MAORI

Maoris are Eastern Polynesian people. Historians assuming that they have migrated to New Zealand from the Pacific in several waves from about 800 AD

This is a historical painting from the time when Captain James Cook landed.

When the British explorer and navigator Captain James Cook arrived there in 1776 and found around 100,000 Maoris have settled there on the island.

Before the European settlers arrived the Maoris shared language, customs, intermarriage and trade. They had no feuds but the arrival of the new settlers was seen as a threat. It united the people. Maori means normal or ordinary. 

They welcomed the trade but there was a growing resistance to the settlement along the shores.

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed by the chiefs and British representative in 1840. Britain received the right to govern New Zealand and to settle there, The Maoris kept the authority over their land and all their affair and gained British citizenship.

Taranaki Wars from 1860-61 and 1863-64 were a series of conflicts between Maoris and colonists in New Zealand's North Island.

The first war started when Te Teira, a Maori of the Taranaki region sold land to the British government without the permission of the his tribal chief. The fight began between the supporter of the chief and the surveyors came to inspect the land purchased.

The war ended inconclusive in April 1861 and the colonists were dissatisfied.

In April 1863 new fighting began and ended a year later with the loss of a large piece of Maori land. The hostility continued right through to 1872 but history does not accept it as part of Taranaki Wars.

By 1896 the population of the Maori was reduced to 40,000 from diseases.

After the second World War their numbers improved and many moved into towns to find work and better conditions.

By 1980 due to unemployment and loss of identity the Maoris demanded national recognition of their language, culture and the preservation of their remaining Maori land.

In 1995, during a visit to New Zealand by Queen Elizabeth II; she signed a legislation for compensation worth £70million including 39,000 acres land to the Tainui federation of people. Most of this land was confiscated by colonists

The Queen made a personal apology to the Maori people.

MAORI WARRIOR

AUSTRALIA

Australia is an Island Continent in the south-west Pacific.

Aborigines were the first inhabitants and it is thought they migrated from South-east Asia 50,000 years ago.

The first Europeans landed there were the Dutch in 1606 and record shows a ship Duyfken landed. It is also assumed that Portuguese explorers could have discovered Australia earlier. 

In 1770 Captain James Cook claimed it for the British; the eastern part of the continent, naming it New South Wales. It was turned into a penal colony in 1788. It was the first of several similar colonies where convicts were sent which in turn made a considerable contribution to the economic foundation of the country.

In the first half-century Australia was treated as an extensive jail.

From 1830 the Government aided free settler and the colonisation began. It helped the colony to develop and huge sheep farming for the wool industry were established. It also encouraged explorers who discovered a whole new world of unusual animals and flora not know before.

As always, settlers were given huge pieces of land and they accepted it as theirs. It led to a confrontation with Aborigines and at Myal Creek a massacre where white station hands killed 28 Aborigines in 1838.

The British-Australian Government denied for a long time that the Aborigines were there before the settlers. Only very recently they were acknowledged and recognised as the original settlers of Australia.

Other colonies were formed in Tasmania in 1825; Western Australia in 1829 and South Australia in 1836.

The convict transportation slowed down from 1840 and finally stopped in 1868.

The Gold Rush during the 1850s and 1860s brought new immigration to Australia which also encouraged exploration of the outback.

At the same time a WHITE AUSTRALIA POLICY began to prevent Asian workers to be taken on because of lower wage demand and outcast the white man. This policy lasted till the 1950s.

The colony self-governed as a Federation and became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The British monarch is represented by a Governor-General. The Prime Minister and Cabinet is drawn from the federal Parliament. The self-governing states have their own constitutions.

Australia played a very important part in both World Wars. After 1945 Australia developed a new mineral mining industry and it contributed largely to economic growth. It also strengthened its ties with South-east Asia. Through that came 4 million to the country

In recent decades some Australia's politicians are aiming to cut the ties with Britain and demanding to declare Australia a Republic.