[New post] The little-known history of New Hebridean labourers in 19th century New Zealand – a tale waiting to be told

WordPress.com dailyvanuatu posted: " About sixty thousand Melanesians, almost all of them from (present-day) Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, were brought to Queensland to toil in that state's sugarfields in the nineteenth century. Today, the descendants of some of these 'blackbirded' la" Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Vanuatu Daily Digest The little-known history of New Hebridean labourers in 19th century New Zealand – a tale waiting to be told by dailyvanuatu A New Hebridean flaxworker in the Hokianga region of the north island of New Zealand, c. 1872, photographed by Daniel Mundy About sixty thousand Melanesians, almost all of them from (present-day) Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, were brought to Queensland to toil in that state's sugarfields in the nineteenth century. Today, the descendants of some of these 'blackbirded' labourers make up Australia's South Sea Islander community. In Vanuatu and in the Solomons many families remember ancestors who suffered in Queensland. Historians have told the story of Queensland's bonded labourers in essays and books and documentary films.But the stories of the Melanesians who were brought to New Zealand have seldom been told. Only a relatively small number of Melanesians came to New Zealand, and few of them stayed permanently. But their presence prompted debates in the media and in parliament, and led to the creation of an historic set of photographs.Read more of this post dailyvanuatu | September 4, 2016 at 1:15 pm | Tags: blackbirding, labour, New Hebrides, New Zealand, Vanuatu | Categories: History, Long Read | URL: http://wp.me/p2A4RK-1ix Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Vanuatu Daily Digest. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://ift.tt/2cpqAkI Thanks for flying with WordPress.com

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