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Story: Anthropology and archaeology

William Henry Skinner at Te Koru pā, Ōakura, 1897

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William Henry Skinner at Te Koru pā, Ōakura, 1897

Ethnologist William Skinner learned the Māori language and developed his interest in Māori culture while working as a surveyor. He was a founding member of the Polynesian Society, along with fellow surveyors Edward Tregear and S. Percy Smith. Here, Skinner is standing in front of the stone revetting lining the terrace walls of Te Koru , by the Ōakura River in Taranaki, in 1897.

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Puke Ariki - Taranaki Museum & Library

Reference: PHO2008-1665

by Augustus Hamilton

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How to cite this page

Peter Clayworth, Anthropology and archaeology – Colonial anthropology and archaeology, 1840 to 1890, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/44408/william-henry-skinner-at-te-koru-pa-oakura-1897 (accessed 3 June 2026).

Story by Peter Clayworth, published 7 March 2014.