Theplace we call home

Otago isadistant place on the map, but its historyisone of close ties to places faraway, MikeHoulahan writes.

PEOPLEhavealways yearnedtoexplore to theouter limits, andfew places areasfar from anywhere as Otago

Itseastern coastlinewas as far as Māorisettlerscould navigate when they landed here,most likely sometime in the13th century.WhenEuropeansailors made it to theseshoresabout 400 years later, they plottedits landmarks at thefar extremities of their maps.

When mana whenua trekked inland in search of pounamu, central Otagowas as remote aplace as they couldimagine.

When Europeansdug for gold or mustered sheepoverthe same land they perceivedthemselves at theendsofthe earth, almost nowhere. An internationalflight to Otago todayhas to navigate throughmountains before comingtoland.

DistantthoughOtago might be,assusceptibletothe vagaries of itsfourdistinct seasonsasit is,peopleremain determined to callithome.

The people of Otago have always been proud of their province. The earliestsettlersinthe region might nothaveleft written recordsbut Waitahaleft artistic ones. Rock artdepictionsof thelandscape,people, flora and fauna whichpopulatedOtago remain frozen in time on cave wallsand under overhangson cliffsasremindersfrom centuries long past of howtheysaw themselvesand their surrounds

Whilethose first peoples, literally, lefttheir mark on the landscape,theyhad no calendar on whichtomarka dayand say this waswhenOtago began.

Once KāiTahuand Kāti Māmoe came to thelandthe iwithrived, butdid notestablish an annual celebrationofits presence.

In 1770 Joseph Banks, sailing aboard HMS Endeavour with JamesCook, spiedafire on what is nowthe Otago Peninsula, thefirsthinttothe wider world that people were living in this remote place

Thatglimmeringlight was enough to entice arangeof EuropeanstoOtago in thenext fewdecades, as whalersand sealersflockedtoexploit the richness of thesea.Inthe process they transformedthe livesof thosealready residentonthe coast, bringing vices such as tobacco andalcohol, diseaseand modernweapons,and virtues such as literacy, educationand a newreligion.

In 1840 came word from the Norththatatreatyhad been signedbetweenthe northern chiefsand therepresentatives of QueenVictoria. On June 13 that year Korako andKaretai signed theTreatyatTaiaroa Headson behalf of KāiTahu.

In general, whalersand sealers did notseektoestablish a permanentlarge settlement, rather make theirprofit andthenretreat Making alasting return on investment wasthe aimofthe New ZealandCompany,acollection of prominentshareholderswho wanted to settle this far-distant place accordingtothe arbitrary designs andprincipalsofthe morallyquestionable

Gibbon Wakefield

Edward

On July 31 1844 company representativestookadvantage of abrief window of opportunity when theBritish Crownwaived themonopolyithad assumed over land purchasesinNew Zealand, to buya400,000 acre parcel whichtheycalled the Otago blockfrom 25 KāiTahu chiefs, for £2400.

However, it took threeyears of legalwranglingfor the company’sclaim to have good titletothe land bordered by Ōtākou,Kaikarae,Taieri, Mata Au andKarorotobetolerated.

Meanwhileworkonthe ground to buildwhatwas intended to be called NewEdinburghbegan in 1846, andrecruitment began for ahardy bunchofScottish andEnglish settlerstoset forth andrealise theambitious plan to recreate alowlands settlement almost as farfrom their original homesascould be imagined.

The first ship boundfor what wasnow renamedOtago,a Gaelic corruption of theKāi Tahu settlementofŌtākou,the John

Wickliffe,set sail from Portsmouth on December141847.

Ahundred days laterthe ship’s passengers stoodand stared at theOtago peninsula,nodoubt wonderingwhatawaited them on thesestrange shores.

Twodayslater,onMarch 23, they sailedintoOtago Harbour, made landfall,and settoturning their bare plotsoflandinto homes, farmsand businesses.

Three weekslater John Wickliffe’s sister ship, Philip Laing,arrived on April15, having ridden outa violentstorm on theway.Its 247 passengers,plusseveralcrewwho deserteduponlandfall,swelled thecolonialranks andset about creating Otago’s principal town, Dunedin.

Despiteambitions forOtago to be aFreeChurchofScotland settlementagoodly number of people from othercountries and of otherfaithswereattracted to thenew colony.That said, thedourPresbyteriannature of settlementleaderssuchas theReverendThomas Burns andWilliam Cargillmeant thetownshiphad aSabbath ordinancewhichoutlawed games, manual labour andshops openingonSundays.

It also meantthatfree public primaryeducation, as in Scotland,was available, immediately settingthe value Otago placedonteachingits younginstone

Almostassoonassettlers had bridgedthe distance from Europe to Dunedin, they set outtobridgethe distance from Dunedin to inland Otago

By the1850s largesheep runs were establishedaround Lake Wakatipu,the Maniototo Plain, Earnscleughand in the Manuherikiavalley,and aflotilla of shipsawaited back in Dunedin to conquerthe tyrannyof distance andexportthe wool clip back ‘‘home’’

Otago wasstartingto prosper, butthe making of the province wouldcomein1861, when prospectorsdiscovered commercial quantities of gold in theTuapeka. Thatmodest discoverydrewminersacrossthe Tasmansea from theVictorian diggingsand oneofthem, GabrielRead, struck it bigwhen he found ‘‘gold shininglikethe starsinOrion’’ furtherupthe river, near Lawrence Furtherdiscoveries of gold in Naseby,Arrowtown and QueenstowntransformedOtago Quiteapart from theinflux of minersfrom allparts of the globe, settlements sprang up by thegoldfieldsand drew amap of theinlandwhichwould be well familiar to amodernday observer.

Accountsfrom Wetherston’s describe this place to be as rich as Gabriel’sGully. The hill sides and gullies aredaily discovering fresh evidences of their wealth, and it is hoped thatgold will ultimately be traced into the immense flatonwhich the various gullies open.

In just threeyears the population of Otago increased by about400%, augmentedby thearrival of Chineseminers employed by local businessmen to extend thelifeofthe goldfields. The precious metal found in theheartland fuelled thedevelopment of Dunedin, whichploughedthe moneyinto developmentofits port andthe buildingofacommercialcentre.

By 1870Otago waswellestablishedasthe most importantprovincein New Zealand: aquarter of thecolony’s population livedhere, many of them involvedinthe industries whichaccountedfor athirdof thecountry’s exportearnings. By this time thestocksof precious metalswerewell plundered andOtago had to create wealth from itsother resources. The Teviot valley suppliedfruit andvegetables farand wide,and thefleeces off thebacks of the province’s sheepcontinued to fuel economic growth

By now, though still fardistant in bare miles, Otago waswell connected to theNew Zealand andworld economy, atie which would strengthen furtherin 1882 after thefirst successful shipment of frozen meat from Port Chalmers to Britain. Although thesecondsuch shipment failed,the problem was swiftly overcome andopenedup alucrative second market for the province’s plentifulsheep To succeed Otago needed ships, andplenty of them. Intrepid entrepreneur JamesMills establishedinthe UnionSteam Ship Companyin1875 andby 1900 it hadavirtual monopoly on transTasmanshipping. Knownasthe ‘‘southern octopus’’due to itssizeand reach, thecompany wasnot only thelargest shipping firminthe southern hemisphere butalsofor atimethe largestprivate sector employer in NewZealand. Whilethe region’s businessmen profited,there were those whoweredeeply concerned at themethods by whichthey made their fortunes. In 1888 Dunedin PresbyterianMinister Rutherford Waddell took to hispulpit to deliverablistering denouncementofsweated labour in thecity, claimingthatmany workerslabouredfor wages belowsubsistencelevel, often in hazardousworkplaces.

The sermon caused an outcry,eventuallyprompting acommissiontoinvestigate labour practices in theclothing sectorand beingthe catalystfor lawchanges.

Many of thenames of activists in thefightagainst sweated labour recurintwo of theother great socialbattles of thetime, temperanceand women's suffrage. Whilethe fight againstthe ‘‘demon drink’’was ultimately unsuccessful,New Zealand made history in 1893 when it became thefirst countrytogrant womenthe vote.Otago menand womenwereprominentinthe national struggle andthe great suffragepetition, preserved in theNationalLibrary todayoffers proofin blackand whiteofhow many Otago women demanded equality with their menfolk.

Anotherbastion womenofthe province stormedsuccessfullywas theUniversityofOtago

Foundedin1869 as thefirst universityin NewZealand and oneofthe first in thesouthern hemisphere,in1878 —over much opposition —Caroline Freemanbecamethe first womantoenrol there.

Despitehavingpaved the way, anddespitethe university councilhavingagreedthat both womenand mencould studymedicineatOtago,Emily Siedebergencountered similar opprobriumwhenshe enrolled in 1891 as thefirst female medical student

EthelBenjamin had her ownbattles to winbefore becomingthe first womanat anyuniversityinAustralasia permitted to studylaw.When shegraduatedLLB in 1897 she made theofficialreply on behalf of thegraduands,the first time awoman had ever made an official speechatthe university

While Otagowas faraway, in some respects it was notfar enough away

In 1889, fuelledbya spurious scarethataRussian invasion might be in theoffing, a disappearing gun wasbuilt at Tairoa Head to protect Otago Harbour. Although it never opened fireon an enemy vessel thegun —installed on aKāi Tahu pa site —remains as atourist attraction,sitting alongside thefar more benign Royalalbatross colony Wardid cometoOtago though, despiteitbeingleagues away from anyactivebattlefield. When warbroke out in SouthAfrica betweenBritain andthe Boersin 1899 Otagowas swift to send its sons to war.

Casualties were relativelyfew in that limitedconflict,but the wars to come were farmore devastatingfor theprovince.

The GreatWar to ‘‘end’’all wars cutaswathethrough theyoung menofOtago.Theregiment whichborethe province’sname wasin thefrontlineofall the majorbattles foughtbythe New ZealandExpeditionary Force; an estimated1830 Dunedin menand about4000 people from across Otago did notcomehome. Many more sufferedseverewounds, both physicaland mental Whilethe Axis forces were a visibleenemy,the invisibleviral enemywhichsprangupnear theend of thewar wasasjust as deadly,claimingcivilians as well as combatants. Otago,still beingone of themostpopulous regionsinNew Zealand,was one of theplaces hardesthit by the influenza pandemic. Of the9000 estimatedinfluenza deaths in NewZealand,224 were in Otago and273 in Dunedin.

After aneardecade of misery theprovincewas in direneed of somethingtolookforward to, anditcameinthe form of the NewZealand andSouth Seas International Exhibition, held in Dunedin in 1925-26. The Exhibitionliterallychanged the face of Dunedin —muchofwhat is nowLoganParkwas reclaimed to buildthe grounds to hold 6.5 hectaresofpavilions,displays andanamusement park Although more than three millionadmissions to the Exhibitionwererecorded, its successmasked thefactthat Otagowas slowly declining. Post-warbothdairyingand industry continuedtoexpand in theNorth Island,and cities on theother side of Cook Strait were proving amoreattractive destination for migrantsthanthe fartherflungsouthernprovince. Thattrend wasonly exacerbated by anotheroverseas disasterwithawfulconsequences forOtago,the GreatDepression. As businessesand central government followed economic orthodoxyand retrenched, joblessnumbers andpoverty soaredacrossthe region Councils andchurchescreated public worksprojectssuchas buildingcroquet lawns, tennis courts andabowlinggreen, levellingChisholmParkand wideningthe road to Aramoana, butfrustrationsboiledoverintwo riotsin Dunedin in early1932.

• Circa 13th century. Estimated time of Māori settlement of the South Island.

• 1848. On March 23, settlers aboardthe John Wickliffe makelandfall in whatwill become Dunedin.

• 1861. On May 25 Gabriel Read discoversarichdeposit of gold creating agold rush which boosted Otago to be NewZealand’s economic powerhouse.

• 1869. University of Otago founded.

• 1873. Otago Daily Times co-founderSir Julius Vogel becomes Premier of New Zealand.

• 1882. First frozen meat shipment leavesOtago.

Theywereobviously promoted by that element in the community which is concerned in the exploitation of the economic situation for political ends and were participated in by the moreirresponsible of the workers.

Whiledisgruntlementdied down in Otago,far away in Europe it festered andfostered theriseofextremist political movementsin Europe.AsNazis andFascistsassumed powerin Germanyand Italy, in 1939 the worldlurched once more back into global conflict.

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• 1888. The first British rugby team to tour NewZealand plays its first match, against Otago.

• 1893. Women vote in the general election, after adetermined suffrage campaign led by several prominent Otago women

• 1901. March 29,Skippers Bridge over the Shotover opens.

• 1907 Plunket Society formed afteraMay 14 meeting in Dunedin Town Hall.

• 1912. February24, HMS Earnslaw launches on Lake Wakatipu.

• 1917 October 12, bloodiest dayinNew Zealand’s militaryhistory: 843 men, many from Otago, killed at Passchendaele.

• 1925. November 17,New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition opens.

• 1932. April 9, second of two unemployment riots breaks out in Dunedin.

• 1942. December 8, fire at Seacliff Mental Hospital kills 37

• 1943. June 4, 23 killed in rail crashnear Hyde.

• 1947. Dunedin-born artist Frances Hodgkinson dies on May13.

• 1952. July 23, in Helsinki, Dunedin’s YvetteWilliams becomes NewZealand’s first female Olympic gold medallist, in the long jump.

• 1973. June 28, HMNZS Otago sailsfor Mururoa to protest French nuclear testing.

• 1990. November 13, 13 shot deadatAramoana.

• 1994. April 23, Clyde Dam powerstation officially opened.

• 1996. July 23, Dunedin swimmerDanyon Loader wins his second gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics in the 400m freestyle, having wonthe 200mthree days earlier

• 2013. February24, artist RalphHoteredies.

• 2018. May4,site fornew Dunedin Hospital announced.

OVER theprevious century Otago’s residents had feared, mostly groundlessly, that they were at risk of invasionbyaforeignpower FormuchofWorld War2it wasnot afar-fetched prospect. German submarineswerein thesouth Pacific seas,and New Zealand’smilitaryleadershad identifiedseveralpossible landing sitesfor aJapanesearmy, which includedcoastal Otago DespiteOtago beinginperil, itsyoung menwereoncemore sent to distantshorestofightin defence of theprovince, many of them in the23rdBattalion—the Canterbury-Otago Battalion.

Otago sent soldiers, support personnel andnursestothe Middle East,Greeceand Britain, to NorthAfricaand Italy, and to thePacific. Again, many did notcomehome, although the appallingslaughter of World War1was not repeated TheycamehometoanOtago wherethe provincewas starting to prosper.Farmers were reaping rich reward fortheir produce, andonthe nearbyriverssuch as theWaitaki andClutha large powerstationswerebeingbuilt to lightand heat thecities.

The population of Oamaru grew by 75%, Balcluthadoubled in sizeand Alexandra and Mosgiel’stripled.Dunedin, whichhad been shrinking before thewar,grewits population by more than aquarter as thebaby boom generation settleddown.

The 1970s and80s were a time of furtherexpansion, butnot withoutcontroversy

Acontainer terminalwas builtatPortChalmersand theManapouri damwas built —New Zealand’sfledgling environmental movement taking flightinthe process. Part of Cromwell disappeared after theClutha was dammed at nearby Clyde, but Aramoana dodged thedevelopment bandwagonbystaving off the construction of an aluminium smelter.

In the1990s Ngāi Tahu and thosewho used thedistinctive southern KāiTahu, mana whenua before theBritish arrived,

Succeeded In Gainingredress For Thelossofmostoftheir Land

In 1991 theWaitangiTribunal foundthatthe Crownacted unconscionablyand in repeated breach of theTreatyofWaitangi in assumingcontrol of most of theSouth Island,sparkingseven years of negotiation betweenthe iwiand thegovernmentbefore aSettlementAct waspassedby Parliament

Although therewas some dissensiononall sides of the transaction, NgāiTahuisnow oneofthe most powerful businessesinthe southand has made considerableinvestmentin land,property andindeveloping itspeopleinOtago.

Many of thoseinvestments were made in thetourism sector Once itsdistancefrom theworld preventedpeoplefrom visiting to seeOtago’s wonders, but now hundreds of thousands arrive in theregioneachyear, either by aeroplane or on shipsofimposing magnitude compared to John Wickliffe and Philip Laing

Those whocamebefore, be they Waitaha, KāiTahu, Kāti Māmoe, Scottish,Irish,English,Welsh or Chinese, or be they from anyof thescoresofother places which people hailedfrom beforethey called this place home,built the foundationsuponwhichOtago stands today.

Historyhas drawn alinewhich directsthatOtago is 175 years oldtoday,March 23, 2023 mike.houlahan@odt.co.nz

Of course,the whenua existed long before that andthe land will endure during theyears ahead, even as people comeand go Thatisworth celebrating, both theimportanceand abundanceof ourplace,and theinitiative and achievementsofthose wholive here,pastand present andfuture.

Todaythe Otago Daily Times marks the 175th anniversaryofthe arrival of John Wickliffe,the first ship carrying British settlers, making landfall in whatisnow Otago. We acknowledgeKāi Tahu,who at thattime called Ōtākou home, and the peoples from throughout the world who have cometothis place and called it home. Many of the following articles ran25years agoina special ODT publication to mark Otago's 150th anniversary. These stories encapsulate the triumphs and tragedies, the tenacity and toil, which combined to makeOtago whatitistodayand will be in the future.