'Nature's Ladies': Representations of Maori Women by European Men in the Early Nineteenth Century

Abstract

Nineteenth century travel narratives were a genre of literature which exercised a great deal of power over representations of non-European peoples and the ways in which European society viewed issues of race and empire. However, these texts did not only influence the beliefs and attitudes of Europeans about non-European peoples. Representations of Europeans as 'Others' also shaped the ideas that later generations of colonised countries had about their past and the way traditional indigenous society was structured. British travel narratives about New Zealand and the portrayals of Maori women such texts contain, have retained an authority—which arguably they do not deserve—both within New Zealand history, and British imperial history. The justifications for the colonisation of New Zealand made within these travel narratives, reassured British politicians and public that Maori were uncivilised, and Britain was right to acquire sovereignty over Maori people and their land. The representations made by European male travellers of Maori men, women, children, rituals, economies, customs, language and environment are treated as evidence by scholars in New Zealand, of traditional Maori life during the first fifty years of European contact. In essence, these texts had the power to define and represent Maori, both for British requirements, and Maori and Pakeha themselves. For these reasons, such texts must be examined, analysed and situated within their historical context. This thesis is a study of five travel narratives written by British men who travelled to New Zealand between 1805 and 1841, and the representations these texts contain about Maori women. The areas of Maori women's lives portrayed by the authors were sexuality and appearance, political, economic and social roles, and customs and rituals. These representations are analysed in relation to ideas about gender, race, and empire in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century British society. In so doing, an historical context for the texts is identified, and correspondingly, some explanations for the ways in which European men represented Maori women. Ideas about gender played an important role in the way European men viewed Maori women, with particular emphasis upon their attractiveness, sexual availability, modesty, adornments, economic and political roles, and customs. Early nineteenth century British ideologies about domesticity and the private, moral role of women influenced the way European male travellers portrayed women's roles in Maori society. Maori women were also measured against European standards of beauty and sexuality, although beliefs about exotic Pacific beauties and dusky maidens also prevailed. Maori women were represented as having low status in Maori society, and being heavily overworked, however the details European men recorded about their economic and political roles, and marriage and child rearing customs did not reflect this. It was ideas of empire and race which influenced the comments European men made about Maori women leading degraded lives and Maori society being uncivilised. By distinguishing Maori from Europeans as racially and culturally different, European male travel writers endorsed British beliefs about European superiority and civilisation. By analysing these texts in terms of gender, race, and empire, a clearer picture emerges of European-Maori relations in the early nineteenth century, and the role such cross-cultural contact had in the colonisation of New Zealand.