New Zealand History
Pre–European history of New Zealand belongs to the original migrants the Moriori or so called Moa (a 3,7m tall bird) hunters and the recent one to European settlers. Moriori and Maori both are today believed to origin from the Polynesian Islands. Their difference is the timely arrival. It is possible they arrived around 800 AD and earlier. Historical events are in Maori tradition orally passed on from generation to generation. Differences in their storyline occur according to the teller. Widely accepted Kupe a Polynesian navigator discovered New Zealand 950 AD when sailing in his waka from Hawaiiki. From this time New Zealand carries the name Aotearoa the land of the long white cloud. With different migration streams more fleets of wakas reached New Zealand shores. Iwis are the tribes around which Maori societies revolve. The recent history gyrates around European migrants to this far away country.
The hill in the centre of Cornwall Park forms the core of Auckland history. John Logan Campbell interwoven in the history of Auckland named this beautiful volcanic cone with then a solitary totara tree on its summit. After an act of vandalism the last of the pine trees was cut in 2001. Today only an obelisk crowns the hill. Sometimes it is referred to as none tree hill. The 360 degree panoramic view still calls for admiration. The harbour quality started the almost career of the South Island to become one of French colonies. The Pacific Ocean was yet to be acquainted for French colonization plans. With the North Island in the centre of British and Maori interests the South Island was propelled into the middle of French trading interests. The French whaler Captain Jean-Francois Langlois distinguished this in 1838 as an ideal location to service whaling ships. About 60 French whaling ships to sail regularly the waters between Australia and New Zealand. The passion and skill Dalmatian migrants, that arrived 1858 at New Zealand shores, brought for wine is identifiable in the names related to, e.g.Soljan, Ivicevich, Nobilo. They left their small Province at the Adriatic coast with limited prospects to supporting its inhabitants to secure survival to their families. Many started out as gum diggers to whom this memorial in Dargaville refers. For more than one century Indians are part of the New Zealand population. In recent years the immigration stream advanced enormously and made them the fourth strongest ethnic group. With their growing communities too, became the Diwali festival of lights established as a yearly publicly celebrated event.
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