Story: Families: a history

Whalers and their families on Te Awaiti beach

Whalers and their families on Te Awaiti beach

Whalers, their families and members of the Māori community pose with the head of a dead whale at Te Awaiti beach on Arapawa Island in the Marlborough Sounds some time before 1895. The elderly woman in the front row with a walking stick is Mrs William Keenan, whose Māori name was Katarina Hikimapu. H. Fisk (front, far right), was the captain of the Torea, the mailboat in the bay. Jim Norton (back, right) was the best lancer at Te Awaiti station, with responsibility for stabbing and killing whales after they were harpooned. His daughter Kitty Norton is one of the three young women with stylish hats in the back row. The social connections between whalers, Māori and those servicing whaling stations and marae are vividly represented in this photograph.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: 1/2-052158-F

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:

Ian Pool and Rosemary Du Plessis, 'Families: a history - Changing families', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/30187/whalers-and-their-families-on-te-awaiti-beach (accessed 30 March 2024)

Story by Ian Pool and Rosemary Du Plessis, published 5 May 2011, updated 1 Jul 2017