Harsh Life For Early Polish Settlers

Taranaki is a good place for skis and they are all in the telephone book.

The Fritz Reuter: Brought many Polish people to New Zealand.  Image: Provided by Sister Martha Szymanska.

You can find Dodunski, Dombroski, Dravitski, Stachurski and some more. Today the families with names ending in ski live all over Taranaki but there was a time when almost all their ancestors lived in or near Inglewood. There were jobs there in the late 1870s and that's where these Polish people settled.

Rewind  to the 1870s

True or false? What do you think?

1. Rugby is played for the first time. Teams can have 40 players and the game can last all day.

2. Felling trees on contract is one way Taranaki settlers can make money. Many of the trees they fell are over 25 metres high and two metres thick.

3. By now traditional Maori clothing has gone out of general use.

4. Kauri trees can no longer be milled. They have almost disappeared.

5. Children must attend primary school and education is free.

Immigrant ships

This week's story is about one group of Taranaki immigrants. The Puke Ariki website below helps you find people that came to our region by ship. Enter your own family name if you haven't looked already and then try some of the Polish names like the ones above.

Here is the site. Click on in!

Which is which?

Immigrants or emigrants? One word describes people who leave their own county to settle in another. The other describes the settlers or newcomers. Which is which?

Letter of good character

New Zealand wanted settlers of "good character" so many people asked their church leaders to write a letter showing just how good they were and what good settlers they would be. Pair up with a classmate and write good character letters for each other. Remember, it's the 1870s and you are a church leader!

Pack your ship

Immigrant ships were squashy places. Passengers only had their own cabin if they paid extra so most of the new immigrants were in the hold. There were no portholes so it was too dark to read or work and the living space for a family of six might only be four square metres.

What if you left your home in the 1800s to settle in a new country? You can't take much so think of the items that will help you the most in your new life. List ten things you and your family would take. Think, pair and then share your ideas with a classmate.

Lighten the load!

Your ship is in trouble and the captain orders that half of your family's items must be thrown overboard. Choose your five and compare them with your classmate.

The ship is still taking water and the captain decides that two more items must go. He suggests that families get together because some families might have more useful things than others. Try this in a group of four. Choose eight things from your combined list that you will throw overboard.

An interactive!

This Puke Ariki site shows a family packing a trunk too. Have a look.

Word wise?

All these words are in this week's story. Choose (a) or (b) to show the correct meaning and then check your answers later as you read the story.

1. pungent (a) strong and spicy or (b) horrible

2. fragrant (a) stinky or (b) spicy smelling

3. majority (a) most of or (b) a small number

4. medieval (a) from the time of the Middle Ages or (b) a place run by a cruel dictator

5. clutches (a) car parts or (b) grip

6. delectable (a) sour or (b) tasty

7. sanctuary (a) a tidal inlet or (b) a safe place

8. frontier (a) border or (b) a wild place

9. assimilated (a) absorbed or (b) rejected

10. spontaneous (a ) planned or (b) instinctive

Read on!

Read the first part of this story down to "On German Street". Look for these things as you read.

The way the author cleverly builds a word picture of the old one-room lean-to.

The source of much of the information for this story.

The New Zealand port the Polish immigrant ship sailed into.

The type of work the new immigrants did.

Something that shows the Polish people were a close- knit community.

Big town people?

The Fritz Reuter sailed into Wellington first and 52 of the Polish settlers changed ships and headed for New Plymouth. This was in 1876. What if you were a new settler? Would you rather begin your new life in Wellington or New Plymouth?

Make up a T chart like the one in the cartoon. On one side list some good things about settling in Taranaki and on the other list some good things about settling in Wellington.

Before you begin, compare the two places.

Wellington is a bigger place than New Plymouth in 1876. Over 5000 people live here already and in 10 years Wellington will have enough people to be officially called a city.

Parliament has been meeting in Wellington for over 10 years and it is now the capital of New Zealand.

Wellington is central to other towns in both the North Island and the South Island. That's quite important because transport systems are quite poor.

And in Taranaki:

The second of the Taranaki Wars is over.

Pakeha farmers are settling on Taranaki land that has been confiscated from Maori.

Taranaki has more British settlers than any other place in New Zealand.

Refrigerated shipping will soon be invented, dairy factories will be built and then dairy farming in Taranaki will really take off.

Workers wanted

Pick one of the jobs the Polish settlers got and write the advertisement for this job that might have appeared in the "Situations Vacant" column of The Taranaki Herald in 1876.

Find the evidence

Read on from "On German Street" to "Poles apart" and track down the evidence that tells us these things.

Why the English people called these settlers German.

Why Poland at that time didn't even exist.

What the difference was between the Poles and the Germans.

Map tracker

Track down the part of the world these settlers came from. You can use the map below but remember this is a present day map. An 1876 map from the same region wouldn't even have Poland marked on it and the borders would be in different places!

Click here for the map.

Are any of the countries that once ruled Poland still on Poland's borders?

Which port would the emigrants leave from if their ancestors were to re-enact their journey today?

I'm a Pole!

New Zealanders fought the Germans in World War One. Germany was the enemy so anything German in New Zealand was unpopular. German sausage became luncheon sausage and German Shepherd became Alsatian. Taranaki's Polish settlers were unpopular because people thought they were German. That's why some of them had to report to the police each week. Perhaps our Government thought they were spies!

What if you were the policeman that had to interview these Poles. You know they aren't Germans and you know they aren't spies. Unfortunately you have a job to do and you must check up on these people each week. Make up the list of questions you might have had to ask. Get a classmate to play the part of a Pole and interview them. They can ask you their questions too.

A real community

Finish reading the story now. Take special note of the "distinctive" Polish music and how the Polish community helped each other settle in their new country. Match an instrument in the story to a character in the cartoon and then find two examples that show how people in the Polish community really did help each other.

A friend indeed!

Three Puke Ariki stories have been written about the remarkable Chew Chong. He helped the Polish settlers and many others. Early Taranaki farmers had a lot to thank Chew Chong for. Gathering and selling fungus gave them extra cash while they struggled to break in their farms. Find the Chew Chong stories here and if you want to try the matching TreasureLink click here.

Cultures stay alive!

Polish Pride: The multi-ethnic parade in 2000.

This photo is from the parade that begins Taranaki's multi-cultural extravaganza each year. It's a time for people from all the different cultures in Taranaki to celebrate with a day of national costumes, dance, music and arts and crafts. The multi-cultural extravaganza is a popular day and the food is amazing. You can eat your way right around the world. Check out these Polish dishes on the website below and decide whether your taste buds would give them the thumbs up or the thumbs down.

Hunter's stew, Golabki, Sweet pierogil, Kielbasa. Click here.

Fast forward to 2004

These days New Zealand's immigrants arrive by jet and the Immigration Service wants more than a letter from a church leader before deciding who can stay. There's a special process immigrants must follow and those that don't follow the rules run the risk of being sent home. This has happened recently and the stories have made the news.

Some things don't change. New Zealand still needs skilled people to help the country grow so some new immigrants get to live and work here by showing the immigration service that they are "skilled migrants".

So what do you think makes a person a "skilled migrant"? The Immigration Service lists criteria that have something to do with age, language ability, qualifications and work experience. Make up a checklist with a classmate that you think probably comes close to the Immigration Service one.

Click here to compare your list with the one from the Immigration Service.

We need you!

Priority occupations are ones in which New Zealand has a shortage of skilled workers. Make a list of five jobs you think are priority occupations. Add details for each occupation on your list. For example, don't just put engineer. Say what type of engineer.

Click here to see if any of your priority jobs are on the Immigration Service list.