An exploration of some carte de visites from the 19th century depicting New Zealand Maori

Dr Anna Cole

In 1878 the British navy proudly announced the commissioning of a ship, the HMS Alert to 'survey and explore' the Magellan Straits and the south Pacific. Aboard the ship was a young Assistant Paymaster, Frederick North, who would play his own part in this work of 'surveying'.

North's special interest was in what he described as 'native types', and of these he was an enthusiastic amateur photographer. A newspaper article from the 1870s noted that in avid pursuit of his photographs 'the gentleman travelled through forest and decayed timber, through sour swamps and over rough boulders'.

Carte de visite

Like many of his contemporaries, North began his lifelong interest in photography by collecting carte de visites. The carte de visite was the first popular form of portrait photography. These small, cheap prints were the result of a new development in photographic technology which meant images could be mass produced for the first time. Cheaply produced photos or cartes sold for a shilling. The carte was at the height of its popularity in the 1860s, becoming something of a craze in Europe.

At this same time in New Zealand, half a world away, there was a renewed period of land wars between Maori and British troops. This period of fighting brought about a high demand for carte de visites of Maori fighters, leaders or 'rebels' as they were known. In particular Moko or Maori facial tattooing was a source of fascination and many photographers made a speciality of just such images.

Moko or Maori facial tattoos

Moko was chiselled into the face to create permanent grooves in the skin. The face was 'carved' like wood, and then pigmented. As the photographs on the following pages show, the tattoos could give the Maori warrior an intimidating, fearsome appearance. They also displayed the wearer's capacity for pain and endurance. Each Moko had its own design influenced by the wearer's features and signifying their genealogy and hereditary rank.

Patuone, a Nga Puhi leader, 1878. ©National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, LondonOn the back of one of the cartes collected by Frederick North he has written 'what a mixture of savage and civilised life! The…clothes of a European and the tattooed face of a Maori!!' To him these men seemed an incongruous mix – but who were they and what insights do these images give into the rich lives they lived, and their involvement in the dramatic events of their times?

Patuone, a Nga Puhi leader

As a child Patuone, a Nga Puhi leader, peacemaker, trader and government adviser claimed to have seen James Cook's ship near Cape Brett in the Bay of Islands around 1769.

'I looked upon the faces of the strange people' he said in old age 'and I wondered greatly'.

He was present in 1840 at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and is remembered as both a warrior and a peace-maker between the Maori and the Europeans. When this photograph was taken in the 1860s Patuone was involved in negotiations with Governor Grey, trying to avert a new series of violent land wars then erupting in the North Island.

Tomika Te Mutu, a chief of the Ngai te rangi tribe, 1878 ©National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, LondonThe beard which covers his Moko, and the British army cap on the table next to him indicate that he worked closely with Europeans and affected their style of dress, but his cloak and Maori staff of office show that this leader moved between two worlds.

When he died in 1872, 500 mourners both Maori and Pakeha (European) attended his funeral and the government erected a plaque at his grave which celebrated Patuone as a 'warm friend of Europeans, supporter of the Queen's laws, and Peacemaker'.

Tomika Te Mutu, a chief of the Ngai te rangi tribe

Te Wheoro, Wiremu Te Moehu Maipapa, a Waikato leader, 1878 ©National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, LondonEnraged by the unjust arrest of an important Maori leader, Tomika Te Mutu (shown here), a chief of the Ngai te rangi tribe, travelled in angry protest to Auckland in the 1850s alongside other chiefs from his area. It is possible that Te Mutu who stares directly at the camera with a look of defiance had this photograph commissioned at one of the new photographic studios in Auckland. His distinct Moko and clean shaven face indicate his undisputed status as Maori warrior.

Te Wheoro, Wiremu Te Moehu Maipapa, a Waikato leader

Te Wheoro, Wiremu Te Moehu Maipapa, was a Waikato leader, soldier, assessor, diplomat and politician. As a younger man Te Wheoro was optimistic about working with the British government. Yet despite working closely with them he found his own lands confiscated, and in 1879 he resigned his position as Native Commissioner stating that he was not listened to and his people were treated unfairly. However he continued to seek just solutions to the British colonisation of his country and was elected to Parliament as a Maori representative.

Unknown Maori sitter (possibly taken in 1860 by G.W. Bishop). ©National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, LondonFive years before his death in 1890, he visited Auckland with other Waikato chiefs to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Waitangi. In this photograph the blanket he wears across his chest, the traditional greenstone earring and the expression of pride and pain in his eyes suggest his disillusionment with European laws and promises.

Unknown Maori sitter

No date or name is known for this photograph but from the sitter's style of dress, and the sideburns partly obscuring his Moko, it seems he interacted closely with Europeans. It is possible that the image was taken in 1860 by G.W. Bishop, a photographer based in Auckland who took a number of carte de visites of important Maori leaders attending a conference at Kohimarama in that year. The meeting came at the beginning of the renewed period of conflict between British and Maori communities, a time when Maori religious and political organisations opposed to the seizing of Maori land by the colonial government were established.

Mohi Te Ngu of Auckland

Mohi Te Ngu of Auckland, circa 1860s ©National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, LondonMohi Te Ngu of Auckland, who is the subject of these two carte de visites was known to enjoy dressing in different outfits and posing for the camera. Like the other men in these pictures Te Ngu moved between Maori and European worlds. He worked with Europeans in Auckland in the 1850s but parted company a decade later when he supported the powerful Maori King movement during the Waikato land war.

In these pictures which date from the 1860s he wears a Kaitaka, a prestigious ceremonial cloak with fine weaving, Maori greenstone earrings and a traditional Tiki. In his hand he holds a pounamu (greenstone) mere, or club, a prestigious traditional weapon used like a cleaver, with slicing motions to the head, neck and joints of the enemy's body. The crude over-painting in green probably indicates that these carte de visites were aimed at the new souvenir market.

Underneath the cloak Mohi Te Ngu wears a suit, leather shoes, and a cravat in a bow. His collar is folded over the cloak and beside him sits the cap of a British naval officer. Could it be Paymaster Frederick North's cap lent to the sitter? Does the cap indicate Mohi Te Ngu's allegiance with the British forces? Alternatively there is evidence that the caps were worn and displayed by Maori fighters as a sign of having vanquished the British in battle. What can we make of Te Ngu's expression?

Mohi Te Ngu of Auckland, circa 1860s ©National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

Sources

• J Belich, 'The Governors and the Maoris (1840–1872)', The Oxford Illustrated History of New Zealand (Oxford: 1990, pp. 75–99)
• E. Edwards (Ed), Anthropology & Photography, 1860–1920 (New Haven: Yale, 1992)
• M. King, Maori. A Photographic and Social History (Auckland: Reed, 1996 revised ed)
• W. Main and JB Turner, New Zealand Photography from the 1840s to the Present (Auckland: Photoforum Inc, 1993)
• W. Main, Maori in Focus: A Selection of Photographs of the Maori from 1850–1914 (Wellington: Millwood, 1976)
• B. Mihaere, 'Te Riri Pakeha', Scars on the Heart. Two Centuries of New Zealand at War (Bateman & Auckland Museum, 1996, pp. 14–26)