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History Of Otago
The Otago region of New Zealand is one of the more isolated places of the inhabited earth. Its high latitude, elevation and distance from larger foreign and domestic population centres have defined Otago at each stage of its history. The human occupation of Otago begins around the year 1300 with the arrival of Māori people, Māori soon after they settled in New Zealand. The Māori were originally from tropical Polynesia; they continually adapted to the new and changing environment over the next 500 years. At that time the first European sealers and whalers arrived, followed by the founding of the colony of Otago's first city Dunedin in 1848. New Zealand's ecology had evolved in near isolation from the rest of the world for Gondwana, 85 million years. At first settlement it was Fauna of New Zealand, almost devoid of land mammals, meaning the fauna was very susceptible to introduced land predators. Humans burnt the forests, ate the animals and introduced numerous predators and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Dunedin
The villages and then city of Dunedin that lay at the head of Otago Harbour never existed in isolation, but have always been a staging ground between inland Otago and the wider world. While Dunedin's current official city limits extend north to Waikouaiti, inland to Middlemarch, New Zealand, Middlemarch and south to the Taieri River, Taieri River mouth, this articles focus is the history of the Dunedin urban area, only mentioning Mosgiel, the Otago Peninsula, Port Chalmers and History of Otago, inland Otago for context. Archaeological evidence shows the first Māori people, Māori occupation of the wider Dunedin area occurred within decades of their arrival in New Zealand (1280–1320). The population at this time was concentrated along the southern coast and they relied on seals and to a lesser extent moa for the bulk of their food. With reduced moa and seal numbers the population slumped. Elsewhere in New Zealand it grew again with the evolution of the horticulture based Māori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fauna Of New Zealand
The animals of New Zealand, part of its biota, have an unusual history because, before the arrival of humans less than 900 years ago, the country was mostly free of mammals, except those that could swim there (seals, sea lions, and, off-shore, whales and dolphins) or fly there (bats). However, as recently as the Miocene, it was home to the terrestrial Saint Bathans mammal, implying that mammals had been present since the island had broken away from other landmasses. The absence of mammals meant that all of the ecological niches occupied by mammals elsewhere were occupied instead by either insects or birds, leading to an unusually large number of flightless birds, including the kiwi, the weka, the moa (now extinct), the takahē, and the kākāpō. Because of the lack of predators, even bats spend most of their time on the ground. There are also about 60 species of lizard (30 each of gecko and skink), four species of frog (all rare and endangered), and the tuatara (reptiles re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Encyclopedia Of New Zealand
''Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand'' is an online encyclopedia established in 2001 by the New Zealand Government's Ministry for Culture and Heritage. The web-based content was developed in stages over the next several years; the first sections were published in 2005, and the last in 2014 marking its completion. ''Te Ara'' means "the pathway" in the Māori language, and contains over three million words in articles from over 450 authors. Over 30,000 images and video clips are included from thousands of contributors. History New Zealand's first recognisable encyclopedia was ''The Cyclopedia of New Zealand'', a commercial venture compiled and published between 1897 and 1908 in which businesses or people usually paid to be covered. In 1966 the New Zealand Government published ''An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand'', its first official encyclopedia, in three volumes. Although now superseded by ''Te Ara'', its historical importance led to its inclusion as a separate digital reso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hawaiki
(also rendered as in the Cook Islands, Hawaiki in Māori, in Samoan, in Tahitian, in Hawaiian) is, in Polynesian folklore, the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in many Māori stories. Anne Salmond states ''Havaii'' is the old name for Raiatea, the homeland of the Māori. When British explorer James Cook first sighted New Zealand in 1769, he had on board Tupaia, a Raiatean navigator and priest. Cook's arrival seemed to be a confirmation of a prophecy by Toiroa, a priest from Māhia. At Tolaga Bay, Tupaia conversed with the ''tohunga'' associated with the school of learning located there, called Te Rawheoro. The priest asked about the Māori homelands, 'Rangiatea' (Ra'iatea), 'Hawaiki' (Havai'i, the ancient name for Ra'iatea), and 'Tawhiti' (Tahiti). Etymology Linguists have reconstructed the term to Proto- Nuclear Polynesian ''*sawaiki''. The Māori word figures in traditions about the ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polynesian Navigation
Polynesian navigation or Polynesian wayfinding was used for thousands of years to enable long voyages across thousands of kilometres of the Pelagic zone, open Pacific Ocean. Polynesians made contact with nearly every island within the vast Polynesian Triangle, using outrigger canoes or double-hulled canoes. The double-hulled canoes were two large hulls, equal in length, and lashed side by side. The space between the paralleled canoes allowed for storage of food, hunting materials, and nets when embarking on long voyages. Polynesian navigators used wayfinding techniques such as the navigation by the stars, and observations of birds, ocean swells, and wind patterns, and relied on a large body of knowledge from oral tradition. This island hopping was a solution to the scarcity of useful resources, such as food, wood, water, and available land, on the small islands in the Pacific Ocean. When an island’s required resources for human survival began to run low, the island's inhabitant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Murihiku
Murihiku is a region of the South Island in New Zealand, as used by the Māori people. Traditionally it was used to describe the portion of the South Island below the Waitaki River, but now is mostly used to describe the province of Southland. The name means 'the tail end (of the land)' (literally , 'the end of'; , 'tail'). In 1861, when Southland became a province, the settler population wanted to retain the name "Murihiku", but this wish was ignored by Governor Thomas Gore Browne Colonel Sir Thomas Robert Gore Browne (3 July 1807 – 17 April 1887) was a British colonial administrator, who was Governor of St Helena, Governor of New Zealand, Governor of Tasmania and Governor of Bermuda. Early life Browne was born on .... This was "much to the inhabitants' indignation and disgust". References Further reading * Southland Region {{Maori-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otago Province
The Otago Province was a province of New Zealand until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. The capital of the province was Dunedin. Southland Province split from Otago in 1861, but became part of the province again in 1870. Area and history Otago Province was one of the six original provinces established in New Zealand in 1853. It covered the lower third of the South Island. Its northern neighbour was the Canterbury Province, and the boundary was the Waitaki River from the Pacific Ocean to its source in the Southern Alps, and from there a straight line to Awarua Bay (now known as Big Bay) on the west coast. The inland area of the Waitaki catchment was unexplored in 1853 and dispute later arose over which branch of the Waitaki should form the boundary. The boundary was delineated in 1861 as following the Ōhau River to Lake Ōhau and from there a straight line to Mount Aspiring and Awarua Bay. Southland Province split from Otago in 1861, but became part of the pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiordland
Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of Fiordland is dominated by the steep sides of the snow-capped Southern Alps, deep lakes, and its steep, glacier-carved and now ocean-flooded western valleys. The name "Fiordland" derives from the New Zealand English spelling of the Scandinavian word for steep glacial valleys, "fjord". The geographic area of Fiordland is dominated by, and roughly coterminous with, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand's largest national park. Due to the often steep terrain and high amount of rainfall supporting dense vegetation, the interior of the Fiordland region is largely inaccessible. As a result, Fiordland was never subjected to notable logging operations, and even attempts at whaling, seal hunting, and mining were on a small scale and short-lived, p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stewart Island
Stewart Island (, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura, formerly New Leinster) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a land area of . Its coastline is indented by Paterson Inlet (east), Port Pegasus (south), and Mason Bay (west). The island is generally hilly (rising to at Mount Anglem) and densely forested. Flightless birds, including penguins, thrive because there are few introduced predators. Almost all the island is owned by the New Zealand government, and over 80 percent of the island forms Rakiura National Park. Stewart Island's economy depends on fishing and summer tourism. Its permanent population was recorded at 408 people in the 2018 census. Most residents live in the settlement of Oban on the eastern side of the island. Ferries connect Oban to Bluff in the South Island. Stewart Island is part of the Southland District for local government p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southland, New Zealand
Southland () is New Zealand's southernmost Regions of New Zealand, region. It consists of the southwestern portion of the South Island and includes Stewart Island. Southland is bordered by the culturally similar Otago, Otago Region to the north and east, and the West Coast Region in the extreme northwest. The region covers over 3.1 million hectares and spans 3,613 km of coastline. , Southland has a population of 103,900, making it the eleventh-most-populous New Zealand region, and the second-most sparsely populated. Approximately half of the region's population lives in Invercargill, Southland's only city. The earliest inhabitants of Southland were Māori people, Māori of the Waitaha (South Island iwi), Waitaha iwi, followed later by Kāti Māmoe and Kāi Tahu. Early European arrivals were Seal hunting, sealers and Whaling, whalers, and by the 1830s, Kāi Tahu had built a thriving industry supplying whaling vessels, looked after whalers and settlers in need, and had b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canterbury, New Zealand
Canterbury () is a Regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current form was established in 1989 during nationwide local government reforms. The Kaikōura District joined the region in 1992 following the abolition of the Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council. Christchurch, the South Island's largest city and the country's second-largest urban area, is the seat of the region and home to percent of the region's population. Other major towns and cities include Timaru, Ashburton, New Zealand, Ashburton, Rangiora and Rolleston, New Zealand, Rolleston. History Natural history The land, water, flora, and fauna of Canterbury has a long history, stretching from creation of the greywacke basement rocks that make up the Southern Alps to the arrival of the first humans. This history is linked to the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ngāi Tahu
Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenheim), Mount Māhanga and Kahurangi Point in the north to Stewart Island / Rakiura in the south. The comprises 18 (governance areas) corresponding to traditional settlements. According to the 2023 New Zealand census, 2023 census an estimated 84,000 people affiliated with the Kāi Tahu iwi. Ngāi Tahu originated in the Gisborne District of the North Island, along with Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu, who all intermarried amongst the local Ngāti Ira. Over time, all but Ngāti Porou would migrate away from the district. Several were already occupying the South Island prior to Ngāi Tahu's arrival, with Kāti Māmoe only having arrived about a century earlier from the Hastings, New Zealand, Hastings District, and already having conquered W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
