New Zealand Travel Stories

Featured New Zealand Story | The Wild Maori Islands


How native New Zealanders had the wool pulled over their eyes.
Like the Plains Indians of America, the Maoris were a fierce warrior culture. Tattooed from head to foot, speeding through the costs in long canoes and wielding clubs to deadly effect, these Polynesian tribesmen terrified the first white explorers. Although they were divided into 1500 independent groups that often warred amongst themselves, the Maoris still deterred settlers for generations. So, in the early 1800s, New Zealand only attracted lawless refugees – escaped convicts, sealers and Yankee whalers.
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