The Aotearoa History Show

Around 850 years ago Polynesian explorers found an empty land and the story of people in Aotearoa began. A new culture emerged; tangata whenua had arrived and started to thrive.

In part two, Polynesian explorers reach new shores far to the south; a land unlike anything they had seen before. It's a story of technological innovation, new horizons and becoming a new, distinct people.

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Abel Tasman and James Cook's first contacts with Māori were complex and sometimes violent. Europeans brought new technologies, food and ideas, such as muskets, potatoes and Christianity. In some cases this worked out well for Tangata Whenua - but in other cases it was devastating.

In part three, Tasman and then Cook visit and before long Europeans come to stay. Muskets, missionaries and international trade change the country as two...

In Europe, factions debated the future of Aotearoa, while Māori had their own ideas how to handle the growing number of Pākehā here. In the end, Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed, but the early promise leads ultimately to war.

In part four, Māori and Pākehā wrestle with how to share Aotearoa, the New Zealand Company is formed and Te Tiriti o Waitangi is signed. But before long disputes arise, prompting the Wairau Affray and Northern W...

Hunger for land and the rise of Kingitanga prompted Governor George Grey to invade Waikato in 1863. Fighting spread over years and into the Bay of Plenty, devastating Maori. But it was not as one-sided as the British had expected.

In part five, Governor George Grey send troops south from Auckland, invading the Waikato. But Kingitanga fight back and a new phase of warfare begins in New Zealand that would see thousands of lives lost.

W...

As British troops leave, settler militia enter the fray. Some Māori chose to fight alongside the Crown while others join new religious movements, which seem to promise a way out of the conflict.

In part six, religious movements such as Pai Mārire & Ringatū arise to oppose settler expansion. While British troops withdraw, local militia take up the fight and we see atrocities committed by all sides.

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After the wars, politicians had to figure out how to run the new country. Bold choices saw huge spending on infrastructure, the right of women to vote and the start of refrigeration, helping us out of The Long Depression. A new politics arose but old values remained.

The New Zealand Wars are over... what comes next? A whole lot of political wrangling over how to run the new colony - centralism or provinces? Plus - how refrigeration...

It's the war that claimed more New Zealand lives than any other. It's also the event that's often claimed as the "foundational moment" where we "became a nation". But is that really true? In this episode we take a dive into the First World War. Why we fought, what it cost us, and its long-term effects on Kiwi identity.

The First World War changed New Zealand, but did we really become a nation on the beaches of Gallipoli? In this epi...

After the war came a new quest for security and identity. With it came new political debates and alliances. Maori and Pasifika moved to the cities. The way we viewed ourselves as a nation was changing.

The 50s and 60s were decades of huge cultural change. Māori were moving into the cities in large numbers for the first time. Meanwhile, there were communist scares, industrial disputes, moral panics about rowdy teenagers - and the b...

It's the final episode of the Aotearoa History Show! Rogernomics, Ruthanasia and the referendum on MMP saw the total restructuring of our economy and voting system. Plus a snapshot of the changing demographics of Aotearoa/New Zealand, the growth of dairy and tourism and the challenges still to come.

The 1984 election is a tumultuous tipping point; the start of a new New Zealand with a more open, less equal economy; a new style of de...

No-one knows for sure who first introduced rabbits to New Zealand, because no-one wanted to take the blame for what became one of New Zealand's biggest environmental and economic disasters. We start season two burrowing into the devastating history of rabbits and other pests.

We start season two burrowing into the story of rabbits and other pests. What started with plenty of (h)optimism has led to generations of damage to our enviro...

The first 500 years of Māori settlement in Aotearoa saw significant, dynamic changes to how people lived; changes that challenge the idea of Māori culture as something carved in stone.

There's sometimes a temptation to think of Māori as a people "frozen in time" - that Māori culture and ways of life were unchanged between the time they arrived in Aotearoa sometime before 1300AD until Captain Cook and the Endeavour arr...

New Zealanders have battled Covid-19 for more than two years, but if you think it's the first time disease has knocked us around, well, this one's for you. Epidemics have long been part of our story.

During the Covid-19 pandemic we've heard people say stuff like "we're living in unprecedented times"... But every time they hear that, historians get extremely annoyed! Epidemics have had a huge impact on many count...

The discovery of gold drew tens of thousands to New Zealand in search of fortune. It was a hard life, but diggers brought mateship, fashion & egalitarian ideas that changed the country forever.

Gold! The mania for this shiny yellow metal swept all over Aotearoa in the second half of the 19th century and left the country, and many of its people, fundamentally changed.

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This episode we ask:

In 1841 a few tiny islands of Pākehā settlement existed in an ocean of Māori land. Today, that picture has reversed & Māori own a fraction of Aotearoa. A big part of the reason? The Native Land Court.

Large chunks of land changed hands through the Native Land Court; or as it was also known: Te Kooti Tango Whenua - The Land Taking Court. Created by the 1862 Native Lands Act, the court was meant to establish individual land ownership ...

Moriori are the original people of Rēkohu (aka Chatham Island or Wharekauri) and they have a tragic and inspiring story. Unfortunately, that story's often been twisted into, well, utter rubbish.

Moirori history has often been twisted out of shape over the years, much like some of the trees on Rēkohu bending in the strong winds. The stories of these remote islands and the people who made their home there go back centuries, but they&#...

From a standing start of little tank engines chugging along wooden rails, New Zealand built a vast rail network, made up of enough steel rail to wrap halfway around the moon.

All aboard for a voyage into the history of New Zealand's railways!

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From a standing start of little tank engines chugging along wooden rails, New Zealand built a vast rail network, made up of enough steel rail to wrap halfway around the moon.

If o...

New Zealanders like to think we have a "Number 8 Wire Mentality" - a rough and ready enthusiasm for fixing and building stuff with limited resources.

New Zealanders like to think we have a "Number 8 Wire Mentality" - a rough and ready enthusiasm for fixing and building stuff with limited resources.

From the first Māori arrivals who worked out how to grow tropical plants in our cold, wet climate - to modern scientific bree...

NOTE: This episode has been reuploaded to correct some inaccuracies in the original version. We all know New Zealand was the first country in the world where women could vote. But do you know how we got there? The path to suffrage is littered with alcohol, hidden heroes & dirty tricks.

Watch the video version of the episode here

NOTE: This episode of The Aotearoa History Show has been re-uploaded to correct some inaccuracies in the...