Maori Tribes

[Misfit]

A friend and I are reading a book set in New Zealand and we're wondering if the tribes were that violent in the late 19C? I.e. capturing women and children and turning them into slaves.

[parthianbow]

I know that the Maoris were (and some would say still are, given the All Black rugby team status nowadays, with its often sizeable numbers of Maoris) fearsome warriors, who were scared of nothing. They basically fought the British to a draw over and over again. Whether they took women as captives, though, I'm not sure. I would say Annis knows...:p

Interesting article here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_land_wars

[annis]

By the latter end of the (19th conflict was rarer. There are a couple of interesting books around on the subject, including Trevor Bentley's Captured by Maori: White Female Captives, Sex and Racism on the Nineteenth-Century New Zealand Frontier (http://www.amazon.com/Captured-Maori-Captives-Nineteenth-Century-Frontier/dp/0143019236).

Fiona Kidman's novel, Captive Wife (http://www.fionakidman.co.nz/synopsis/the_captive_wife/story_1.htm) is based on the true story of Betty Guard (http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/people/betty-guard), who was captured by Maoris in 1834.

For an entertaining panoramic story set in 19th century New Zealand Daphne de Jong's Gather the Wind is well worth a read.

[Misfit]

There was some aggression from the whites prior to the attack, some chief's son or something was beaten.

Thanks for the info, that helps a lot. I hate to go to the author's notes before I'm done as they sometimes have spoilers.

[annis]

Just thought I'd add this excerpt from Trevor Bentley's book
http://new-zealand-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/cultural-misunderstanding-in-19th-century-nz

The capture of prisoners as slaves was common practice in Maori inter-tribal warfare long before the advent of Europeans.