Tarara: Croats and Maori in New Zealand, monograph by Senka Bozic-Vrbancic

Tarara: Croats and Maori in New Zealand: Memory, Belonging, Identity
Senka Bozic-Vrbancic
Maori called us Tarara, as we speak so fast… At the beginning of the twentieth century, as Croatians left Dalmatia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire for the brave new world of New Zealand, Maor, now part of the British Empire, were losing much of their land and mana. All were looking for work. They came together on the gum fields of the far north. Many of the Croatians settled, some with mail-order brides, others with Maori women – and a unique community was born. This is the story of that community. Today we can travel anywhere, but we still cannot travel to the past. Drawing from official documents, oral histories, novels, letters, newspaper articles, marriage certificates, and much more, Senka Bozic-Vrbancic explores relationships between Maori and Croats. How has their collective identity been shaped by changing legal regulations from colonial times to the bi cultural New Zealand of today? What does it mean to be a New Zealander? “Tarara” is a provocative contribution to ideas about migration, displacement, and the impact of different social models – colonialism, assimilation, biculturalism, and multiculturalism – on Maori and Croatian identity.
Source www.otago.ac.nz

• Maori and Croatians worked and lived together from the late 19th century
• Their histories are intertwined in New Zealand’s Far North
• Significant study on indigenous and migrant identity and memory
• Well illustrated with historical photographs

At the turn of the twentieth century, Croatians were migrating from Dalmatia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Maori, having become part of the British Empire, were losing much of their land. All were looking for work. They came together on the gumfields of the far north, digging up kauri gum resin for export.
Many of the Croatians settled and married – some to mail-order brides from home, others to local Maori women – and a unique community was born. Drawing on a range of sources, from official historical narratives on the kauri gum industry, to oral histories, novels, letters, newspaper articles, marriage certificates, and much more, Bozic-Vrbancic examines Maori-Croatian relationships on the gumfields and beyond. This is a significant contribution to ideas about migration and displacement and an important discussion of the impact of different social models – colonialism, assimilation, biculturalism, and multiculturalism – on Maori and Croatian identity and memory. The book is illustrated with historical photographs.
Review Quotes
‘The application of theory to historical evidence is exemplary. Moreover, the sheer depth and intensity of the author’s analysis deserves the highest praise. …Tarara is a very rewarding read. It shows what can be achieved when historical enquiry and ethnographic fieldwork are combined in innovative and exciting ways.’ – NZ Journal of History, Vol. 44, No. 1. April 2010 (reviewed by Lyndon Fraser.
‘Dalmatia and the less than romantic experiences of life in the gum fields, including contact and intermarriage with local Maori, are painstakingly described … the later recollections and descriptions of Far North museums are fascinating as are the reflections of embittered young inheritors of the Tarara identity. Difficult reading but worth the effort.’ – Wairarapa Times-Age
‘As a full-length study of the Maori–Dalmatian relationship, this book makes a notable contribution to the study of New Zealand. Bozic-Vrbancic…supplements her oral histories with a significant array of historical material, drawing on the work of Hans-Peter Stoffel, newspaper stories, government reports, personal letters, poetry, fiction, photographs, and other ephemera… As a record of experiences in danger of being forgotten, this work is a great success.’ – New Zealand Slavonic Journal, Vol. 42
Contents

1. Introduction
2. ‘Teach the Body’ – constructions of ‘the Maori’ in colonial New Zealand
3. ‘Teach the Body’ – constructions of ‘the Austrians (Croatians)’ in colonial New Zealand
4. Narratives of the gumfields as home
5. Maori and Tarara on the gumfields
6. Visiting the past: Kauri gum stories
7. Welcome to ‘Our Place’: biculturalism in New Zealand Bibliography Notes Index

About the Author
Senka Bozic-Vrbancic is McArthur Research Fellow in the School of Social and Environmental Enquiry at the University of Melbourne. During the last decade she has worked in New Zealand, Ukraine, Croatia and Australia, completing her doctoral thesis on Maori-Croatian relationships at the University of Auckland in 2004. Her scholarly interests range widely, from indigenous and migrant identity formation, the politics of representation, visual culture and diaspora issues, to nationalisms and multiculturalisms. Her research addresses questions of globalisation, home, belonging, community and transnational connections.
Book details
Anthropology, Cultural Studies, History
ISBN 978 1 877372 09 4, paperback, 235 x 155 mm, 272 pp, illustrated, $49.95
Published: 2008
Source www.otago.ac.nz

Frano Botica
Tarara Maori and Rugby Star
Man, those old Dalmatian gumdiggers were tough. Digging out swamp to get at the petrified kauri gum – as I can tell you from first hand experience – was bloody hard work.
But it was all a means to an end – to own land and carve out a much better life for them here, in New Zealand, a world away from the scrapped over peninsula they came from – Dalmatia, Croatia.
The Northland terrain was rocky and hilly, a lot like what they’d come from. But it was paradise to them. The rocks, mud and hard work weren’t going to kill them, not like the constant warring they’d left.
That’s what I really like about my Dally rellies, both past and present. They have a single-mindedness that means they really know what they want and they aren’t afraid to work hard to get it.
Most of the early immigrants settled in Northland, where they intermarried with the local Maori tribes. It’s easy to see why – both cultures are really big on family, cultural identity, a strong sense of ‘home’, sing-a-longs and food. And neither was particularly welcomed by the English-speaking Pakeha.
They become the Tarara Maori – fast-talking Maori.
(Black and White photo: Taken in the Hawkes Bay near Wairoa where they were working in construction building the railway line. Frano’s Grand-father is at the back, his cousin Vic in the middle and his brother Paul is at the front.)
My grandad came to New Zealand just after the WWI. He came from Kocula, a beautiful island off the coast from the city of Split. He went to Wanganui where he joined up with the Ministry of Works, as it was then. I grew up in Auckland but we would get down to Wanganui most school holidays.
My old granddad lived with us for the last six months of his life before he died in 1978. I wish I’d been old enough to ask him more about his life but, well, he didn’t really seem to like talking about it anyway. He never taught my dad his language. “What’s the use?” he’d say. “You’ll never use it.”
I really regret that. I can’t speak Croatian and I can’t speak Te Reo. That was one of the hardest things about doing this doco. I’d be interviewing an old Dalmatian, and he’d lapse into Croatian. I’d wait until he’d stopped and was looking at me expectantly, and then I’d have to say; “Oh, sorry, I can’t speak the language.”
It’s really embarrassing. I felt like I’d let my ancestors down.
Now I’m determined to turn that around. Visiting the Auckland Dalmatian Club was great. Man, those guys really like to have a party. The dance they do is the kola, and of course, they thought it was a great idea to dress me up and show me the moves. I’ve got two left feet, so I was rubbish, but thankfully the magic of television makes me look not too bad.
Yeah, I’m much better at the haka…
Of course, all this stuff is really difficult anyway, but dancing the kola or playing the tamburica in front of the camera just made it all so much harder.
Until Here To Stay, I hadn’t done any television presenting, so I was pretty nervous. I was never very good at learning lines at school, so trying to remember what I was supposed to be saying while walking in the right direction AND looking at the camera? Boy, give me a test against the Aussies any day.
But I got a lot better and I’m really keen to do it again – I guess the Dally in me made we work hard at it!

Frano Botica playing Croatian tamburitza

I reckon my Dalmatian side is pretty strong. I love food, I like a glass of wine, I like to gather around the guitar as the night wears on. I guess I’m also pretty determined – when I want something I go out and make it happen.
From what I’ve seen I think most Croatian / Dalmatian New Zealanders today are a lot like that. We’re MPs, architects, designers, singers,pioneering winemakers, and leading businesspeople, for example.
These settlers have made a huge mark on New Zealand. Some of them I knew about, but others I didn’t. They’re such great people – loud, emotional, funny, creative, and strong. They reminded me a lot of the people I’d met when I visited Kocula.I don’t really think New Zealanders know much about the different people that came here, the cultures they brought, or how it influences Kiwi life today. I think the series will give them a new appreciation of how immigrant groups have moulded New Zealand.
Luckily, with my rugby and playing for Croatia, I’ve managed to go back a few times and have even been to my granddad’s island. I’d love to get back there, but for now my education will be limited to the Dalmatian club.
Please, no-one ask me to dance…
Source tvnz.co.nz

The descendants of Dalmatians and Maori remain proud of their mixed cultural and linguistic heritage. In March 2010 the 11th annual Tarara Day was celebrated in West Auckland, jointly organised by Te Waipareira marae and the Croatian Cultural Society. ‘Tarara’ is the Maori term for people of Dalmatian descent.
Source www.teara.govt.nz

Dame Mira Szaszy, b. Petricevich
Dame Mira made significant contributions in education, broadcasting, social welfare and small business development. In 1993 she received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Victoria University of Wellington in recognition of her contribution to the nation.
On the lack of speaking rights on the Marae for women:

Creed

Source www.business.auckland.ac.nz
The Mira Szaszy Research Centre for Maori and Pacific Economic Development at the University of Aukland

Stephen Jelicich points out in his recently published book From Distant Villages, that it was impossible for these early settlers to create any kind of replica of their lives back in Croatia. They had to adapt and change if they were to survive.

Throughout these tough times the Croatian personality shone through; we are a determined people. The saying, ‘When the going gets tough the tough get going’ really applied then and is equally as applicable to all those that followed later.

It is no wonder that a special kind of relationship formed between the Maori and the Croatians at this time. Northland Maori coined the name ‘Tarara’ to identify anyone of Croatian descent. No one is exactly sure how this name came to be however there is speculation that it stems from the way the Croatians rolled their ‘r’s while others say it is because they spoke so fast (Webby & Misa, 2002).
The two groups still have much in common. We both love to eat, love to be noisy, love to entertain. Tarara are boisterous like the Maori and love to socialise. They’re also just as strongly family oriented as Maori. That’s one of the greatest aspects of the relationship. They have an almost identical feeling about life and death, they cry and wail the same as us, that’s why Maori and Tarara got on so well. It was a lucky mix.
    Simon Petricevich: Son of Lawrence Petricevich, brother of Dame Mira Szaszy.
Source
    Webby, K., & Misa, T. (2002). Tarara Maori: A forgotten history. Mana Magazine, 44, February-March, 36.
The inevitable happened – Croatian men married Maori women – and the bond became even further cemented as they produced Tarara Maori children. There are countless examples of high profile people in our country who share this compatible genetic make-up. A large number of them were present this evening.
Some things however have persisted over the years such as being stereotyped as a foreigner. Most of us, even though we were born here, have unusual names for example. This automatically signals a possibility to a non-English cultural connection.
I have many stories to tell from my own experiences growing up in the land of my birth which wasn’t the land of my blood. My roots were firmly embedded in another culture based in an unfamiliar land yet I knew I was intimately connected to it. I grew up speaking the Croatian language, eating its food, listening to its music, learning and performing traditional dancing, and socialising with its people who were in the same situation as our family. We had almost no family here so our ethnic community became our extended family. These roots spread far and wide and tonight familiar faces emerged amongst the crowds and took me back to special times that we shared together.
This evening was a big ‘family’ reunion. It was so wonderful to catch up with my extended family that I had not seen for far too long. As I watched my parents while listening to the Prime Minister and other dignatories speak, like Professor Jamie Belich who is now back teaching at Victoria Universtiy in Wellington, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride that I was a Croatian ‘Tarara’ New Zealander.
Jamie Belich speaking at a Parliamentary reception honouring Croatians in New Zealand
It dawned on me that my parents have lived more of their lives in this ‘new’ land than they have in their beloved home country. They, along with many other Croatians, have achieved huge amounts when you consider they arrived here with nothing but their suitcases in hand and a dream. They ventured into the unknown. They were not afraid to work hard to create a better life for themselves and their families once they arrived at their destination, no matter how disappointed they may have been at what greeted them. They have achieved so much despite all the barriers and they should be so proud of this.
For a long time I have wondered who I was. Like the Tarara Maori I too feel like the product of two cultures – Croatian and New Zealand. At times I have found this to be confusing. I walked out of the Banquet Hall in the Beehive tonight feeling a glow associated with the realisation that I belonged. I am a woman of many parts and all of them matter. Just because I wasn’t born in Croatia and just because my Croatian language speaking skills may be rusty my roots are set far from here. I have an extensive biological family on the other side of the world. I am connected to them and I am connected here.
My tree stands tall and strong just like the stunning 1,200 year old Kauri tree Tane Mahuta in Waipoua Forest, Northland. I have an inner strength that comes from a people that is strong, proud and prepared to take a risk rather than sit around and complain. They are people of action yet they never forget what matters above all else – family and friends – oh yes, and having fun together.
There is one thing nagging at me though. What is my family story? How did we get to be here? My great grandfather, my grandfather and my father were all gumdiggers for a period of time. I can see I have some work to do to start unearthing our story – the story of the Sevelj family in New Zealand.
Source marica.ako.net.nz