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Story: Kauri gum and gum digging

Gum digger’s licence

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Gum digger’s licence

The 1898 Kauri Gum Industry Act and its 1908 amendment required gum diggers working on government land to be licensed. This 1947 licence cost £2 and allowed Tony Yelash of Ahipara to dig for gum on government-owned gum reserves for one year.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: PAColl-2144

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

Carl Walrond, Kauri gum and gum digging – The gum diggers, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/ephemera/12956/gum-diggers-licence (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 1 March 2009.