New Zealanders have always got on and done things for themselves.
Ingenuity and a can-do attitude are hallmarks of the New Zealand character, the legacy of a pioneering past, and qualities they are justifiably proud of. As an island nation tucked away in the southwestern corner of the Pacific Ocean, far from population centres and world markets, New Zealanders are used to looking to their own resources.
The tradition of self-reliance goes right back to New Zealand's first settlers, the Polynesian Maori, who discovered the country over a thousand years ago. Compared to the tropical islands of the eastern Pacific, life in cool, wet New Zealand was very different. Not only did most of their familiar tropical crops refuse to grow, the land was immense, with high, snow-clad mountains, huge rivers, vast lakes and deep forests. Small bands of settlers were quickly swallowed up by the vast landscape, isolated from each other by rivers and mountains. They were forced to adapt or perish.
While the climate may have been rigorous, the land and sea were rich with life. Gardeners quickly became hunter-gatherers and human population exploded. Although return voyages to the Pacific Islands seem to have stopped after a few generations, Maori remained expert fishers and coastal sailors. They regularly travelled the length and breadth of the country by water, visiting relatives, exploring and making war.
Ingenuity and a can-do attitude are hallmarks of the New Zealand character, the legacy of a pioneering past, and qualities they are justifiably proud of. As an island nation tucked away in the southwestern corner of the Pacific Ocean, far from population centres and world markets, New Zealanders are used to looking to their own resources.
The tradition of self-reliance goes right back to New Zealand's first settlers, the Polynesian Maori, who discovered the country over a thousand years ago. Compared to the tropical islands of the eastern Pacific, life in cool, wet New Zealand was very different. Not only did most of their familiar tropical crops refuse to grow, the land was immense, with high, snow-clad mountains, huge rivers, vast lakes and deep forests. Small bands of settlers were quickly swallowed up by the vast landscape, isolated from each other by rivers and mountains. They were forced to adapt or perish.
While the climate may have been rigorous, the land and sea were rich with life. Gardeners quickly became hunter-gatherers and human population exploded. Although return voyages to the Pacific Islands seem to have stopped after a few generations, Maori remained expert fishers and coastal sailors. They regularly travelled the length and breadth of the country by water, visiting relatives, exploring and making war.
However, Nature's bounty was soon exhausted: giant flightless birds,
sea mammals and other large, easily hunted animals soon became rare or
extinct. Within 200 years of arriving Maori faced the spectre of
starvation. For the second time in a few short generations they had to
adapt or die.
Showing remarkable flexibility and resilience, Maori resurrected the skills and crops of their forefathers. Kumara - sweet potato - yams and gourd were the only tropical crops that had survived the transition to New Zealand's temperate climate. A few specimens had been nurtured by members of the priestly caste - tohunga - in favoured parts of the North Island, along with the skills to grow them. Bit by bit this knowledge was disseminated throughout the land and kumara, along with fern root, became the staffs of life.
In time the cultivation of kumara allowed a rich and complex tribal society to blossom. Maori evolved ingenious methods of storing the fragile tubers during cold winters and developed cultivation techniques that allowed it to grow as far south as Christchurch in New Zealand's South Island at a latitude of 44°S.
By the time Dutchman Abel Janszoon Tasman discovered New Zealand for Europe in 1642, Maori may have numbered 200,000, split into dozens of tribes and many more sub-tribes and kin groups, mostly living in warmer, more hospitable parts of the North Island where kumara would grow.
Continued on next page.
Showing remarkable flexibility and resilience, Maori resurrected the skills and crops of their forefathers. Kumara - sweet potato - yams and gourd were the only tropical crops that had survived the transition to New Zealand's temperate climate. A few specimens had been nurtured by members of the priestly caste - tohunga - in favoured parts of the North Island, along with the skills to grow them. Bit by bit this knowledge was disseminated throughout the land and kumara, along with fern root, became the staffs of life.
In time the cultivation of kumara allowed a rich and complex tribal society to blossom. Maori evolved ingenious methods of storing the fragile tubers during cold winters and developed cultivation techniques that allowed it to grow as far south as Christchurch in New Zealand's South Island at a latitude of 44°S.
By the time Dutchman Abel Janszoon Tasman discovered New Zealand for Europe in 1642, Maori may have numbered 200,000, split into dozens of tribes and many more sub-tribes and kin groups, mostly living in warmer, more hospitable parts of the North Island where kumara would grow.
Continued on next page.
