Identity in

the region is changing

New Zealand, settled by the Maoris of Polynesia more than 1000 years ago, was first known to the European world in 1642.

That was the year in which the Dutch navigator Abel Tas man logged a sighting which he named Staten Landt. later

changed by geographers in his

own country to Nieuw Zeeland. The first thorough re cord of coastal exploration, including some charts, was made by Captain James Cook of the British Royal Navy in 1769.

Whalers, traders and mis sionaries visited New Zealand after Cook. The British Government declared sover eignty there in 1840 when Cap tain William Hobson negotiated the Treaty of Wai

tangi with leading Maori

chiefs. The first British settlers arrived about the same time through the New Zealand Company, an association which planned to establish a model colony based on mi

gration. They founded

Wellington which became the national capital 25 years later.

New Zealand assumed internal self government in

1852, followed by increasing

tensions between whites and Maoris mainly over land dis putes.

The 1870 s were a period of

rapid expansion including a

gold rush in the South Island and extensive road and rail development. Timber and later wool became the chief exports, and New Zealand became a pioneer exporter of refriger ated foodstuff's.

New Zealand was the first country to extend voting rights to women in a period of rapid social change at the turn of the century.

In 1907 New Zealand shed its colonial image, adopting the title of Dominion, and entered a period of agricultural and industrial prosperity. This was followed by the disruption of

World War I, industrial prob lems and the economic de pression of the 1930 s all of which were ingredients in the

adoption of progressive social

legislation.

Although New Zealand has always had a close association with the Pacific Islands it is only in recent years that it has begun to emphasise its role as a member country of the Pa cific region.

A paper published by the Planning Council of New Zealand, a statutory body

established by parliament,

makes this point by saying that

a broader sense of economic

and political partnership is

being established with regional

neighbours ‘although our stake

in the European tradition re

mains important’.

The paper says ‘When we ask ourselves who we are, it often leads to a strong identifi cation with the European model. Many of us remain per plexed by the Maori and wider Polynesian elements of our heritage. To accept these is. however, overcoming a hurdle in self discovery because we can then accept the simple truth that New Zealand does not automatically belong to the western world.'