauhauism, a Maori religious movement which sought to oust the Europeans.

After the Maori Wars, the government confiscated large parcels of Maori land, which , with new legislation allowing private land sales, resulted in the loss of the prime Maori land over the rest of the 19th century.

Late 19th Century
With the advent of farming, and then the discovery of gold, the South Island prospered, while the North Island languished because of the conflicts. After 1870, the North Island began to recover, but remained the poorer cousin until the 20th century. In 1876, the colonial government abolished the provincial governments and centralized power in Wellington, which had become the capital in 1865.

New Zealand flourished during these times and became known as ‘an efficient offshore farm’ due to its good supply of exported agricultural products, particularly mutton, wool, sheepskin and dairy products.

Towards the end of the 19th century, New Zealand underwent sweeping social changes. Women were given the vote in 1893, 25 years before Britain or the USA and 75 years before Switzerland. Other pioneering legislation included old-age pensions, minimum wage structures and the introduction of arbitration courts and child health services.

Meanwhile, the Maori people suffered. By 1900, the Maori population had dropped to an estimated 42,000. The Maori were given the vote in 1867, but continued to lose the struggle to hold onto their culture and ancestral lands.

Early 20th Century
New Zealand had become a self-governing British colony in 1856, and a dominion in 1907. However, only in 1947 did New Zealand become fully independent.

New Zealand fought for the British in the Boer War of 1899-1902 and in WWI suffering heavy losses. NZ troops also helped the British in WWII, fighting in the European and Middle East arenas.

The post war years were good to New Zealand, as the world re-built and agricultural prices were high. New Zealand had one of the highest per-capita incomes in the world and a social welfare system envied by many countries.

During the Korean War (1950-53), Australia, New Zealand and the United States signed the ANZUS defense pact, pledging mutual aid in the event of any attack.

Recent History
New Zealand’s economy took a dive in the 1970’s and 80’s in line with the rest of the world. During this time, the Maori leaders and activists pushed for social justice and highlighted Maori grievances. In 1975, the Treaty of Waitangi, which in 1877 was ruled ‘a simply nullity’, was reconsidered. The parliament passed the Treaty of Waitangi Act, establishing a Waitangi Tribunal to investigate Maori claims dating back to the original signing of the treaty. Financial reparations were made to many Maori tribes whose lands were found to have been unjustly confiscated.

In1983, Australia and New Zealand signed the Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement, permitting free trade between the two countries. In 1984, New Zealand took a very strong stance on nuclear energy issues by refusing entry to nuclear-equipped US warships. In response, the US suspended its obligations to NZ within the ANZUS defense pact. Although this brave policy has caused many problems for New Zealand, the Kiwis have continued to stick by it.