As waves of new migrants from Europe arrived to settle in Whanganui, already populated with a sophisticated and diligent Maori society, misunderstanding, misinterpretation and confrontation were inevitable. 

Anticipating a flood of migrants, the New Zealand Company set out to buy land in Whanganui and elsewhere, aiming to reproduce an idealised English society in New Zealand where Māori would inevitably be assimilated.

Māori were in possession of a sophisticated economy, sustaining their lives on the land. Spiritual precepts imbued every action concerned with preservation of whanau (family), the mana of whakapapa (genealogy) and how land and resources were used.

European settlers had stepped outside the bounds of their society to travel to a strange new life with new opportunities. Their spiritual lives and sense of what was right also shaped their actions. Although they would change in many ways, attitudes of class, gender, generation and religion continued to influence them strongly.

This exhibition offers a brief look at the “sale” of Whanganui and the New Zealand Wars. We also feature the Duncans, a settler family made good.