Battle lines in the Hot Lakes District, New Zealand, c.1900: tourism development and the contested nature of place

Abstract

In the nineteenth century, European visitors flocked to see the silica formations known as the Pink and White Terraces in the central North Island of New Zealand. The history of this visitation illustrates the contested nature of tourism development in a colonial context. Tribal warfare for control over the natural resources was a feature in the 1850s with Tūhourangi emerging victorious. Increasing visitation in the 1870s and 1880s shifted the battlefield into an economic sphere with indigenous entrepreneurship and agency a key factor of development. Tūhourangi met this challenge and controlled most of the commerce and kept their land-holdings intact. The Native Land Court became a new battleground for Tūhourangi as they successfully argued their case and were recognised as the legal owners of the Terraces. Despite acknowledgment of indigenous ownership, Tūhourangi would have had to engage in ongoing battles in order to keep their lands. The eruption of Mount Tarawera and the subsequent damage it caused, including the destruction of the Pink and White Terraces, stifled tourist activity in the region and left Tūhourangi virtually landless. The Crown were then able to purchase vast tracts of land without competition thus controlling any future development.