1813: Maoris Get Indian Take-Away for Dinner
July 10, 2019
By AHNZ
Some of New Zealand’s very first immigrants in the post-Maori era were not Westerners but Indian sailors (‘lascar’). One of them was Black Goff the Pirate who operated out of Dusky Sound. Compared to his piratical Auckland mayoral namesake, Phil Goff, he was a small timer. Eventually re-captured, Black Goff was returned to the prison island of Norfolk only to escape once again.
In late 1813 the American whaler/sealer Matilda was in deep trouble. Short of crew, provisions, and rigging, its captain, Fowler, picked up Black Goff and his comrades as crew after their first jail break. Finding refuge on the South coast of New Zealand, kindly Maoris re-supply them and even help to re-equip the rigging. Black Goff and others now desert with a longboat and commence marauding operations.
Six Indians desert Captain Fowler, stealing one of the boats, and wind up being killed by the Maoris. In 1879 near Bluff an old Maori cannibal oven is found with an old pendant coin among the ashes¹. It was inscribed in Hindi and dated 1759. Surely the last remains of one of these sailors and perhaps the first time the Maoris had Indian for dinner.
Fowler sent his Chief Officer, Brown, in another boat with seven men. Five of these were lascars who may or may not have been part of Black Goff’s prison break. I lean toward thinking they were original members of Matilda’s crew. Only one of these men was heard from again. Apparently the others were interrogated for their knowledge and skills, then eaten.
Years later, in 1817, the last of these Indian sailors appears in the history books one last time². He has become a slave of the Maoris, a permanent migrant, and he now speaks their language and lives with them north of the heads of Otago Harbour. He “evinced not the slightest disposition to be taken away,” so had perhaps contracted Stockholm Syndrome to be the very first ‘Mindian.’*
These were dangerous years to be in the South Island. It was the midst of the Ngai Tahu Civil War as well as ‘The Sealers’ War’ where Maori hostility was also turned outward toward Western visitors. As a slave I don’t suppose our first Indian migrant ever had children or left a mark. Poor little guy! He was probably kept around like CP3O as a walking bit of Information Technology and eventually someone decided they wanted to try some foreign food.
Imagine if one of the remaining shrunken Maori heads (and they were in this area) repatriated to New Zealand turned out to be one of the lascar. Will it then be “returned” to India?
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1 McNab’s coin; Southland Times (1916); Papers Past
2 UPDATE: ‘Tommy’ the Lascar lived! And we know his name. Perhaps I can find out what happened to him. See future post
* Maori Indian; I didn’t make this up but heard Madeleine Sami say it in a documentary
Ref. THE MATILDA AT OTAGO, 1813; Murihiku (1909); nzetc.victoria
Ref. Piratical Escapades; Star (1904); Papers Past
Image ref. Aziz Ansari looking worried. A fine casting choice for the movie version of this post, am I right?
Image ref. Modern era Lascar Indians
Image Silver rupee in the name of Alamgir II that would resemble the coin discovered beyond Bluff; ref. vcoins.com
Found this coin from about the same time period as the one found outside Bluff in 1879. It’s the closest match I could discover, let me know if you can do better?
The coin found in a Maori cannibal oven by Mr Williams may still be around in some museum or with the family. Love to learn more.
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