Frugal country and hard on the boots : a history of the Lake Ohau valley by Eileen McMillan

$215.00 NZD

Category: NZ History

Secluded and beautiful, little known by most New Zealanders, Lake Ohau and its great glacier-formed valley has a varied and interesting history. Unlike its popular neighbouring Mt Cook valley, little has been written about Lake Ohau. To ancestral coastal Maori, Lake Ohau was part of the rich breadb asket of the South Island's interior where in seasonal excursions they would harvest a great range of roots, birds and eels. From 1857 Europeans settled in and around the area, and near the end of that century Robert Campbell & Sons' vast Benmore Station, at its peak rated at some 310,880 acres, encompassed most of the valley. In 1916 Benmore Station was broken up, as was Ben Ohau Station on the other side of the lake in 1920. The high country stations bordering the lake that evolved from those properties - Benmore (much reduced), Freehold Creek, Ohau Downs, Shelton Downs, Avoca, Lake Ohau, Huxley Gorge, Glen Lyon, a smaller Ben Ohau, Bendrose, Ruataniwha, Omahau and Glenbrook, have been researched for this book. Archives of many kinds have been consulted. Descendants of the original settlers and many station workers were interviewed. All these read and corrected drafts of their particular contributions to ensure as much accuracy as possible. The establishment and development of the Mt Cook & Southern Lakes Tourist Company's Lake Ohau Lodge and Ski Field in the 1950s are recounted up to today's thriving Ohau Snow Fields. The fishing and skiing huts around the lake, many of them historic buildings in their own right, Acclimatisation Society and Forest Service deer culler huts, Alpine Club and Department of Conservation tramping and climbing huts, and the shelters established by station owners for their boundary keepers, rabbiters and musterers along the great rivers Dobson, Hopkins and Huxley are all described, most with photographs. The popular Glen Mary Ski Club history is entertainingly chronicled from the Club's own idiosyncratic minute books. The sometimes vexed development of the Lake Ohau Alpine Village is outlined. Artists and photographers old and new add extra dimensions to the facts and the stories recorded. How salmon and trout were established in the lake more than a century ago is described, as is more recent longfin eel fishing. Hydroelectric power development in the 1970s drowned much of the mighty Ohau River under the manmade Lake Ruataniwha, drastically reducing its legendary sports fishing appeal. Lake Ruataniwha is now well known throughout New Zealand as a popular competitive rowing venue. Hydro canals now support salmon farms. Six years in the researching, this comprehensive local history describes the Lake Ohau valley from the days of first European settlement to the present day, updating Robert Pinney's authoritative Early Northern Otago Runs and Early South Canterbury Runs. Maori history and legends of the area are also briefly covered. There is an extensive bibliography and a detailed index. ...Show more

The Front Line

$0.00 NZD

Category: NZ History

Pathway of the Birds: The Voyaging Achievements of the Maori and their Polynesian Ancestors by Andrew Crowe

$50.00 NZD

Category: NZ History

Pathway of the Birds explores a neglected epoch of world history, one that saw Polynesians expand their territory across the world's largest ocean in one of the most expansive and rapid phases of human migration in prehistory. Were Polynesians adept at navigating return voyages or had they settled the P acific in a more random fashion? In an effort to find out, Crowe surveys a wealth of evidence from surprisingly diverse sources, including archaeology, palaeoecology, genetics, ethnology and linguistics, and presents it here in the context of Polynesian poetry, the long-distance migration of birds, non-instrument navigation, and wind tunnel experiments. From this, a spell-binding picture emerges of a people who have been deprived of recognition for some of their most illustrious achievements. Through an engaging narrative, integrating a diversity of research and viewpoints, and over 400 maps, diagrams, photographs and illustrations, Crowe conveys the skills, innovation, resourcefulness and courage of the people that drove this extraordinary feat of maritime expansion in a format that is both accessible to the lay reader and required reading for any serious scholar of this fascinating region. ...Show more

Take Me to the Nevis - Gold Mining and the People of the Nevis Valley, Inspired by the Tales of Central Otago High Country School Teacher Gavine McLean by Louise Joyce; Gavine McLean

$50.00 NZD

Category: NZ History

Wars Without End New Zealands Land Wars - A Maori Perspective by Danny Keenan

$40.00 NZD

Category: NZ History

From the earliest days of European settlement in New Zealand, Maori have struggled to hold on to their land. Tensions began early, arising from disputed land sales. When open conflict between Maori and Imperial forces broke out in the 1840s and 1860s, the struggles only intensified. For both sides, land was at the heart of the conflict, one that casts a long shadow over race relations in modern-day New Zealand. Wars Without End is the first book to approach this contentious subject from a Maori point of view, focusing on the Maori resolve to maintain possession of customary lands and explaining the subtleties of an ongoing and complex conflict. Written by senior Maori historian Danny Keenan, Wars Without End eloquently and powerfully describes the Maori reasons for fighting the Land Wars, placing them in the wider context of the Maori struggle to retain their sovereign estates. The Land Wars might have been quickly forgotten by Pakeha, but for Maori these longstanding struggles are wars without end. ...Show more

House of Treasures - 150 Objects from Canterbury Museum Nga Taonga Tuku Iho by James Herries Beattie, Et Al

$70.00 NZD

Category: NZ History

Since first opening its doors to the public on Rolleston Avenue on 1 October 1870, Canterbury Museum has come to house an estimated 2.3 million taonga (treasures). To celebrate the Museum’s 150th anniversary, 150 taonga (treasures) from this vast collection are showcased in a superbly designed and photo graphed book House of Treasures: 150 Objects from Canterbury Museum Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho. The featured taonga speak of the depth and breadth of the collection and honour the generations of staff, volunteers and visitors who have made the Museum the remarkable and much-loved place that it is today. From the smallest to the largest, from the beautiful to the bizarre, from the tragic to the humorous, from local taonga to those created far, far away, the objects in House of Treasures tell an extraordinary story of natural and human history, and of Canterbury Museum itself. ...Show more

Totara by Phillip Simpson

$50.00 NZD

Category: NZ History

A new softback edition of this modern classic of our most renowned tree, the tōtara. A wonder of evolution, the big tree of the forest, the wood behind Māori carving and Pākehā fence posts: the ‘mighty tōtara’ is New Zealand’s tree and this book tells its story. The ‘mighty tōtara’ is one of our most e xtraordinary trees. Among the biggest and oldest trees in the New Zealand forest, the heart of Māori carving and culture, trailing no. 8 wire as fence posts on settler farms, clambered up in the Pureora protests of the 1980s: the story of New Zealand can be told through tōtara. Simpson tells that story like nobody else could. In words and pictures, through waka and leaves, farmers and carvers, he takes us deep inside the trees: their botany and evolution, their role in Māori life and lore, their uses by Pākehā, and their current status in our environment and culture. By doing so, Simpson illuminates the natural world and the story of Māori and Pākehā in this country. Our largest trees, the kauri Tāne Mahuta and the tōtara Pouakani, are both thought to be around 1000 years old. They were here before we humans were and their relatives will probably be here when we are gone. Tōtara has been central to life in this country for thousands of years. This book tells a great tree’s story, and that is our story too. ...Show more

Long Time Coming A: The story of Ngai Tahus treaty settlement negotiations with the Crown by Martin Fisher

$40.00 NZD

Category: NZ History

The Ngai Tahu settlement, like all other Treaty of Waitangi settlements in Aotearoa New Zealand, was more a product of political compromise and expediency than measured justice. The Ngai Tahu claim, Te Kereme, spanned two centuries, from the first letter of protest to the Crown in 1849 to the final hear ing by the Waitangi Tribunal between 1987 and 1989, and then the settlement in 1998. Generation after generation carried on the fight with hard work and persistence and yet, for nearly all Ngai Tahu, the result could not be called fair. The intense negotiations between the two parties, Ngai Tahu and the Crown, were led by a pair of intelligent, hard-nosed rangatira, who had a constructive but often acrimonious relationship – Tipene O'Regan and the Minister of Treaty Negotiations Doug Graham –but things were never that simple. The Ngai Tahu team had to answer to the communities back home and iwi members around the country. Most were strongly supportive, but others attacked them at hui, on the marae and in the media, courts and Parliament. Graham and his officials, too, had to answer to their political masters. And the general public – interested Pakeha, conservationists, farmers and others –had their own opinions. In this measured, comprehensive and readable account, Martin Fisher shows how, amid such strong internal and external pressures, the two sides somehow managed to negotiate one of the country's longest legal documents. A Long Time Coming tells the extraordinary, complex and compelling story of Ngai Tahu's treaty settlement negotiations with the Crown. But it also shines a light, for both Maori and Pakeha, on a crucial part of this country's history that has not, until now, been widely enough known. ...Show more

Pakeha Settlements in a Maori World - New Zealand Archaeology 1769 1860 by Ian Smith

$60.00 NZD

Category: NZ History

Introducing general readers to New Zealand archaeology, Pakeha Settlements in a Maori World tells the story of the first European encounters with a new land. This is a fascinating approach to history through material culture, documenting a period of dramatic change in these South Pacific islands. From t he scant physical signs of first contact including the early Cook voyages the history is traced through the ephemeral habitations of sojourning settlers to the settlements of missionaries and colonisers, and on to the towns and government establishments of the mid nineteenth century. While the focus is on Pakeha settlement, the encompassing Maori world is present throughout as the story of cultural encounter emerges from the archaeology narrative. Glimpses of a country in the midst of turbulent change abound in this richly illustrated book. Based on impeccable scholarship, this is a wonderful overview of New Zealand archaeology in the period. ...Show more

Gangland: New Zealand's Underworld of Organised Crime by Jared Savage

$37.00 NZD

Category: NZ History

New Zealand's underworld of organised crime and deadly gangs New Zealand is now one of the most lucrative illicit drug markets in the world. Organised crime is about making money. It's a business. But over the past 20 years, the dealers have graduated from motorcycle gangs to Asian crime syndicates and now the most dangerous drug lords in the world - the Mexican cartels. In Gangland, award-winning investigative reporter Jared Savage shines a light into New Zealand's rising underworld of organised crime and violent gangs. The brutal execution of a husband-and-wife; the undercover cop who infiltrated a casino VIP lounge; the midnight fishing trip which led to the country's biggest cocaine bust; the gangster who shot his best friend in a motorcycle shop: these stories go behind the headlines and open the door to an invisible world - a world where millions of dollars are made, life is cheap, and allegiances change like the flick of a switch. ...Show more

Ford in New Zealand by John Stokes

$50.00 NZD

Category: NZ History

If ever there was a definitive historical book about the iconic Ford Motor vehicle in New Zealand, this is it! FORD IN NEW ZEALAND is a magnificently researched history of the introduction of the Ford brand in New Zealand. An incredible microscopic view of the beurocracy of the government and the genera l public's `hesitancy' of the introduction of the `automobile' in New Zealand Rich in information, the book describes the assembly of the first Model T Ford in Canada and the shipment of the vehicles to New Zealand. Incredibly, New Zealand soon became the second largest export market for Ford Canada! The book details the evolution in New Zealand, from the late 19th century to the `horseless carriage' of 1904, when the first Ford came to New Zealand, including never seen before photography of New Zealand's first `Ford' owner - Robert Thompson and his `Fordmobile'. This introduction of the automobile necessitated the first Ford Agents in New Zealand to be appointed and road rules had to be made about these `contraptions'! Why was the Ford Motor car so appealing in the New Zealand environment? The book describes the relationship between `the average kiwi' and Ford, including the first NZ motor review of the car (1909). Lovers of motor cars, Ford enthusiasts and historians will find this incredible book a `must have' for a trip down the `gasoline alley' of New Zealand's yesteryears! ...Show more

Historic Places of New Zealand by Rob Suisted

$20.00 NZD

Category: NZ History

New Zealand's historic places are tied intrinsically to the landscape, where evidence of the earliest settlements are clearly visible. In the latest title in his compact pictorial series, photographer Rob Suisted has recorded our most impressive and popular heritage sites. Early Maori pa and earthworks hug coastal and hilltop sites, old whaling stations and remnants from the exploits of gold miners lie in remote locations and fortifications from the New Zealand Wars, historic homesteads and museums recall the colonial period. Bridges, railways, wharves, churches and cemeteries, civic monuments and memorials and other sites of important historical or architectural significance are featured according to region, from north to south through the country. Dr Sven Schroeder has written an interesting text that places the photographs in a historical context, relating stories and incidents that bring the past to life. ...Show more