The Story of Dicky Barrett - The Ngamotu Years

Richard (Dicky) Barrett was an adventurer. He went to sea at 16, sailed for Sydney from England when he was 21 and became a trader in Taranaki long before the English settlers arrived. The year was 1828. Up until 1820 Maori at Ngamotu had not even seen a Pakeha.

Dicky Barrett was an interesting character.

Rewind

Return to 1828. Were these things really happening around this time?

1. Whalers have set up stations, mainly in the South Island.

2. There is a high demand for flax. It's used to make ropes and cords.

3. Traders are swapping muskets with Maori, for flax.

4. Maori only use the muskets for hunting birds.

5. Some missionaries are giving muskets to Maori so they will listen to what they have to say.

Answers at the bottom of the page.

Here come the Pakeha

Dicky Barrett came to New Zealand 59 years after Captain James Cook's first voyage in 1769. Cook made friends with many Maori tribes along the east coast. He gave one famous chief a nail as a present.

Maori saw guns for the first time and called them walking sticks. When Cook's men pointed these sticks at the trees they went off with a bang and birds fell to the ground. The Maori children ran for the bush.

Cook returned to New Zealand in 1773 and 1777. His visits were big news in Europe. People read his journals. Seal hunters were landing after 1790 and whalers came too.   From 1815 ships were arriving to collect flax and after 1820 more whalers worked from shore.

The traders needed food and water and Maori bartered with these strangers they called Pakeha. Sometimes they listened to the men who called themselves missionaries. The traded muskets killed more in tribal wars than had ever been killed before. Pakeha brought new diseases and these killed even more Maori. But the European brought some useful things too like iron and metals, books, money and even horses. 

Pakeha changed Maori life forever but what if Captain James Cook hadn't found New Zealand? Would things have been different for Maori? What do you think would have happened in New Zealand by 1800? Decide with a classmate and then compare your ideas with another pair.

High five for the sailor boy

Read the first part of this story down to "Meeting on the water" and find out where Dicky Barrett met his great mate Jacky Love.

The story tells us that Dicky could have been born in one of two places and that they were both places of "dirt and poverty, slums and alleyways." No wonder Dicky rushed off to sea! 

What if you lived in these times? Would you stay where you were born or would you head off to sea as Dicky did? Write a high five list of five good things about heading off to sea. Think of all the advantages that might possibly come your way. When you have your list, compare it with others.

A risky trade?

Check out the trading goods Barrett and Love had on board when they sailed from Sydney to Ngamotu, Taranaki.

Trade was a risky business. Ships could be wrecked and the traders didn't really know if the people living in far off places wanted to trade or if they were even friendly. The Maori people living near Ngamotu hadn't seen that many Pakeha people.

What if you were a trader and had to decide whether Ngamotu was worth a visit? Rank the chances of a successful trade. One equals a very high chance of success down to five - a low chance of success, better stay away!

A risky meeting?

Now read, "Meeting on the water".

The two chiefs had to make a decision when they saw the schooner. They could let it go or they could gather the warriors and waka and paddle out to it. Read the beginnings of this possible conversation and then write your own ending.

Te Puni: The men on the hill tell of a sail ship approaching cousin.

Te Wharepouri: It could be a trader ship Te Puni.

Te Puni: It will not stop at Nga-motu. It is too rough for Pakeha ships. They have sailed  past before.

Te Wharepouri: And that is why Te Ati Awa do not have muskets cousin. Our enemies have them.

Te Puni: Do you think this ship might carry muskets Te Wharepouri?

Why not trade?

The next three parts of the story tell you what happened after the warriors in their waka met up with Barrett and Love in their schooner. Read on through to "Disaster in the Bay" and then discuss the things below with a classmate.

The story says, "trade with the white people was a new concept to Maori." Maori had traded with other tribes before. Different tribes had different things of value. Maori on the west coast of the South Island for example had pounamu or greenstone.  What do you think the tribes of Taranaki would offer as a trade?

What if you were a chief? What would you do with the new items of trade you have just got from the Pakeha?  Remember what the story said about mana.

What if you owned this trading station where the ten traders worked? What would you do with all the goods that you received? How would you pay the traders?

Check if your ideas are similar to another pair's ideas.

Let's co-operate

Tikanga are the customs and traditions that have been handed down through time. The story tells us Barrett respected Te Ati Awa customs and that Te Ati Awa took some things from European culture and left the rest.

Try this activity in a pair or in a group of four. Draw a big Venn diagram like the one above but leave out those words, "similarities" and "differences". At first you just need the circles. You will need to use a big piece of paper that is A3 size or bigger.

Above the left circle print the title "Maori" and above the right circle print the word "Pakeha".

In the left circle, list some tikanga that you would expect Dicky Barrett to respect. Just think of the customs you know and decide if those customs are ones that Dicky would see as important.

In the right circle list some things Dicky was able to get that Maori would find very useful. (Dicky was a trader so he would know where to get all sorts of things.)

In the middle list the "good things" or "benefits" each group got out of the partnership.

Share and explain your Venn diagrams in class or with other groups.

Disaster in the Bay

Read this part of the story and then decide how the captain of the Elizabeth heard about the shipwrecked sailors. No one had a mobile phone. There wasn't even a land line! Ships didn't come past very often so how did that captain know? Work out a possible answer and then share your idea with a group or the rest of the class.

A harsh statement?

The next two parts of the story tell of Dicky Barrett's and John Love's family. Read on!

The story says, "Barrett and Love eased their way into Maori society for economic gain." That means they became friendly with Maori and had Maori wives so they could make more money. What do you think? Would that have been the only reason they became friendly with Maori? Was it part of the reason or was it not a reason at all?

First decide if that "economic gain" statement is a fact or an opinion. Write a "letter to the editor" as if you are a descendent of Dicky Barrett. Let readers know what you really think of that statement.

Think of the positives

When Dicky Barrett married Rawinia he was protected by the tribe because she was the daughter of some very important people. He had land to live on and it was probably easier for him to make important trading contacts.

Dicky's children spoke two languages and had Maori names as well as English. In many ways this was a time of opportunity. English settlers would arrive and they would need houses, goods and services. This story doesn't tell us what happened to the Barrett children but what if you were in their shoes?  How could you make the most of this opportunity? Make up a business plan in pairs or by yourself. Just work out what the settlers would need and how you could help yourselves by helping them.

A busy trading post

Read this part of the story and find out why the work Te Ati Awa was doing now became different to anything they had done before.

Try this activity in pairs or in a small group. Rule up a three column chart and print the heading "Plus" at the top of column one. Print the heading "Minus at the top of column two and the heading "Interesting" at the top of column three.

Now jot down the good things (plus column) the not so good things (minus column) and the interesting things as you work out the answer to the question below.

Was this new way of life better than the one Te Ati Awa had before Dicky and the traders came along?

The threat of war

Finish the story now and find out why a great battle would soon take place near the trading post.

Click here to find a map that includes the land the tribes in the story lived on.

Work out which tribe lived where and then work out the trail to the battle at Motunui. You could print out this map or draw a similar one. Then you could mark the trails the war parties took and their tribal lands.

NEXT WEEK'S TREASURELINK - BATTLE AT OTAKA PA

Fast forward

This week's story told us Dicky Barrett was a trader but he's also remembered as a whaler. Whaling was once a big New Zealand industry. It peaked in the years just before and after World War 11 and ended in the 1960s because whales had almost disappeared from New Zealand's coasts.

So do people still hunt whales?

Traditional whaling nations like Japan, Norway and Iceland want to but there's been a global ban on whaling since 1986. Around 1,400 whales are still killed each year because there are exemptions. That means there are special rules which allow for the hunting of limited numbers of some species.

 Now the whaling nations say that the ban should be lifted because not as many whale species face extinction. Japan for example has applied to hunt more than 3000 minke whales, a species they say is plentiful.

The whaling countries claim cultural rights because whale meat is a traditional food. They think a compromise would be fair and say whale inspectors could be on-board the boats and DNA sampling could keep a check on species numbers.

New Zealand researchers say that whale numbers are nowhere near high enough to start whaling again. They believe whale numbers for most species are only 10 to 20 per cent of what they were before whaling began.

In July the International Whaling Commission agreed to keep the ban in place but the whaling nations are encouraging smaller nations like Tuvalu and Mongolia to vote against the ban. The smaller and poorer countries are offered things like new airports hospitals and other aid projects.

So what do you think? Should the ban be lifted so a closer check can be kept on the hunters? Japan has already hinted that they might quit the IWC if the rules don't change.

Discuss this problem in class and try to come up with a solution that all countries might agree to.

Answers

Rewind

1. True.

2. True.

3. True.

4. False. Muskets were also used for war and they killed a lot more people than the traditional weapons did.
5. True.

Click to go back to the questions.

Word Watch

1a, 2a, 3b, 4b, 5a, 6a, 7a, 8b, 9a, 10a

Click to go back to the questions.