Skip to main content

Story: Intermarriage

Kororāreka

Image
Kororāreka

Kororāreka (later Russell) in the Bay of Islands, shown here around 1836, became a centre for European traders, whalers and missionaries. The town was notorious for prostitution, but some of the connections between European men and Māori women resembled temporary or lasting forms of marriage. 

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: PUBL-0115-1-front

by Joel Samuel Polack

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Angela Wanhalla, Intermarriage – Early intermarriage, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/30232/kororareka (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Angela Wanhalla, published 29 March 2011.