Early Contact between Maori and Europeans

Contact between the Maori and Europeans was both good and bad for the Maori and Europeans.

It was good for the Maoris because they were able to learn how to use new tools, which they received through trading. The Maori traded Flax, shrunken human heads, woven mats, kauri, spears, fresh pork, carvings and potatoes with the Europeans in exchange for muskets, gunpowder, blankets, nails, tomahawks, axes, spades and other tools. The tools they used before the Europeans introduced metal to the Maoris were wooden tools, these would often break or rot and had to be replaced time and time again. Before the Europeans arrived the Maori used very “old fashioned” tools compared to the Europeans. It was also good for the Maoris socially. The missionaries helped the Maoris to stop polygamy (having more than one wife), cannibalism and slavery. The Maoris ...