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New Zealand History

The Māori were the first settlers of Aotearoa, followed by the Europeans. Discover the history of New Zealand’s landscape, its people, events, places, identity and cultures from sites like Te Ara, Te Papa, DigitalNZ and NZ History. SCIS no. 1808403

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United tribes' flag

United tribes' flag

This flag was adopted by 25 northern chiefs and their followers in March 1834, in response to the fact that ships from New Zealand were liable to be seized unless they had a flag or certificate rep...

Storybook app: Turikatuku — Te wahine taki wairua

This interactive bilingual storybook app tells the story of Turikatuku, the history of her people and important events that changed their lives in the early 1800s.

New Zealand history

New Zealand history

Turning points that helped shape New Zealand.

Electorate history of New Zealand

Electorate history of New Zealand

The changing face of electorate history from 1853 to 2011.

History teachers decry 'shameful' ignorance of colonial, Māori history

History teachers are calling for compulsory teaching of New Zealand's Māori and colonial history in schools, but government representatives are rejecting the idea.

God Defend New Zealand

God Defend New Zealand

David Farrier on the history of the New Zealand anthem.

Research papers

Nuclear New Zealand

The pre 1980 story of “nuclear New Zealand.”

The last letter delivered

The last letter delivered

The cartoon shows a large group of reporters and film crew at the setting off of a postman to deliver 'the last letter' - the postman is being farewelled by the Chair of NZ Post, Jim Bolger. Text a...

Early bus

View of a Passenger Transport Company bus parked outside a house in Otahuhu. The driver is standing beside the bus wearing a white coat. Photograph taken by William A Price in early 1900s Quantity:...

Early transport in New Zealand

Early transport in New Zealand

Examples of early transport in New Zealand

Milking the house cow

Milking the house cow

This man is milking his house cow in the early 1900s. Rural people farmed cows commercially but also kept house cows from which they got their own milk. Raw milk from the cow would have been drunk ...

First elected woman prime minister of New Zealand.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Postcard of Queen Elizabeth II, the image copied by Jack Wood for his portrait which hung on the King's Building when Queen Elizabeth II visited New Plymouth in 1953.

One pound note - Kotahi pauna

One pound note - Kotahi pauna

Maori banknote for one pound: Ko te Peeke o Aotearoa, kotahi pauna, issued by King Tawhiao in the 1860s Quantity: 1 piece. Physical Description: Printed colour bank note, 215mm x 128mm

New Zealand postage stamp card

New Zealand postage stamp card

Shows a black and white photolithograph of Jervois Quay surrounded by coloured New Zealand postage stamps of the values of 1d, 2d, 2 1/2d, 3d, 4d, 5d, 6d, 8d, 9d, 1 shilling, 2 shillings. Shows th...

Processing sheep carcasses

Processing sheep carcasses

Scene inside the Christchurch Meat Company premises, showing men processing sheep carcasses. Photograph taken ca 1910 by Steffano Webb of Christchurch. Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s). Phys...

Women and the vote

Although a number of other territories enfranchised women before 1893, New Zealand can justly claim to be the first self-governing country to grant the vote to all adult women.

Takaka night and day

Takaka night and day

Takaka: night and day by Colin McCahon

Cyclists in a Greymouth street

Cyclists in a Greymouth street

Cyclists in a Greymouth street, passing the premises of Mrs S Beresford, dressmaker, between 1898 and 1905 Reference Number: 1/1-027049-G Photographer: James Ring Dry plate glass negative Photograp...

A Tall long faced tale

A Tall long faced tale

Documentary on Margaret Mahy.

The Mighty moa

The giant, flightless moa, could stretch up to three metres tall and weighed up to 275kg. This documentary tells the story of the "mighty moa". It covers the bird's 19th Century rediscovery by Engl...

Article from 1918 on the discovery of Māori rock art in Canterbury.

Early Pacific journeys

Early Pacific journeys

Map showing early European journeys in the Pacific Ocean.

Legend of the voyage to New Zealand

Legend of the voyage to New Zealand

This romantic oil painting of 1912 shows a fleet of double-hulled, ocean-going canoes hauling ashore in New Zealand from a still lagoon. Images such as this helped to popularise the myth of a Great...

Stone store, Kerikeri

Stone store, Kerikeri

Another building which is a legacy of the missionaries at Kerikeri is this storehouse, which was built in 1832–36. The Stone Store is the country’s oldest surviving stone building. Like Kemp House,...

Chart of New Zealand

Chart of New Zealand

James Cook’s chart of New Zealand produced after his first voyage to New Zealand.

Māori children playing ruru

Māori children playing ruru

Māori children play ruru (also known as kōruru), in a 1907 painting by Gottfried Lindauer. Ruru, usually played with five stones, was a game very similar to the traditional European game of knuckle...

Historic whaling data

Historic whaling data

Centuries-old log books.

The song tells the ordeal of the ten sealers stranded on Open Bay Island in 1810.

The Beehive

The design and building of the Beehive by Sir Basil Spence.

New Zealand Fashion

New Zealand Fashion

A Fashion page from 1901

A Fashion page from 1901

Fight apartheid.

Fight apartheid.

Fight apartheid. Stop the 1981 Tour protest poster.

Irini Kemara

Carte de visite portrait of Irini Kemara, a young Maori woman with the words 'Pera' and 'Kemara' tattooed on her left arm, taken in July 1888 by Samuel Carnell of Napier. This print was made by the...

New Zealand cricket history

New Zealand cricket history

A set about the history of New Zealand cricket, especially for the Cricket World Cup 2015, pulled together from digital collections across the country.

Elizabeth Reid McCombs

Elizabeth Reid McCombs

An electoral document shows the votes that made McCombs the first woman Member of Parliament.

New Zealand’s first flight

New Zealand’s first flight

A stamp commemorating New Zealand’s first flight.

Missionaries as peacemakers

Missionaries as peacemakers

This 1856 illustration shows the Church Missionary Society missionaries William (front) and Henry Williams confronting a hostile Māori war party. William Williams is reading extracts from the Bible...

Musket costs

This diagram illustrates the varying prices for a musket. The currency for buying muskets was typically pigs or potatoes. Massive cultivations of potatoes were grown during the musket wars to fund ...

First school bus

First school bus

Asset ID: 25563 Copy negative number: c/nE4700/16 Filename: 2357_01_016A Series: cp ph lent Freda Lloyd Palmerston Feb 92 Reader Comments: cp ph lent Freda Lloyd Palmerston Feb 92

First two years at school

First two years at school

A short film about children and their first two years at school.

Dairy farm

The dairy farmer and his family milking cows.

Sailing ships

The route followed by sailing ships to New Zealand was mostly on the high seas. Sometimes passengers did not see land at all between Britain and New Zealand. Encounters with other ships were also r...

Burning the bush in Taranaki

Burning the bush in Taranaki

William Strutt’s 1856 painting portrays the drama of burning New Zealand’s native bush. Men with torches are setting alight the felled understorey, while the fire is already leaping into the crowns...

A History of New Zealand Women

A History of New Zealand Women

Women's suffrage 1893

Women's suffrage 1893

"On 19 September 1893 the governor, Lord Glasgow, signed a new Electoral Act into law. As a result of this landmark legislation, New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world in ...

The Treaty of Waitangi in art

The Treaty of Waitangi in art

When Britain finally decided to annex New Zealand, it took possession of the country not on the grounds of discovery or by force of arms, but by signing a treaty with the Māori people. Under the Tr...

Planes, trains, and other transport, GIF IT UP material

Planes, trains, and other transport, GIF IT UP material

A set of copyright-free images brought together for the GIF IT UP competition. These images would all work well for the 'planes, trains, and other transport' category.

New Zealand at war

Gives a comprehensive overview of New Zealand at war beginning in the 19th century.

Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield is a qualified national icon.

Posters

New Zealand fights

New Zealand fights

Second World War poster shows the head, arms and upper torso of a New Zealand soldier in hard hat, proped up on his elbows and aiming a machine gun. Quantity: 1 colour art print(s). Physical Desc...

RNZAF recruitment poster

RNZAF recruitment poster

The Royal New Zealand Airforce (RNZAF) was established in 1913. It became an independent service within the New Zealand defence forces on 1 April 1937.

Wellington from Everton terrace

Wellington from Everton terrace

Frances was born into a family that was interested in art. She attended the Dunedin School of Art from 1895-1896.

Maggie Papakura

Maggie Papakura

Maggie was a famous tourist guide of New Zealand, an entrepreneur and author of the book Guide to the hot lakes district.

George Nēpia

George Nēpia was a student at the Māori Agricultural College. However his main interests lay in rugby and music.

Kiwifruit industry threatened

Kiwifruit industry threatened

Seeds of the kiwifruit were first brought to New Zealand by Isabel Fraser in 1904. Horticulturist Alexander Allison planted the seeds in 1906 and the first fruit were harvested in 1910. Originally ...

Strange tale of a tattooed Pakeha

Strange tale of a tattooed Pakeha

Ross Digby Gore is credited as an early populariser and promoter of New Zealand’s history (and mysteries) through the popular medium of cartoon illustration, as this example of the early adventure ...

Lord Bledisloe

Lord Bledisloe was appointed governor general of New Zealand in 1929. He is chiefly remembered for his purchase of the site where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. This site was presented to the n...

Moa extinction

This article refers to the discovery of the remains of the moa at Penrose, Auckland. The skeleton and bones were presumed to have been carried into a cave by melted ice and the writer suggests it w...

A settler's home

A settler's home

This bucolic painting shows a romanticised view of a dairy farm at the turn of last century. Instead of burnt forest, slips, muddy roads and dead trees there is a sizable homestead, green pastures,...

New Zealand coinage

A history of New Zealand currency and coinage.

Slice of heaven

Aotearoa New Zealand New Zealand changed dramatically in the 20th century.

NZ film timeline

Interactive timeline illustrating New Zealand's film history.

New Zealand's geological history

From Gondwanaland and the effects of tectonic activity on the New Zealand’s landscape and landforms.

Lesson plan and activities based on the picture book After the war by Bob Kerr.

Rules and protocols

Rules and protocol around the use of flags and emblems in New Zealand.

Searching for our tupuna

Follow the research process of children learning about their ancestors.

New Zealand cave paintings

Ancient Weka Pass Rock paintings in kokowai and bird fat.

Education kit on dinosaurs

The origins of New Zealand and the discovery of dinosaurs.

England and the Māori wars

An E-book on England’s policy during the Māori wars.

The story of the All Blacks

E-book on the early history of the All Blacks.

Sealers and whalers

Whalers and sealers arrive in New Zealand to exploit the natural resources.

Pushing New Zealand's boundaries

Animation on the tectonic evolution of New Zealand over the last 65 million years.

Aunty Daisy returns

Aunt Daisy returns from her visit to the United States in 1946 where she spoke to women’s organisations.

Charting our islands, School Journal Level: 4; May: 2016

Captain Cook’s first visit to New Zealand. Includes maths involved in chart making.

Glaciers and gold at lake Wakatipu

Stories about the myth, the gold rush and the source of the pounamu at Lake Wakatipu.

Quiz on New Zealand

Take a quiz on historic New Zealand between 1800 and 1900.

Six Māori Battalion soldiers camped in Italian ruins wait for night to fall.

Story of Wellington harbour

Story of Wellington from early Māori to European times.

Caring for archaeological sites

Pdf on protection of historical sites through practical land management.

Forgotten Silver

An epic documentary chronicling the extraordinary, unbelievable life of pioneer Kiwi filmmaker Colin McKenzie.

Kete lets you create and share heritage online.

History of New Zealand dairy farming

A timeline covering changes in the dairy farming from hand milking to machine milking.

Quiz: guess the decade

In which decades did these 20th century objects have/make an impact on life in Aotearoa?

History of the Bay of Islands

In 1769 James Cook gave the Bay of Islands its present name.

Heritage New Zealand

Learn about domestic life, nation-building, invention and economic development..

New Zealand post 2003 advertisement

A short video history of New Zealand.

The Arrival of Europeans

Though a Dutchman was the first European to sight the country, it was the British who colonised New Zealand.

Costume suggested for All Blacks

Costume suggested for All Blacks

Postcard depicting a cartoonist's impression of a New Zealand rugby player, dressed in a black "devil" costume. Text reads: "Souvenir of the Visit of the New Zealand Football Team. New costume sugg...

New Zealand peoples

A look at the histories of different nationalities who have settled in New Zealand.

Abel Tasman meets Māori in Golden Bay

A recount of the first meeting between the Dutch explorer and Māori in 1642.

Down to the wire

The story of New Zealand's Internet and how it changed our nation.

Prime Ministers of New Zealand

Names and biographies to the premiers and prime ministers of New Zealand since 1856.

The New Zealand fashion museum

The New Zealand Fashion Museum is for anyone with a love of fashion, heritage, innovation and creativity.

Governor-General of New Zealand.

Discover the role and functions of the Governor General of New Zealand.

National Film Unit videos

A selection of National Film Unit videos from mid last century.

Website about the history, the myth and restoration efforts of the kauri tree.

Industry & innovation

Images of New Zealand industry & innovation over the years.

Popular music in New Zealand

Some major milestones in music from 1900 till Lorde winning her 2014 Grammy Award.

A selection of different New Zealand topic timelines.

Early New Zealand settlement

First Māori were the early inhabitants of Aotearoa/New Zealand (meaning 'land of the long white cloud').

Dawn Raids (New Zealand)

Dawn Raids (New Zealand)

In the 1970s the New Zealand police went to the homes of Pacific Islanders who they believed had overstayed their visas or work permits. Many people were sent back to the Pacific Islands. The polic...

A brief impartial history of New Zealand

Here's a short impartial history of our great nation.