Story: West Coast region

Page 4. Māori exploration and settlement

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Earliest occupation

After Polynesians arrived in New Zealand, between 1250 and 1300 CE, they started to explore the country. Pounamu (greenstone or jade) was soon discovered on the West Coast, mainly in the area around the Arahura River. Because of its hardness and durability, pounamu was prized for making tools, weapons and ornaments. By the late 1300s it was being transported around the country and traded.

Poutini and Waitaiki

In Māori tradition, Poutini was a much travelled taniwha (water monster). While visiting Tūhua (Mayor Island) he saw a beautiful woman, Waitaiki, and seized her. Pursued by her husband, Tamaāhua, Poutini fled to the South Island, but was trapped in the Arahura valley, where he cast Waitaiki into the river to form pounamu. The tributary of the Arahura River where much of the pounamu originates is called the Waitaiki (Olderog) Stream. Nearby Mt Tūhua commemorates the place from where she was abducted.

Evidence of the extent of Māori occupation of the West Coast comes from archaeological investigations. Sites were occupied along the whole length of the region, mainly close to the coast, and especially at lagoons and rivermouths where fish and shellfish were available. The written and archaeological evidence suggests that the total population at any one time was in the hundreds rather than thousands.

Changing settlement

The tribal affiliations of the earliest settlers are uncertain, but they are generally thought to have been Waitaha, the first settlers of the South Island. The West Coast was occupied by Ngāti Wairangi in the 16th or 17th centuries. By the time of first European contact in the early 19th century Ngāti Waewae, a hapū of Ngāi Tahu, claimed ownership of much of the West Coast. They came to be known as Poutini Ngāi Tahu.

The main Māori settlements on the West Coast were probably between the Māwheranui (Grey) and Hokitika rivers – the main pounamu-gathering area. Trade routes across the Southern Alps became established, and Kaiapoi in north Canterbury was a major trading centre.

In 1831–32 a Ngāti Rārua group, led by Niho and Takere, invaded the West Coast from the north. They defeated Poutini Ngāi Tahu and remained in occupation, controlling the main pounamu gathering sites. Ngāti Rārua withdrew in 1837, leaving Poutini Ngāi Tahu again in control of the whole region. Those who lived close to the Arahura River collected and traded boulders of pounamu.

Population

In 1826 John Boultbee, a sealer, estimated the Māori population of South Westland at about 500, including an important settlement at Ōkahu (Jackson Bay). When explorers Thomas Brunner and Charles Heaphy travelled along the coast in 1846–48, they found thriving small Māori communities. But when James Mackay visited the region in 1857, he estimated the total population at only 100–200, presumably because of the devastating effects of infectious diseases such as influenza and measles, which had been introduced by Europeans. By this time the settlement at Ōkahu was deserted.

Through the 19th and 20th centuries the Māori population remained small. In 2013 there were around 3,000 Māori on the West Coast – 10.5% of the region’s population. They support two rūnanga (regional collective bodies), Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Waewae in Greymouth and Hokitika, and Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio in South Westland.

How to cite this page:

Simon Nathan, 'West Coast region - Māori exploration and settlement', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/west-coast-region/page-4 (accessed 30 March 2024)

Story by Simon Nathan, published 23 Feb 2009, updated 1 Sep 2016