New Zealand History

History

Archaeological evidence indicates that New Zealand was populated by fishing and hunting people of East Polynesian ancestry perhaps 1 000 years before Europeans arrived. Known to some scholars as the Moa-hunters they may have merged with later waves of Polynesians who according to Maori tradition arrived between 952 and 1150. Some of the Maoris called their new homeland "Aotearoa " usually translated as "land of the long white cloud." In 1642 Abel Tasman a Dutch navigator made the first recorded European sighting of New Zealand and sketched sections of the two main islands' west coasts. English Captain James Cook thoroughly explored the coastline during three South Pacific voyages beginning in 1769. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries lumbering seal hunting and whaling attracted a few European settlers to New Zealand. In 1840 the United Kingdom established British sovereignty through the Treaty of Waitangi signed that year with Maori chiefs. In the same year selected groups from the U.K. began the colonization process. Expanding European settlement led to conflict with Maoris most notably in the Maori land wars of the 1860s. British and colonial forces eventually overcame determined Maori resistance. During this period many Maoris died from disease and warfare much of it intertribal. Constitutional government began to develop in the 1850s. In 1867 Maoris won the right to a certain number of reserved seats in parliament. During this period the livestock industry began to expand and the foundations of New Zealand's modern economy took shape. By the end of the 19th century improved transportation facilities made possible a great overseas trade in wool meat and dairy products. By the 1890s parliamentary government along democratic lines was well established and New Zealand's social institutions assumed their present form. Women received the right to vote in national elections in 1893. The turn of the century brought sweeping social reforms that built the foundation for New Zealand's version of the welfare state. Maoris gradually recovered from population decline and through interaction and intermarriage with settlers and missionaries adopted much of European culture. In recent decades Maoris have become increasingly urbanized and have become more politically active and culturally assertive. In 1840, with the assistance of missionaries, the Maori agreed to accept British sovereignty over the islands through the Treaty of Waitangi. More intensive settlement began that same year. A series of land wars between 1843 and 1872, coupled with political maneuvering and the spread of European diseases, broke Maori resistance to land settlement, but left lasting grievances. In recent years the government has sought to address longstanding Maori grievances, and this is a complicated process. In 2005, the Maori Party was formed, in part in response to the Government's law on the Foreshore and Seabed but also to promote an independent Maori perspective at a political level. New Zealand was declared a dominion by a royal proclamation in 1907. It achieved full internal and external autonomy by the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act in 1947 although this merely formalized a situation that had existed for many years. Queen Elizabeth II remains head of state represented by the Governor General. New Zealand's strongly supported opposition to the testing and use of nuclear weapons and nuclear armed warship visits meant that the Parliament enacted anti-nuclear legislation in the mid-1980s. This led to the lapsing of participation in the ANZUS defence alliance. The New Zealand military continues to take a prominent role in UN-sanctioned peacekeeping forces worldwide.