Story: The New Zealanders

‘The head of a New Zealander’

‘The head of a New Zealander’

By 1769 the country was named ’Nieuw Zeeland’ on European maps, so English speakers quickly adopted the term ’New Zealanders’ to describe Māori. It is used in this engraving made in the 1790s from a sketch by Sydney Parkinson, the artist on James Cook’s first voyage to New Zealand.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: A-111-105
Lithograph by Sydney Parkinson

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page:

Jock Phillips, 'The New Zealanders - Māori New Zealanders ', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/artwork/1892/the-head-of-a-new-zealander (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Jock Phillips, published 8 Feb 2005, updated 1 May 2015