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Story: Rural mythologies

One hundred crowded years

Video file

In 1940 the Government Film Studios made a film to commemorate the centennial of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and the first century of New Zealand as a nation. The film featured this highly romanticised footage of the heroic struggles of the pioneer family. The man cuts down the bush to turn it into farmland, while the woman collects water near a thundering waterfall.

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Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: One hundred crowded years. Government Film Studios, 1941.

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

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How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Rural mythologies – The cult of the pioneer, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/20316/one-hundred-crowded-years (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 1 March 2009.