Overturning the Narrative: Steele and Goldie's Arrival of the Maoris in New Zealand, 1899

Abstract

New Zealand’s best-known historical painting, Louis John Steele and Charles Frederick Goldie’s Arrival of the Maoris in New Zealand (1899), has influenced the way Māori history has been (mis)understood. Through a detailed examination of the historical, anthropological and artistic sources that informed the painting, a new understanding emerges. Rather than a generic imagined depiction of Māori arrival, a long-overlooked source for the narrative is found in the voyage of the Arawa waka and its encounter with the “throat of Te Parata.” The analysis gives new insight into the artists’ intent, enabling us to begin to address the uncomfortable place Arrival occupies in New Zealand art history and culture.