Many others, like Howell, remained with their families, though most were not as wealthy.įormer whalers turned to fisheries, agriculture and trade. Why it's time for New Zealanders to learn more about their own country's historyĪs the whaling industry declined from the 1840s, some whalers (like Edward Weller) proved transient visitors. But in later decades the colonial government caused land dispossession through conversion to individual titles and Crown purchases. This right to land for stations and settlement was based on principles of kaitiakitanga (guardianship). Whaling captain John Howell’s first marriage to Kohikohi, the daughter of rangatira Horomona Patu, gave him access to 50,000 acres near Riverton. Marriage also provided newcomers with access and ties to the land through their Ngāi Tahu whānau. After her early death, Weller remarried Nikuru, daughter of rangatira (chief) Taiaroa, but left New Zealand without his wife and daughters after the Otākou station’s closure in 1841.Ī man’s world: whalers’ base on Stewart Island, 1924. Edward Weller himself married Paparu, daughter of Tahatu and Matua. Over 140 men had married Māori women in southern New Zealand by 1840, with these couples producing over 500 children. Intimate relationships and marriage were key features of this process, as historian Angela Wanhalla has shown.
Rock art shows early contact with US whalers on Australia's remote northwest coastĪt the same time, Ngāi Tahu communities sought to incorporate whaling men into the rights and responsibilities of whanaungatanga (relations, connectedness). Whaling connected Ngāi Tahu to the global economy in the early 19th century, providing new and sometimes mana-enhancing opportunities for trade, employment, and travel. More often, however, Ngāi Tahu and newcomers negotiated a relationship of mutual benefit. Because the industry was based on settlement rather than short refuelling stops, shore whaling fostered more intensive cross-cultural interactions in southern New Zealand than elsewhere in New Zealand or abroad.ĭiffering cultural expectations and miscommunication occasionally led to violence. Newcomers had to negotiate access to coastal land and resources, and stayed for months, years, sometimes even decades. The success of a station was dependent on their relationships with local iwi as tangata whenua - in this case, Ngāi Tahu. These shore whalers entered a Māori world. Leventhal Map & Education Center, Boston Public Library, CC BY-SA Whalers in the Ngāi Tahu world Map showing the distribution of whales across different seasons in the mid-19th century. The crew also required land on which to live and cultivate food. The “tonguing” in the Wellerman lyrics refers to cutting strips of blubber to render into oil in large “try pots” - a challenging process aboard ship. Unlike deep-sea whaling in the Atlantic and northern Pacific, these newcomers practised shore-based whaling which required land to process the whales caught. ShantyTok: is the sugar and rum line in Wellerman a reference to slavery? These new settlements were dotted around the southern coasts from the late 1820s, often located near the paths of migrating right whales. They and others such as Johnny Jones oversaw stations ranging from a few households to nearly 100 residents. The Sydney-based Weller brothers established their first whaling station at Ōtākou (Otago) in 1831. The Wellerman shanty refers to the heyday of whaling in the South Island. New Zealand was one of their destinations. Baleen from whale jaws was used in much the way plastic is now. Whale oil provided industrial lubrication and lighting for growing cities in Europe and the US. These men sought profit in the form of oil and bone.
Once predominantly American-based crews had exploited Atlantic whale populations, they moved into the Pacific to seek new hunting grounds. Whaling brought newcomers to Aotearoa New Zealand in significant numbers from the early 1800s.
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