Skip to main content

Story: Tūranganui-a-Kiwa tribes

Sheep farm workers

Image
Sheep farm workers

Sheep farming was a major economic activity on the East Coast from the mid-19th century onwards. Māori people were closely involved, both as farmers and as agricultural workers. This photograph shows Māori workers on an East Coast sheep farm, some time between 1906 and 1910.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Frederick Ashby Hargreaves Collection (PAColl-3047)

Reference: 1/2-018017-F

by Frederick Ashby Hargreaves

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

Nick Tūpara, Tūranganui-a-Kiwa tribes – Reconstruction and development, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/4214/sheep-farm-workers (accessed 3 June 2026).

Story by Nick Tūpara, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 March 2017.