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Story: Death rates and life expectancy

Māori family, 1770s

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Māori family, 1770s

In 1773, during James Cook's second voyage of exploration to New Zealand, artist William Hodges sketched a Māori family at Dusky Sound, Fiordland. At this time Māori life expectancy was about 30 years. After Māori contact with Europeans and European diseases, life expectancy declined significantly.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: C-051-031

by William Hodges

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.

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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/artwork/26583/maori-family-1770s (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Ian Pool, published 19 April 2011.