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The Chatham Islands ( ) (
Moriori The Moriori are the native Polynesian people of the Chatham Islands (''Rēkohu'' in Moriori; ' in Māori), New Zealand. Moriori originated from Māori settlers from the New Zealand mainland around 1500 CE. This was near the time of th ...
: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an
archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arch ...
in the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...
about east of New Zealand's
South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about ten islands within an approximate radius, the largest of which are
Chatham Island Chatham Island ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) is by far the largest island of the Chatham Islands group, in the south Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is said to be "halfway bet ...
and Pitt Island (Rangiauria). They include New Zealand's easternmost point, the
Forty-Fours The Forty-Fours are a group of islands in the Chatham Archipelago, about east of the main Chatham Island. They are called ''Motchuhar'' in Moriori and ''Motuhara'' in Māori.Government of New Zealand, Dept. of Conservation (1999) Chatham Isla ...
. Some of the islands, formerly cleared for farming, are now preserved as
nature reserves A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
to conserve some of the unique flora and fauna. The islands were uninhabited when the
Moriori The Moriori are the native Polynesian people of the Chatham Islands (''Rēkohu'' in Moriori; ' in Māori), New Zealand. Moriori originated from Māori settlers from the New Zealand mainland around 1500 CE. This was near the time of th ...
people arrived around 1500 CE and developed a peaceful way of life. In 1835 members of the
Ngāti Mutunga Ngāti Mutunga is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand, whose original tribal lands were in north Taranaki. They migrated from Taranaki, first to Wellington (with Ngāti Toa and other Taranaki Hāpu), and then to the Chatham Islands (along wit ...
and
Ngāti Tama Ngāti Tama is a historic Māori iwi of present-day New Zealand which whakapapas back to Tama Ariki, the chief navigator on the Tokomaru waka. The iwi of Ngati Tama is located in north Taranaki around Poutama. The Mōhakatino river marks the ...
Māori iwi from the
North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...
of New Zealand invaded the islands and nearly exterminated the Moriori, enslaving the survivors. Later during the period of European colonisation of New Zealand, the
New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...
claimed that the British Crown had never included the Chatham Islands as being under its control. The company proposed that it should be sold to the Germans to be a German colony with a contract drawn up for the sale of the Islands of £10,000 in 1841. However, the sale failed and the Chatham Islands officially became part of the
Colony of New Zealand The Colony of New Zealand was a Crown colony of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that encompassed the islands of New Zealand from 1841 to 1907. The power of the British government was vested in the Governor of New Zealand, as th ...
in 1842. In 1863 the resident magistrate declared the Moriori released from slavery. The Chatham Islands had a resident population of Waitangi is the main port and settlement. The local economy depends largely on conservation, tourism, farming, and fishing. The Chatham Islands Council provides local administration – its powers resemble those of New Zealand's
unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...
. The Chatham Islands have their own time zone, 45 minutes ahead of the rest of New Zealand.


Geography

The islands lie roughly east of
Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
, New Zealand. The nearest New Zealand mainland point to the Chatham Islands,
Cape Turnagain Cape Turnagain is a prominent headland on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, part way between Hawke Bay and Cook Strait, between the mouths of the Porangahau and Ākitio Rivers. The cape was named by Captain James Cook in 1769. On ...
in the
North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...
, is distant. The two largest islands,
Chatham Island Chatham Island ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) is by far the largest island of the Chatham Islands group, in the south Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is said to be "halfway bet ...
and Pitt Island (Rangiauria), constitute most of the total area of , with a dozen scattered islets making up the rest. The islands sit on the
Chatham Rise The Chatham Rise is an area of ocean floor to the east of New Zealand, forming part of the Zealandia continent. It stretches for some from near the South Island in the west, to the Chatham Islands in the east. It is New Zealand's most productiv ...
, a large, relatively shallowly submerged (no more than deep at any point) part of the
Zealandia Zealandia (pronounced ), also known as (Māori) or Tasmantis, is an almost entirely submerged mass of continental crust that subsided after breaking away from Gondwanaland 83–79 million years ago.Gurnis, M., Hall, C.E., and Lavier, L.L., ...
continent that stretches east from near the South Island. The Chatham Islands, which emerged only within the last four million years, are the only part of the Chatham Rise showing above sea level. The islands are hilly, with coastal areas including cliffs,
dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
s, beaches, and lagoons. Pitt is more rugged than Chatham; its highest point () is on a plateau near the southernmost point of the main island, south of Lake Te Rangatapu. The plateau is dotted with numerous lakes and lagoons, flowing mainly from the island's nearby second-highest point, Maungatere Hill, at . Notable are the large
Te Whanga Lagoon Te Whanga Lagoon dominates the geography of Chatham Island, in the South Pacific Ocean off New Zealand's east coast. It covers . It is the outflow of several small rivers in the island's hilly south, and drains to the Pacific via gaps in Hans ...
, and Huro and Rangitahi. Chatham has a number of streams, including Te Awainanga and Tuku. Chatham and Pitt are the only inhabited islands; the remaining smaller islands function as conservation reserves with restricted or prohibited access. The livelihoods of the inhabitants depend on agriculture - the islands export coldwater
crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, m ...
- and, increasingly, on
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
. The names of the main islands, in the order of occupation are:


Geology

The Chatham Islands – the only part of the
Chatham Rise The Chatham Rise is an area of ocean floor to the east of New Zealand, forming part of the Zealandia continent. It stretches for some from near the South Island in the west, to the Chatham Islands in the east. It is New Zealand's most productiv ...
above sea level – form part of the now largely submerged continent of
Zealandia Zealandia (pronounced ), also known as (Māori) or Tasmantis, is an almost entirely submerged mass of continental crust that subsided after breaking away from Gondwanaland 83–79 million years ago.Gurnis, M., Hall, C.E., and Lavier, L.L., ...
. This location positions the Chatham Islands far from the Australian-Pacific plate boundary that dominates the geology of mainland New Zealand. The islands' stratigraphy consists of a
Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...
schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...
basement, typically covered by marine sedimentary rocks. Both these sequences are intruded by a series of
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...
eruptions. Volcanic activity has occurred multiple times since the
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...
, but currently there is no active volcanism near any part of the Chatham Rise.


Climate

The Chatham Islands have an
oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
(
Koppen Koppen is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Dan Koppen (born 1979), American football offensive lineman * Erwin Koppen (1929–1990), German literary scholar * Luise Koppen (1855–1922), German author * Wladimir Köppen (1846� ...
: ''Cfb'') characterised by a narrow temperature range and relatively frequent rainfall. Their isolated position far from any sizeable landmass renders the record high temperature for the main settlement (Waitangi) just . The climate is cool, wet and windy, with average high temperatures between in summer, and between in July (in the Southern Hemisphere winter). Snow falls extremely rarely, the fall recorded near sea level in July 2015 marked the first such reading for several decades. Under the
Trewartha climate classification The Trewartha climate classification (TCC) or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC) is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köppen ...
, the Chatham Islands have a
humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
(Cf) for the lack of cold weather during the winter and a daily mean temperature above for 8 months or more.


The Chatham Islands' time zone

The
International Date Line The International Date Line (IDL) is an internationally accepted demarcation on the surface of Earth, running between the South and North Poles and serving as the boundary between one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific ...
lies to the east of the Chathams, even though the islands lie east of 180°
longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek let ...
. The Chathams observe their own time, 45 minutes ahead of New Zealand time, including during periods of
daylight-saving time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typicall ...
; the Chatham Standard Time Zone is distinctive as one of very few that differ from others by a period other than a whole hour or half-hour. (New Zealand Time orients itself to 180° longitude.)


Ecology

The natural vegetation of the islands was a mixture of forest, scrubby heath, and swamp, but today most of the land is fern or pasture-covered, although there are some areas of dense forest and areas of peat bogs and other habitats. Of interest are the akeake trees, with branches trailing almost horizontally in the lee of the wind. The ferns in the forest
understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abo ...
include ''
Blechnum discolor ''Lomaria discolor'', synonym ''Blechnum discolor'', commonly called crown fern (Māori: piupiu), is a species of fern in the family Blechnaceae. This species is endemic to New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country ...
''. The islands are home to a rich bio-diversity including about fifty
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
plants adapted to the cold and the wind, such as Chatham Islands forget-me-not (''
Myosotidium hortensia ''Myosotidium'' is a genus of plants belonging to the family Boraginaceae. This genus is represented by the single species ''Myosotidium hortensia'', the Chatham Islands lily, giant forget-me-not or Chatham Islands forget-me-not, which is endemi ...
''), Chatham Islands sow-thistle ''( Embergeria grandifolia)'', rautini ('' Brachyglottis huntii''), Chatham Islands kakaha ('' Astelia chathamica''), soft speargrass ('' Aciphylla dieffenbachii''), and Chatham Island akeake or Chatham Island tree daisy (''
Olearia traversiorum ''Olearia traversiorum'', the Chatham Island akeake, or Chatham Island tree daisy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is endemic to the Chatham Islands of New Zealand. It is also known by the synonym ''O. traversii''.
''). The islands are a breeding ground for huge flocks of seabirds and are home to a number of endemic birds, some of which are seabirds and others which live on the islands. The best known species are the magenta petrel ( IUCN classification CR]) and the
black robin The black robin or Chatham Island robin ( Moriori: ''karure'', mi, kakaruia; ''Petroica traversi'') is an endangered bird from the Chatham Islands off the east coast of New Zealand. It is closely related to the South Island robin (''P. australi ...
(IUCN classification EN), both of which came perilously close to
extinction Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the Endling, last individual of the species, although the Functional ext ...
before drawing the attention of
conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...
efforts. Other endemic species are the Chatham oystercatcher, the Chatham gerygone,
Chatham pigeon The Chatham pigeon (''Hemiphaga chathamensis''), also called the Chatham Island pigeon or parea, is a bird endemic to the Chatham Islands in New Zealand. Growing to 800g in weight and 55 cm in length, the Chatham Island pigeon is closely rel ...
, Forbes' parakeet, the
Chatham snipe The Chatham snipe or Chatham Island snipe (''Coenocorypha pusilla'') is a species of wader in the family Scolopacidae. It is endemic to the Chatham Islands of New Zealand, and is only found on a few islands in the south of the Chatham Islands gro ...
and the
shore plover The shore plover ( mi, tūturuatu, Moriori: ''tchūriwat’'', ''Thinornis novaeseelandiae''), also known as the shore dotterel, is a small plover endemic to New Zealand. Once found all around the New Zealand coast, it is now restricted to a few ...
. The endemic Chatham shag (IUCN classification CR), Pitt shag (IUCN classification EN) and the
Chatham albatross The Chatham albatross (''Thalassarche eremita''), also known as the Chatham mollymawk or Chatham Island mollymawk,Robertson, C. J. R. (2003) is a medium-sized black-and-white albatross which breeds only on The Pyramid, a large rock stack in th ...
(IUCN classification VU) are at risk of capture by a variety of fishing gear, including fishing lines,
trawl Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net used for trawling is called a trawl. This principle requires netting bags which are towed through water to catch different spec ...
s,
gillnet Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...
s, and pots. A number of species have gone
extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
since human settlement, including the
Chatham raven The Chatham raven (''Corvus moriorum'') is a prehistoric raven formerly native to the Chatham Islands (New Zealand). The closely related New Zealand raven, ''C. antipodum'' occurred in the North and South Islands of New Zealand. ''C. antipodum'' ...
, the
Chatham fernbird The Chatham fernbird (''Poodytes rufescens'') is an extinct bird species that was endemic to the Chatham Islands. It was historically known only from Mangere Island, but fossils have been found on Pitt Island and Chatham Island as well. Its close ...
and the three endemic species of flightless
rails Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...
, the
Chatham rail The Chatham rail (''Cabalus modestus'') is an extinct flightless species of bird in the family Rallidae. It was endemic to Chatham, Mangere and Pitt Islands, in the Chatham archipelago of New Zealand. The Chatham rail and the Dieffenba ...
,
Dieffenbach's rail Dieffenbach's rail (Moriori: ''meriki'' or ''mehoriki'', ''Hypotaenidia dieffenbachii'') is an extinct flightless species of bird from the family Rallidae. It was endemic to the Chatham Islands. The only recorded living specimen of Dieffenbach ...
, and
Hawkins's rail Hawkins's rail (''Diaphorapteryx hawkinsi''), also called the giant Chatham Island rail or mehonui, is an extinct species of flightless rail. It was endemic to the Chatham Islands east of New Zealand. It is known to have existed only on the main ...
. Also, a number of marine mammals are found in the waters of the Chathams, including
New Zealand sea lion The New Zealand sea lion (''Phocarctos hookeri''), once known as Hooker's sea lion, and as or (male) and (female) in Māori, is a species of sea lion that is endemic to New Zealand and primarily breeds on New Zealand's subantarctic Auckland ...
s,
leopard seal The leopard seal (''Hydrurga leptonyx''), also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). Its only natural predator is the orca. It feeds on a wide range of prey incl ...
s, and
southern elephant seal The southern elephant seal (''Mirounga leonina'') is one of two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest extant marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its ...
s. Many
whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...
species are attracted to the rich food sources of the
Chatham Rise The Chatham Rise is an area of ocean floor to the east of New Zealand, forming part of the Zealandia continent. It stretches for some from near the South Island in the west, to the Chatham Islands in the east. It is New Zealand's most productiv ...
. Much of the natural forest of these islands has been cleared for farming, but Mangere and Rangatira Islands are now preserved as nature reserves to conserve some of these unique flora and fauna. Another threat to wildlife comes from
introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...
which prey on the indigenous birds and reptiles, whereas on Mangere and Rangatira, livestock has been removed and native wildlife is recovering. Most lakes have been affected by agricultural run-off, but water quality has improved and river quality is generally classed as 'A'.


History


Moriori

The first human inhabitants of the Chathams were
Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...
n
tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...
s who probably settled the islands around 1500 CE (though possibly as late as 1550), and in their isolation became the Moriori. It was formerly believed that the Moriori migrated directly from the more northerly Polynesian islands. However, linguistic research in the early 2000s instead concluded that the ancestral Moriori were Māori wanderers from New Zealand:Clark 1994: 123–135.Davis and Solomon 2006Howe 2006King 2000
Scholarship over the past 40 years has radically revised the model offered a century earlier by Smith: the Moriori as a pre-Polynesian people have gone (the term Moriori is now a technical term referring to those ancestral Māori who settled the Chatham Islands).'Kerry R. Howe (2003). ''The Quest for Origins: Who First Discovered and Settled New Zealand and the Pacific Islands?'' Auckland:Penguin, page 182
The plants cultivated by the Māori arrivals were ill-suited for the colder Chathams, so the Moriori lived as
hunter-gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fung ...
s and fishermen. While their new environment deprived them of the resources with which to build ocean-going craft for long voyages, the Moriori invented what was known as the '' waka kōrari'', a semi-submerged craft, constructed of flax and lined with air bladders from kelp. This craft was used to travel to the outer islands on 'birding' missions. The Moriori society was a peaceful society and bloodshed was outlawed by the chief
Nunuku-whenua Nunuku-whenua was a Moriori chief who is known for being a sixteenth-century pacifist. The Moriori, a Polynesian people, migrated to the then-uninhabited Chatham Islands from mainland New Zealand around the year 1500. Following an intertribal con ...
after generations of warfare. Arguments were solved by consensus or by
duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and ...
s rather than warfare, but at the first sign of bloodshed, the fight was over. It has been estimated that the population numbered about 2,000 prior to European contact.


European arrival

The name "Chatham Islands" comes from
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British statesman of the Whig group who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish ...
. The ship of the
Vancouver Expedition The Vancouver Expedition (1791–1795) was a four-and-a-half-year voyage of exploration and diplomacy, commanded by Captain George Vancouver of the Royal Navy. The British expedition circumnavigated the globe and made contact with five continen ...
, whose captain was
William R. Broughton William Robert Broughton (22 March 176214 March 1821) was a British naval officer in the late 18th century. As a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, he commanded HMS ''Chatham'' as part of the Vancouver Expedition, a voyage of exploration through t ...
, landed on the Island on 29 November 1791, claimed possession for Great Britain and named the islands after the
First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...
,
John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham General John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, also 2nd Viscount Pitt and 2nd Baron Chatham, (9 October 1756 – 24 September 1835) was a British soldier and politician. He spent a lengthy period in the cabinet but is best known for commanding the dis ...
. Broughton's men shot and killed a Moriori resident of Kaingaroa, named Torotoro (or Tamakororo). Chatham Islands date their anniversary on 29 November, and observe it on the nearest Monday to 30 November. Sealers and whalers soon started hunting in the surrounding ocean with the islands as their base. It is estimated that 10 to 20 percent of the indigenous Moriori soon died from diseases introduced by foreigners. The sealing and whaling industries ceased activities about 1861, while fishing remained as a major economic activity.


Māori settlement

On 19 November and 5 December 1835, about 900 Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama previously resident in Te Whanganui-A-Tara (Wellington) and led by the chief Matioro arrived on the brig ''Lord Rodney''. The first mate of the ship had been 'kidnapped and threatened with death' unless the captain took the Māori settlers on board. The group, which included men, women and children, brought with them 78 tonnes of seed potato, 20 pigs and seven large ''
waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māori w ...
''.King, M. (2004). ''Being Pakeha''. Penguin. p 196. The incoming Māori were received and initially cared for by the local
Moriori The Moriori are the native Polynesian people of the Chatham Islands (''Rēkohu'' in Moriori; ' in Māori), New Zealand. Moriori originated from Māori settlers from the New Zealand mainland around 1500 CE. This was near the time of th ...
. Soon, Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama began to ''takahi'', or walk the land, to lay claim to it. When it became clear that the visitors intended to stay, the Moriori withdrew to their
marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...
at te Awapatiki. There, after holding a ''hui'' (consultation) to debate what to do about the Māori settlers, the Moriori decided to keep with their policy of non-aggression. Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama in turn saw the meeting as a precursor to warfare on the part of Moriori and responded. The Māori attacked and in the ensuing action killed over 260 Moriori. A Moriori survivor recalled: " he Māoricommenced to kill us like sheep... ewere terrified, fled to the bush, concealed ourselves in holes underground, and in any place to escape our enemies. It was of no avail; we were discovered and killed – men, women and children – indiscriminately". A Māori chief, Te Rakatau Katihe, said in the
Native Land Court Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...
in 1870: "We took possession ... in accordance with our custom, and we caught all the people. Not one escaped. Some ran away from us, these we killed; and others also we killed – but what of that? It was in accordance with our custom. I am not aware of any of our people being killed by them." After the killings, Moriori were forbidden to marry Moriori, or to have children with each other. Māori kept Moriori
slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
s until 1863, following a proclamation by the resident magistrate. Many Moriori women had children by their Māori masters. A number of Moriori women eventually married either Māori or European men. Some were taken away from the Chathams and never returned.
Ernst Dieffenbach Johann Karl Ernst Dieffenbach (27 January 1811 – 1 October 1855), also known as Ernest Dieffenbach, was a German physician, geologist and naturalist, the first trained scientist to live and work in New Zealand, where he travelled widely under t ...
, who visited the Chathams on a
New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principl ...
ship in 1840, reported that the Moriori were the virtual slaves of Māori and were severely mistreated, with death being a blessing. By the time the slaves were released in 1863, only 160 remained, hardly 10% of the 1835 population. In early May 1838 (some reports say 1839 but this is contradicted by ship records) the French whaling vessel ''Jean Bart'' anchored off Waitangi to trade with the Māori. The number of Māori boarding frightened the French, escalating into a confrontation in which the French crew were killed and the ''Jean Bart'' was run aground at Ocean Bay, to be ransacked and burned by Ngāti Mutunga. When word of the incident reached the French naval corvette ''Heroine'' in the Bay of Islands in September 1838, it set sail for the Chathams, accompanied by the whalers ''Adele'' and ''Rebecca Sims''. The French arrived on 13 October and, after unsuccessfully attempting to entice some Ngāti Tama aboard, proceeded to bombard Waitangi. The next morning about a hundred armed Frenchmen went ashore, burning buildings, destroying ''waka'', and seizing pigs and potatoes. The attacks mostly affected Ngāti Tama, weakening their position relative to Ngāti Mutunga. In 1840, Ngāti Mutunga decided to attack Ngāti Tama at their ''
The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive terraces – and also to fortified villages. Pā sites ...
''. They built a high staging next to the ''pā'' so they could fire down on their former allies. Fighting was still in progress when the New Zealand Company ship ''
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
'' arrived as part of a scheme to buy land for settlement. The
Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the History of New Zealand, history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in ...
, at that stage, did not apply to the islands. The company negotiated a truce between the two warring tribes. In 1841, the New Zealand Company had proposed to establish a German colony on the Chathams. The proposal was discussed by the directors and John Ward signed an agreement with Karl Sieveking of
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
on 12 September 1841. The price was set at £10,000. However, when the Colonial Office said that the islands were to be part of the colony of New Zealand and any Germans settling there would be treated as aliens, Joseph Somes claimed that Ward had been acting on his own initiative. The proposed leader John Beit and the expedition went to
Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
instead. The company was then able to purchase large areas of land at Port Hutt (which the Māori called ''Whangaroa'') and Waitangi from Ngāti Mutunga and also large areas of land from Ngāti Tama. This did not stop Ngāti Mutunga from trying to get revenge for the death of one of their chiefs. They were satisfied after they killed the brother of a Ngāti Tama chief. The tribes agreed to an uneasy peace which was finally confirmed in 1842. Reluctant to give up slavery, Matioro and his people chartered a brig in late 1842 and sailed to
Auckland Island Auckland Island ( mi, Mauka Huka) is the main island of the eponymous uninhabited archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the New Zealand subantarctic area. It is inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list together with the other New ...
. While Matioro was surveying the island, two of the chiefs who had accompanied him decided the island was too inhospitable for settlement, and set sail before he had returned, stranding him and his followers until
Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Z ...
settlers arrived in 1849. An all-male group of German Moravian missionaries arrived in 1843. When a group of women were sent out to join them three years later, several marriages ensued; a few members of the present-day population can trace their ancestry back to those missionary families. In 1865, the Māori leader
Te Kooti Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki (c. 1832–1893) was a Māori leader, the founder of the Ringatū religion and guerrilla fighter. While fighting alongside government forces against the Hauhau in 1865, he was accused of spying. Exiled to the Cha ...
was exiled on the Chatham Islands along with a large group of Māori rebels called the Hauhau, followers of
Pai Mārire The Pai Mārire movement (commonly known as Hauhau) was a syncretic Māori religion founded in Taranaki by the prophet Te Ua Haumēne. It flourished in the North Island from about 1863 to 1874. Pai Mārire incorporated biblical and Māori spiritua ...
who had murdered missionaries and fought against government forces mainly on the East Coast of the
North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...
of New Zealand. The rebel prisoners were paid one shilling a day to work on sheep farms owned by the few European settlers. Sometimes they worked on road and track improvements. They were initially guarded by 26 guards, half of whom were Māori. They lived in ''
whare A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called ''whare'' ( ...
'' along with their families. The prisoners helped build a redoubt of stone surrounded by a ditch and wall. Later, they built three stone prison cells. In 1868 Te Kooti and the other prisoners commandeered a schooner and escaped back to the North Island. Almost all the Māori returned to Taranaki in the 1860s, some after a tsunami in 1868.


1880s to today

The economy of the Chatham Islands, then dominated by the export of wool, suffered under the international depression of the 1880s, only rebounding with the building of fish freezing plants at the island villages of Ōwenga and Kaingaroa in 1910. Construction of the first wharf at Waitangi began in 1931 with completion in 1934. On 25 November 1940, during the Second World War, a German raider captured and then sank the Chatham Islands supply ship, the Holmwood, so the wharf saw little use by ships. A flying-boat facility was built soon after at
Te Whanga Lagoon Te Whanga Lagoon dominates the geography of Chatham Island, in the South Pacific Ocean off New Zealand's east coast. It covers . It is the outflow of several small rivers in the island's hilly south, and drains to the Pacific via gaps in Hans ...
and a flying boat service continued till 1966 when it was replaced with conventional aircraft. After the Second World War, the island economy suffered again from its isolation and government subsidies became necessary. This led to many young Chatham Islanders leaving for the mainland. There was a brief crayfish boom which helped stabilize the economy in the late 1960s and early 1970s. From the early 2000s cattle became a major component of the local economy.


Moriori community

The Moriori community is organised as the Hokotehi Moriori Trust. The Moriori have received recognition from the
Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
and the New Zealand government and some of their claims against those institutions for the generations of neglect and oppression have been accepted and acted on. Moriori are recognised as the original people of Rekohu. The Crown also recognised the
Ngāti Mutunga Ngāti Mutunga is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand, whose original tribal lands were in north Taranaki. They migrated from Taranaki, first to Wellington (with Ngāti Toa and other Taranaki Hāpu), and then to the Chatham Islands (along wit ...
Māori as having indigenous status in the Chathams by right of around 160 years of occupation. The population of the islands is around 600, including members of both ethnic groups. In January 2005, the Moriori celebrated the opening of the new Kopinga
Marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...
(meeting house). Modern descendants of the 1835 Māori conquerors claimed a share in ancestral Māori fishing rights. This claim was granted. Now that the primordial population, the Moriori, have been recognised to be former Māori—over the objections of some of the
Ngāti Mutunga Ngāti Mutunga is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand, whose original tribal lands were in north Taranaki. They migrated from Taranaki, first to Wellington (with Ngāti Toa and other Taranaki Hāpu), and then to the Chatham Islands (along wit ...
—they too share in the ancestral Māori fishing rights. Both groups have been granted fishing quotas.


Population

Chatham Islands covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Chatham and Pitt Islands are inhabited and had a population of 663 at the
2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short ...
, an increase of 63 people (10.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 51 people (8.3%) since the 2006 census. There were 276 households. There were 354 males and 312 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.13 males per female. The median age was 41.9 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 111 people (16.7%) aged under 15 years, 129 (19.5%) aged 15 to 29, 339 (51.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 84 (12.7%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 74.2% European/Pākehā, 66.1% Māori, 1.4% Pacific peoples, 0.9% Asian, and 2.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 5.9, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 48.4% had no religion, 33.5% were Christian and 7.7% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 51 (9.2%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 147 (26.6%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $36,000, compared with $31,800 nationally. 108 people (19.6%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 318 (57.6%) people were employed full-time, 108 (19.6%) were part-time, and 9 (1.6%) were unemployed. The town of Waitangi is the main settlement with 177 residents in the 2018 Census. There are other villages such as
Owenga Owenga is a small settlement on Chatham Island, in New Zealand's Chatham Islands group. It is the second easternmost settlement in New Zealand, after Flower Pot Bay on Pitt Island Pitt Island is the second largest island in the Chatham Arc ...
, Te One, and Kaingaroa, where there are two primary schools. A third school is on Pitt Island. There are also the fishing villages of Owenga and Port Hutt. Waitangi facilities include a hospital with resident doctor, bank, several stores, and engineering and marine services. The main shipping wharf is located here.


Transport

Visitors to the Chathams usually arrive by air from
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...
,
Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
or
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...
(around 1.5 – 2 hours from Christchurch on a
Convair 580 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...
) to Tuuta Airport on Chatham Island. While freight generally arrives by ship (2 days sailing time), the sea journey takes too long for many passengers, and is not always available. There is no scheduled public transport but accommodation providers are normally able to arrange transport. Tasman Empire Airways Ltd (TEAL) initially serviced the Chathams by air using
flying boats A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusel ...
. With the withdrawal of TEAL, the RNZAF maintained an infrequent service with
Short Sunderland The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in North Ea ...
flying boats. NZ4111 was damaged on takeoff from Te Whanga Lagoon on 4 November 1959 and remains as a wreck on the island. The last flight by RNZAF flying boats was on 22 March 1967. For many years
Bristol Freighter The Bristol Type 170 Freighter is a British twin-engine aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as both a freighter and airliner. Its best known use was as an air ferry to carry cars and their passengers over relatively s ...
aircraft served the islands, a slow and noisy freight aircraft converted for carrying passengers by installing a removable passenger compartment equipped with
airline seat An airline seat is a seat on an airliner in which passengers are accommodated for the duration of the journey. Such seats are usually arranged in rows running across the airplane's fuselage. A diagram of such seats in an aircraft is called a ...
s and a toilet in part of the cargo hold. The air service primarily served to ship out high-value export
crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, m ...
products. The grass landing field at Hapupu, at the northern end of the Island, proved a limiting factor, as few aircraft apart from the Bristol Freighter had both the range to fly to the islands and the ruggedness to land on the grass airstrip. Although other aircraft did use the landing field occasionally, they would often require repairs to fix damage resulting from the rough landing. Hapupu is also the site of the JM Barker (Hapupu) National Historic Reserve (one of only two in New Zealand) where there are momori rakau (Moriori tree carvings). In 1981, after many years of requests by locals and the imminent demise of the ageing Bristol Freighters, the construction of a sealed runway at Karewa, Tuuta Airport, allowed more modern aircraft to land safely. The Chathams' own airline,
Air Chathams Air Chathams Limited is an airline based in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. It was established in 1984 and operates scheduled passenger services between the Chatham Islands and mainland New Zealand along with routes between Auckland a ...
, now operates services to Auckland on Thursdays, Wellington on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and Christchurch on Tuesdays. The timetable varies seasonally, but generally planes depart the Chathams around 10.30 am (Chathams Time) and arrive in the mainland around noon. There they refuel and reload, and depart again at around 1 pm back to the Chathams. Air Chathams operates twin turboprop
Convair 580 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...
aircraft in combi (freight and passenger) configurations and Fairchild Metroliners. The ship ''Rangatira'' provided a freight service from
Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...
to the Chatham Islands from March 2000 to August 2015. The MV ''Southern Tiare'' provides a freight service between Napier, Timaru and the Chathams. There is a small section of tar sealed road between Waitangi and Te One, but the majority of the islands' roads are gravel.


Government


Electorates

The Chatham Islands are within a single
electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district or c ...
which sends one member to
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
. Until the 1990s, the Chatham Islands were in the Lyttelton electorate, but since then they have formed part of the
Rongotai Rongotai is a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, located southeast of the city centre. It is on the Rongotai isthmus, between the Miramar Peninsula and the suburbs of Kilbirnie and Lyall Bay. It is known mostly for being the location of the W ...
general electorate, which otherwise lies in south
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...
.
Paul Eagle Paul may refer to: * Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
is the MP for Rongotai. The
Te Tai Tonga Te Tai Tonga is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was established for the 1996 general election, replacing Southern Maori. The current MP for Te T ...
Māori electorate Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
(held since 2011 by Rino Tirikatene) includes the Chatham Islands; before the seats were reformed in 1996 the archipelago was part of
Western Maori Western Maori was one of New Zealand's four original parliamentary Māori electorates established in 1868, along with Northern Maori, Eastern Maori and Southern Maori. In 1996, with the introduction of MMP, the Maori electorates were updated, ...
.


Local government

For local government purposes, the Chatham Islands and the adjoining sea is known as the Chatham Islands Territory and is administered by the Chatham Islands Council, which was established by the Chatham Islands Council Act 1995 (Statute No 041, Commenced: 1 November 1995). These succeeded, respectively, the Chatham Islands County, which was established in 1901, and the Chatham Islands County Council, which was established in 1926. The Council is a territorial authority that has many of the functions, duties and powers of a district council and of a
regional council Regional Council may refer to: * Regional Council (Hong Kong), disbanded in 1999 ** Regional Council (constituency) Regional council may refer to: * Regional council (Cameroon) * Regional council (France), the elected assembly of a region of Fran ...
, making it in effect a
unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
with slightly fewer responsibilities than other unitary authorities. The Council comprises a directly-elected
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
and eight councillors, one of whom is also deputy mayor. Certain regional council functions are being administered by
Environment Canterbury Environment Canterbury, frequently abbreviated to ECan. is the promotional name for the Canterbury Regional Council. It is the regional council for Canterbury, the largest region in the South Island of New Zealand. It is part of New Zealand's st ...
, the Canterbury Regional Council. In the 2010 local government elections, Chatham Islands had New Zealand's highest rate of returned votes, with 71.3 per cent voting.


State services

Policing The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
is carried out by a sole-charge
constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...
appointed by the
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...
police district, who has often doubled as an official for many
government departments Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations used by first-level executive bodies in the machinery of governments that manage a specific sector of public administration." Энцикло� ...
, including court registrar (Department for Courts), customs officer (New Zealand Customs Service) and immigration officer (Department of Labour – New Zealand Immigration Service). A District Court judge sent from either the
North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...
or the
South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
presides over court sittings, but urgent sittings may take place at the Wellington District Court. Because of the isolation and small population, some of the rules governing daily activities undergo a certain relaxation. For example, every transport service operated solely on
Great Barrier Island Great Barrier Island ( mi, Aotea) lies in the outer Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, north-east of central Auckland. With an area of it is the sixth-largest island of New Zealand and fourth-largest in the main chain. Its highest point, Mount Hobson ...
, the Chatham Islands or
Stewart Island / Rakiura Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...
need not comply with section 70C of the Transport Act 1962 (the requirements for drivers to maintain driving-hours logbooks). Drivers subject to section 70B must nevertheless keep record of their driving hours in some form.


Health

The
Canterbury District Health Board The Canterbury District Health Board (Canterbury DHB or CDHB) was a district health board with the focus on providing healthcare to the Canterbury region of New Zealand, north of the Rangitata River. It was responsible for roughly 579,000 resid ...
is responsible for providing publicly funded health services for the island. Prior to July 2015, this was the responsibility of the Hawke's Bay District Health Board.


Education

There are three schools on the Chathams, at Kaingaroa, Te One, and Pitt Island. Pitt Island and Kaingaroa are staffed by sole charge principals, while Te One has three teachers and a principal. The schools cater for children from year 1 to 8. There is no secondary school. The majority of secondary school-aged students leave the island for boarding schools in mainland New Zealand. A small number remain on the island and obtain their secondary education by correspondence.


Economy

Most of the Chatham Island economy is based on fishing and crayfishing, with only a fragment of the economic activity in adventure tourism. This economic mix has been stable for the past 50 years, as little infrastructure or population is present to engage in higher levels of industrial or telecommunications activity.
Air Chathams Air Chathams Limited is an airline based in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. It was established in 1984 and operates scheduled passenger services between the Chatham Islands and mainland New Zealand along with routes between Auckland a ...
has its head office in Te One.


Electricity generation

Two 225 kW wind turbines and diesel generators provide power on Chatham Island, at costs of five to ten times that of electricity on the main islands of New Zealand. During 2014, 65% of the electricity was generated from diesel generators, the balance from wind. For heating, electricity comes second to wood and, in 2013, solar power contributed about a third as much as mains-generated electricity.


Telecommunications

A 1.5 kW wireless link opened in 1913, a public radio link to the mainland was built in 1953 and an island phone system in 1965. In 2003 a digital microwave system was installed for 110 phones in Ōwenga. The islands were linked as part of the Rural Broadband Initiative in 2014, when satellite bandwidth was increased, and broadband is now provided by Wireless Nation, though Farmside provide some coverage. As at 2019, there was no mobile phone
coverage Coverage may refer to: Filmmaking * Coverage (lens), the size of the image a lens can produce * Camera coverage, the amount of footage shot and different camera setups used in filming a scene * Script coverage, a short summary of a script, writ ...
on the islands. In December 2021, five 4G cellular towers were turned on to enable mobile phone coverage on Chatham and Pitt Island and deliver faster broadband. The main tower is positioned on Target Hill, which transmits to the other four towers through a microwave radio link; it is backhauled by Eutelsat 172B to a network in Wellington. The upgraded network delivers greater bandwidth than the previous link, and provides reliable broadband.


Notable people

* Te Kiato Riwai (1912–1967), New Zealand nurse and māori welfare officer


See also

* Chatham Islands penguin *
Flora of the Chatham Islands The flora of the Chatham Islands consists of around 388 terrestrial plant species, of which 47 are endemic. The Chatham Islands make up the Chatham floristic province of the Neozeylandic Region of the Antarctic Kingdom. The flora of the Chath ...
* History of Chatham Islands numismatics *
List of islands of New Zealand New Zealand consists of more than six hundred islands, mainly remnants of a larger land mass now beneath the sea. New Zealand is the seventh-largest island nation on earth, and the third-largest located entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. Th ...
*
List of massacres in New Zealand A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
* Moriori genocide


References


Bibliography

* Clark, Ross. 1994. Moriori and Māori: The Linguistic Evidence. In Sutton, Douglas G., ed., ''The Origins of the First New Zealanders''. Auckland: Auckland University Press. *Davis, Denise and Solomon, Māui. 2006
Moriori
In ''Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', updated 9 June 2006. * *Howe, Kerry R. 2006
Ideas of Māori origins
In ''Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', updated 9 June 2006. * * * * Waitangi Tribunal. 2001
''Rekohu: A Report on Moriori and Ngati Mutunga Claims in the Chatham Islands''
Report No. 64.


Films

*''The Wizard and the Commodore'' (2017) directed by Samuel A. Miller, Narrator Davey Round.


Further reading

* * *


External links


Chatham Islands Council1998 InformationPhotographs from the Christchurch Public LibraryDepartment of Conservation informationMassey University study of Chathams ecologyInformation and pictures of Chatham Islands. The Sisters are also mentioned
Education Resources.

Education Resources. {{authority control Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Ecoregions of New Zealand Zealandia Archipelagoes of New Zealand Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean Temperate Australasia