Story: Te Māori i te ohanga – Māori in the economy

This is Joseph Toms's whaling station at Paremata in the 1840s. Toms (spelt 'Thoms' in the picture title) married Te Tokirikiri, a niece of Te Rauparaha. Māori initially supplied food and other goods to whalers. Later, with shore-based whaling stations, Pākehā whalers often married into Māori communities. Some Māori communities continued to operate whaling stations even after whaling wound down.