Culture & History

Twin Coast Discovery Heritage Trail
Culture, History and Heritage tours
NZ Historic Places Trust

The tail of the fish

Maui, a Maori hero of ancient times, hooked the enormous fish after smuggling himself on board his brothers' canoe to prove his fishing prowess. Look at a map of the North Island and you can see that Wellington is the head, Cape Taranaki & East Cape are the fins and Northland is the tail of the fish, Te Hiku o Te Ika.

The great explorer

Maori poi performance.

Today, many iwi (Maori tribes) trace their ancestry back to the legendary explorer Kupe who, with his crew, voyaged deep into the Southern Ocean. Northland iwi claim the first landfall of Kupe's waka 'Matawhourua' was on the shores of the Hokianga Harbour. And so it is believed that Northland gave birth to what is today New Zealand.

Some of the oldest traces of Maori settlement, or kainga, can be found in the region. And throughout known history the social structure of Maori has remained the same: from whanau (immediate family) to extended family (hapu) and ultimately iwi (tribe). There was no Maori nation: instead Maori saw themselves as belonging to their iwi.

Europe arrives

In the late eighteenth century the Europeans arrived. They came on voyages of exploration followed by traders, whalers and sealers. Kauri gum and Kauri logging were some of the initial drawcards for migration. Missionaries headed the next wave of arrivals.

The road to nationhood

The Stone Store at Kerikeri is New Zealand's oldest building.

In 1832, the Governor of New South Wales appointed James Busby as British Resident in New Zealand. It was the first formal step to bringing New Zealand into a permanent constitutional relationship with Britain. In February 1840, Busby hosted the formal signing ceremony of the Treaty of Waitangi on his front lawn.

Throughout the nineteenth century an influx of immigration continued into the region. Colonists from England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland arrived to mill the forests and establish farms. And today, the evidence of Northland as the 'Birthplace of a Nation' is everywhere.