Economic Contact Whaling

Context  Deep sea ocean whaling commences during the years with the arrival of the whaler William and Ann.  1792 the Britannia also commences whaling.  Ocean whaling was well established by  Shore whaling began in 1827 developing a more permanent population.  Nearly all the shore whalers came from Australia.

Context  Whalers were visitors rather than settlers.  whaling ships visited the Bay of Islands.  Whaling was based in the Bay of Islands, and between ships visited.  Each station had around 1-2 dozen Europeans who whaled for half the year.  The main people who visited were British, French and American. There were also some Portuguese, Dutch, Canadian, German and Danish whalers.  Whalers visited between November and April for 2-5 weeks.

Causes/Factors  Industrial revolution – demand for oils.  Belich: “Ocean whaling was the C18th equivalent of today’s petroleum industry.  Belich – Whalers had strong links with Maori neighbours for food, protection, labour, wives.  Increased crime and fear – whale oil for street lamps.  Bourgeois status symbol – whale bone corsets.  NZ waters – untapped resource, high whale numbers.

Causes/Factors  Johnny Jones of Waikouaiti had eight whaling stations employing 280 men. In 1838 they caught 41 whales yielding 145 tons of oil valued at 4,500 pounds sterling.  There were no duties to pay on whale oil before 1840.

Consequences of this contact.  Shore whaling more contact on Maori.  Belich: Closer to villages, there for longer compared to ocean whalers only around 2-5 weeks at a time.  Europeans gave Maori: technology, disease, housing, language (written English).  Whalers who stopped off at the Bay of Islands traded blankets, nails and guns for potatoes, pork, firewood, spars, women and Maori labour.  Maori trading for guns led to the Musket Wars of the 1820s.  Maori involved in whaling – paid labour, travel.  Ngai Tahu had its own whaling ships.

Consequences of this contact.  Europeans given – food, protection, wives, labour when close neighbours with Maori.  Shore whalers depended on local Maori for food.  Intermarriage  Maori women often entered into sexual contracts with the whalers.  In return for sex they received a gun for their chief and a dress for themselves.  Ex-ship girls were in demand as wives by Maori men  Intermarriage between whalers and Maori women gave protection to the whalers and access to goods and exposure to a new culture for Maori.  King – ‘on again-off again’ relationship. “Little more than a travelling sideshow”.  King – “they were part of a gradually growing symbiotic relationship between Maori and Pakeha.

Consequences  Maori gained mana from working on whaling ships and travelled to London, Australia and the USA and became part of an international pool of whalers.  1805 Chief Ruatara spent four years on a whaler.  Up to one thousand Maori may have travelled overseas by 1840

Consequences  By the 1830s Kororareka had become notorious, “the hellhole of the Pacific”.  Whalers were often accused of being ‘agents of vice’.

Consequences  Most shore stations had closed by the 1850s because the Right whale had become scarce.  The last whale was commercially hunted in NZ in 1964

Summary  Unlike the missionaries and other settlers, the whalers and sealers did not attempt to change Maori.  Rather, Maori were exposed to a new culture.  Some Maori joined with the whalers and sealers to exploit the natural resources