This issue titled 'The People' was the second in the 'Heritage' series leading up to the 1990 150th anniversary celebrations in New Zealand. The main theme of these six stamps is the groups of people who made their mark on the history of New Zealand.
The stamps have a more classic appearance when compared with other stamp designs from this period. Even among the six heritage issues this set of stamps stands out as appearing being to be much older.
For an index to all our posts concerning The Maori People.
The Stamp Designs.
40c - The Moriori.
Little is known about the ancestry of the Chatham Island Moriori, a mystery never likely to be solved conclusively. However, most authorities today consider the Moriori were Polynesians like the Maori, sharing common ancestors. Tradition has it that they proceeded the Maori in their arrival in New Zealand, then about 1000 years ago, they were driven to the Chatham Islands by the more prolific Maori.
The Chathams were not discovered by Europeans until 1791 and not completely charted until 1809. European disease decimated the 2000-strong population and in 1835 invading Maori wiped out or enslaved many more Moriori. By the late 1860s their population had dwindled to fewer than 100 and by 1912 to a dozen. The last full-blooded Moriori died in 1933, though most of the Chatham Islanders have some Moriori ancestry.
Major Perforation Shift.
Notice how the design has been moved up and slightly to the right on each stamp.
60c - The Prospectors.
The first gold was found in New Zealand as early as 1842 but the great gold rushes began in earnest in the early 1860s when the Californian and Australian fields declined. Fortune seekers flocked to New Zealand and the population ballooned. Millions of pounds worth of gold was panned or dug in Otago, Westland and Coromandel.
One notable strike was by two Californian gold miners who gleaned 1000oz of gold from the Clutha River in 1862. Weeks later, 3000 hopeful men arrived only to discover the harsh conditions of the canvas towns that had to be endured by all during the rush years of the 1860s. A few prospectors struck it rich, most did not.
Gold mining has faded in importance but during its heyday it stimulated a young nation's economy. Much wealth gained from gold mining helped the early immigrants to found a viable community. At one time the Otago goldfields made Dunedin the wealthiest city in New Zealand. It is said that Dunedin financiers were the real support of Auckland until the turn of the century when wealth started to flow from the nearby Coromandel goldfields.
70c - The Land Settlers.
From the very beginning of European settlement New Zealand has been a pastoral country. The whalers and traders were temporary and as settlers began to arrive, land was bought from the Maori in an uncontrolled way. In 1840, Maori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi allowing the purchase of Maori land by the British Crown - a landmark settlement which put many land claims under dispute that same year and still causes controversy today.
Educated men with capital squatted on the land, imported and bred thousands of sheep, stocked their acres and reaped fortunes. Many of them departed quickly for home - usually England, to enjoy the fruits of their foresight. Others stayed bringing order to the land they farmed. The world wanted what they could produce - butter, cheese, meat and wool resulting in capital for more development and growth.
The output of produce is immense, despite the fact that only a relative small proportion of the land mass is suitable for the raising of livestock. As a whole, New Zealand is lacking in plains and other gentle, rolling country. All this speaks wonders for the calibre of those who developed a farming industry which in output and quality is among the best in the world today.
80c - The Whalers.
Sealers from Sydney were the first to exploit the rich marine resources in the seas around New Zealand, completely destroying large colonies of seals found around the southern coasts. This resource could not last forever and as sealing declined, whaling began.
The first recorded visit by a whaling ship to New Zealand was that of the "William and Ann" which called at Doubtless Bay in 1791 while hunting sperm whales in the South Pacific. Other early New Zealand whalers were British and American hunting from 100 small shore stations with longboats, well into the 1840s. Often they braved long, dangerous voyages in wooden ships to take the precious whalebone and whale oil back home, turning them into umbrellas, corset ribs, lipstick and soap. Three main species were hunted in the waters around New Zealand - the sperm whale, the humpback and the right whale.
The uncontrolled destruction of vast numbers of whales is much regretted today. The result of unrestrained killing was not foreseen in waters teeming with an apparently inexhaustible source of wealth. As time went on the supply of whales failed and the industry began to die. The last New Zealand shore station closed in 1964. The New Zealand government gave whales total protection in 1978. Today New Zealand is one of the leaders in campaigning to save the remaining whale populations.
$1.05 - The Missionaries.
On 25 December 1814 Yorkshire-born Samuel Marsden, a Sydney based Anglican, conducted the first Christian service on New Zealand soil at Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands. The Wesleyans (Methodist) followed soon after the Anglicans. They worked closely together until the arrival of Frenchman Jeane Baptiste Pompallier who celebrated the first Roman Catholic mass in the Hokianga in January 1838.
The word of God, European style, spread south from the Bay of Islands, borne by missionaries some of whom were remarkable men - William Colenso, Henry and William Williams, George Augustus Selwyn and Octavius Hadfield. The missionaries were among the earliest purchasers of land from the Maori. The early mission stations were established in the North Island springing up in Kaitaia, Thames, the Waikato, Rotorua and Tauranga.
There is a school of thought that regrets the presence of the churchmen who abhorred many features of the Maori culture and strove to eliminate it. But there can be no question that their presence did much to forward education and thus to prepare the Maori people to survive in a European world where in some other countries the uneducated native people were virtually exterminated.
$1.30 - The Maori.
The Maori were the first New Zealanders, discovering the country perhaps 1000 years ago. Their origins are obscure and theories about how they got to New Zealand, from where, and precisely when, abound.
Traditional belief is that ancient voyagers Kupe and Toi found New Zealand about 900AD to 1000AD and that the bulk of the original first settlers reached these shores by about 1350AD. Whatever the facts, the Maori people were well established when Abel Tasman and James Cook first sighted New Zealand. The Maori lived well, had strongly developed cultural and religious traditions - and constantly warred with each other.
Traditional belief is that ancient voyagers Kupe and Toi found New Zealand about 900AD to 1000AD and that the bulk of the original first settlers reached these shores by about 1350AD. Whatever the facts, the Maori people were well established when Abel Tasman and James Cook first sighted New Zealand. The Maori lived well, had strongly developed cultural and religious traditions - and constantly warred with each other.
The Maori have made the strongest cultural contribution to New Zealand today and have the longest, deepest roots with the land we now all call home. For a long time it looked like the Maori language, culture and even the people might disappear but in recent times this trend has been reversed with what some have called a Maori Renaissance. The people have returned to their language and culture while at the same time encouraging their young people to education. If this continues to will be of great benefit both to the Maori people and to the country as well.
First Day Cover for this set, signed by the designer.
All six stamps in this issue was designed by Dave Gunson. New Zealand Post Philatelic presented him with this certificate to acknowledge his work. Notice all six stamps are included in the design.
Below are copies of the six final designs, signed off by Dave Gunson. You will notice that the values here are different to those on the issued stamps as New Zealand Post would have changed these to meet their requirements prior to printing.
$1.20 - Issued as $1.30 - The Maori.
The Maori standing has been changed in the final stamp.
The Maori standing has been changed in the final stamp.
40c - Issued as $1.05 - The Missionaries.
$1.00 - Issued as 40c - The Moriori.
60c - Issued as 60c - The Prospectors.
70c - Issued as 70c - The Land Settlers.
Notice that the drawing was changed a lot in this design.
80c - Issued as 80c - The Whalers.
I am unsure why this design appear different to the other five.
Technical information
Date of Issue:
| 17 May, 1989. |
|---|---|
Designers:
| D Gunson, Auckland. |
Printers:
| Leigh-Mardon, Australia. |
Stamp Size:
| 40mm x 28mm. |
Sheet Size:
| 100 stamps per sheet. |
Process:
| Lithography. |
Perforation Gauge:
| 14 x 14.25. |
Paper Type:
| Red phosphor coated, unwatermarked. |
Some of the images in this post were used with permission from the illustrated catalogue of StampsNZ
You can visit their web site and On-line Catalogue at, http://stampsnz.com/