Skip to main content

Story: Death rates and life expectancy

Measles epidemic

Image
Measles epidemic

Māori had no initial immunity to the new diseases that arrived with Pākehā settlers, and severe epidemics were common. This 1887 newspaper article describes a deadly outbreak of measles in Taranaki centred on Parihaka . Large hui at which Māori from different places gathered could result in disease spreading over a wide area.

Using this item

National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past

Reference: Evening Post, 4 July 1887, 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.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Ian Pool, Death rates and life expectancy – Effects of colonisation on Māori, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/26589/measles-epidemic (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Ian Pool, published 19 April 2011.