Pākehā History

Various groups of Pākehā came to this country between 1800 and 1840, and for differing reasons. These groups included explorers (although they were pre-19th century), sealers, whalers, traders, and missionaries. All of these groups had varying purposes and therefore varying effects on the local Māori population. Explorers charted the country and announced its existence; sealers harvested seals without much effect on local Māori; whalers hunted whales while creating ‘the hell-hole of the Pacific’; and missionaries, who arrived with the intent of changing Māori, had the biggest impact of all.

The earliest Europeans to visit New Zealand were the explorers. Abel Tasman, who arrived in 1642, was the first, and James Cook followed him in 1769. Although neither of these voyages occurred in the period 1800 – 1840, Cook’s informative journals were the catalyst for future journeys to New Zealand, as they described in detail the abundance of plant and animal life found here. Because explorers simply arrived, mapped, and left, their main impact on Māori was secondary, in that many other Pākehā arrived in New Zealand because of information from Cook’s journals.

The first group of Europeans to be ‘summoned’ by Cook’s journal were the sealers. Sealers came from America, Australia and Britain to obtain seal pelts to trade for Chinese Tea. This was the first step that connected New Zealand into the world economy. Sealers had very little impact on Māori because of their location: seals congregated near the bottom of the South Island, where barely any Māori lived. Sealers lived very harsh lives because they were dropped off and then left to fend for themselves for several years. The sealing trade was at its peak between 1803 and 1810, as major...

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...y of groups of Pākehā came to New Zealand. Explorers, although they came before this period, discovered this country and revealed its existence to others. Sealers arrived to produce fur hats. Whalers formed the town of Kororareka, and missionaries began conversions of Māori to Christianity. All of these groups of Pākehā affected the local Māori populace; however, explorers and sealers had a very small impact, while whalers and missionaries had a larger one. The intent of change and interaction with a large number of Māori were the reasons for this: explorers and sealers were on the fringes and had little or no contact with Māori. Whalers, on the other hand, had a lot of contact with Māori, as they utilised them for help with processing the whales, and missionaries, whose intent was to convert the ‘savages’ to Christianity, had a great effect because of their purpose.