Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
way in, though the last faced increasing racial prejudice from the 1880s, when the Pakeha
population reached half a million.
The Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed in 1840, is now a tourist at-
traction for Kiwis and non-Kiwis alike. Each year on 6 February, Waitangi hosts treaty commemorations
and protests.
Much of the mass immigration from the 1850s to the 1870s was assisted by the provin-
cial and central governments, which also mounted large-scale public works schemes, es-
pecially in the 1870s under Julius Vogel. In 1876, Vogel abolished the provinces on the
grounds that they were hampering his development efforts. The last imperial governor
with substantial power was the talented but Machiavellian George Grey, who ended his
second governorship in 1868. Thereafter, the governors (governors-general from 1917)
were largely just nominal heads of state; the head of government, the premier or prime
minister, had more power. The central government, originally weaker than the provincial
governments, the imperial governor and the Maori tribes, eventually exceeded the power
of all three.
Rumours of late survivals of the giant moa bird abound, but none have been authenticated. So if you see
a moa in your travels, photograph it - you'll have just made the greatest zoological discovery of the last
100 years.
The Maori tribes did not go down without a fight, however. Indeed, their resistance was
one of the most formidable ever mounted against European expansion, comparable to that
of the Sioux and Seminole in the US. The first clash took place in 1843 in the Wairau Val-
ley, now a wine-growing district. A posse of settlers set out to enforce the myth of British
control, but encountered the reality of Maori control. Twenty-two settlers were killed, in-
cluding Wakefield's brother, Arthur, along with about six Maori. In 1845, more serious
fighting broke out in the Bay of Islands, when Hone Heke sacked a British settlement.
Heke and his ally Kawiti baffled three British punitive expeditions, using a modern vari-
ant of the traditional
pa
fortification. Vestiges of these innovative earthworks can still be
seen at Ruapekapeka (south of Kawakawa). Governor Grey claimed victory in the north,
but few were convinced at the time. Grey had more success in the south, where he arres-
ted the formidable Ngati Toa chief Te Rauparaha, who until then wielded great influence
on both sides of Cook Strait. Pakeha were able to swamp the few Maori living in the
