Story: Death rates and life expectancy

Declining Māori population

Declining Māori population

While the Pākehā population grew quickly from the 1860s, the Māori population declined. By the mid-1880s, when this newspaper article was published, it was approaching its lowest point, reached in 1891. This trend led many Pākehā commentators to talk of Māori as 'a dying race'.

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National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past
Reference: Wanganui Herald, 29 May 1886, p. 2

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

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How to cite this page:

Ian Pool, 'Death rates and life expectancy - Pākehā epidemiological transition', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/document/26580/declining-maori-population (accessed 20 April 2024)

Story by Ian Pool, published 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 14 Mar 2019