First contact between Māori and Europeans

On the evening of 18 December, Abel Tasman and his men had the first known European encounter with Māori. Although this initial meeting was peaceful, the misunderstanding and fear aroused by two such different worlds coming together led to violence the following day.

Tasman had first sighted New Zealand on 13 December. His flagship, the yacht Heemskerck, and an armed transport ship, the Zeehaen, had sailed up the West Coast, reaching Cape Farewell on the 16th. On the 18th they anchored in Wharawharangi Bay, off the Tata Islands to the north of what is now Abel Tasman National Park. They may have been about 5 km from the shore. 

The local inhabitants were Māori of Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri, although other iwi may have been visiting or raiding the area. As the two strange vessels came closer those on shore had to decide how to respond. Eventually two waka (canoes) of warriors paddled out to inspect the ships more closely. The Māori challenged the intruders with ritual incantations and pūkāea or pūtātara (trumpet) blasts, possibly in an attempt to frighten away spirits or ghosts. Alternatively, they may have thought that the strangers intended to raid valuable food resources nearby.

In response the Dutch, who had seen fires on the shore and watched the waka approach, shouted and blew their own trumpets. They then decided to fire a cannon, which according to an account from the Dutch ship’s barber-surgeon provoked an angry reaction:

Then the South-landers began to rave terribly; blew on a horn; and returned to land. Tasman called up the watch; and placed on the deck sabres, pikes and guns.

The next day a number of waka came out to the Dutch ships. The Heemskerck’s small boat was sent to the Zeehaen to warn the crew to be on their guard and not to let too many on board. While returning to the Heemskerck, the boat was rammed by a waka and the sailors were attacked with paddles and ‘long staffs’. Three were killed and one mortally wounded. One of the dead was taken by the attackers, and the waka sped back to shore out of range of the muskets and cannon which opened fire from both ships.

As the Dutch ships weighed anchor and set sail, 11 waka approached and were fired on. The leading boat was struck by canister shot which may have wounded one of its occupants. Tasman named the place Moordenaers’ (Murderers’) Bay. It is now called Golden Bay.

It would be another 127 years before the next recorded encounter between European and Māori following Captain James Cook’s arrival in New Zealand in October 1769.

Image: Attributed to Isaac Gilsemans, A view of the Murderers’ Bay, 1642