History of the Otago Region
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The Otago region of New Zealand is one of the more isolated places of the inhabited earth. Its high latitude, elevation and distance from larger foreign and domestic population centres have defined Otago at each stage of its history.
The human occupation of Otago begins around the year 1300 with the arrival of Māori soon after they settled in New Zealand.[1] The Māori were originally from tropical Polynesia; they continually adapted to the new and changing environment over the next 500 years. At that time the first European sealers and whalers arrived, followed by the founding of the colony of Otago's first city Dunedin in 1848.
New Zealand's ecology had evolved in near isolation from the rest of the world for 85 million years. At first settlement it was almost devoid of land mammals, meaning the fauna was very susceptible to introduced land predators.[2] Humans burnt the forests, ate the animals and introduced numerous predators and exotic plants to Otago. This came in two great waves around the years 1300 and 1800, although the effects of both introductions would continue for centuries. This was followed by intensive farming and alteration to the rivers and lakes of Otago for water and electricity production.
Until the late 19th century the vast majority of permanent settlements in Otago were on the eastern coast, which was rich in resources and has a more temperate climate.[1] During this time inland Otago was largely used seasonally and for its mineral deposits, first by the Māori digging for pounamu stone, then European settlers searching for gold. With the advent of the railway, and refrigerated trade with Britain, inland Otago became more consistently productive. Rapid urbanisation has led to the creation of main population centres on the flatter eastern coast and in the high inland plains between the mountain ranges. This has been accompanied with immense social change in Otago's population, similar but distinct to the rest of New Zealand.
The boundaries of Otago have changed over time. However, the Waitaki River, currently Otago's northern extent, has often been used as a natural border. Ngāi Tahu, the dominant Māori tribe in the region, currently has three rūnanga (sub-tribes) within Otago and their traditional extent is not limited to the region. Today Otago is divided into the Central Otago, Clutha, Queenstown-Lakes and Waitaki (partly in Canterbury) Districts, and the city of Dunedin, which has half the region's population. It excludes the Southland plains, Stewart Island and Fiordland, although the historical province of Otago and much older Murihiku region often included them.