Unpacking the Kists: The Scots in New Zealand

by Brad Patterson, Tom Brooking, Jim McAloon

Overview

Historians have suggested that Scottish influences are more pervasive in New Zealand than in any other country outside Scotland, yet curiously New Zealand's Scots migrants have previously attracted only limited attention. A thorough and interdisciplinary work, Unpacking the Kists is the first in-depth study of New Zealand's Scots migrants and their impact on an evolving settler society. The authors establish the dimensions of Scottish migration to New Zealand, the principal source areas, the migrants' demographic characteristics, and where they settled in the new land. Drawing from extended case-studies, they examine how migrants adapted to their new environment and the extent of longevity in diverse areas including the economy, religion, politics, education, and folkways. They also look at the private worlds of family, neighbourhood, community, customs of everyday life and leisure pursuits, and expressions of both high and low forms of transplanted culture. Adding to international scholarship on migrations and cultural adaptations, Unpacking the Kists demonstrates the historic contributions Scots made to New Zealand culture by retaining their ethnic connections and at the same time interacting with other ethnic groups.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780773589780
Publisher:	McGill-Queens University Press
Publication date:	11/01/2013
Series:	McGill-Queen's Studies in Ethnic History , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	472
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Brad Patterson was formerly director of the Irish-Scottish studies program at the Victoria University of Wellington.

Tom Brooking is professor of history at the University of Otago.

Jim McAloon is associate professor of history at the Victoria University of Wellington.

Table of Contents

Tables, Figures, and Maps ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Preface xvii

1 Taking Stock: New Zealand's Scottish Migrants 3

2 Distinguishing Former Worlds: Who Were New Zealand's Scottish Migrants? 21

3 Diaspora or Dispersion? Scottish Settlement Patterns in New Zealand 56

4 Success in a Settler Society: The Scots in New Zealand Economic Life 84

5 Building New Worlds: Scottish Contributions to New Zealand Civil Society 116

6 Transforming the Landscape: Scots and the New Zealand Environment 144

7 "Brither Scots Shoulder tae Shoulder": Scottish Associational Culture in New Zealand 173

8 Hearth and Home: Cultural Traditions, Old World Customs, and New World Habits 197

9 Occupying the Non-Working Hours: Piety, Leisure, and Discourse 224

10 New Zealand's Place in the Scottish Diaspora and Settler Worlds 255

Notes 283

Selected Bibliography 335

Index 381

Editorial Reviews

Unpacking the Kists is an outcome of a scholarly collaboration spanning more than ten years—enriched by discussions at conferences, electronic international communication and sharing of ideas which then led to funding for both established and emerging sc


“A landmark publication in New Zealand’s developing historiography of ethnicity among the Pacific nation’s settler population. Provides a solid foundation for further work on both the Scots and other ethnic groups in New Zealand society.” International Jo


“This comprehensive and rigorous evaluation of the Scots in New Zealand is, on the whole, seamlessly written, while simultaneously displaying the individual fingerprints of both established experts and new scholars. More importantly, the quality of the research has generated a meaty but engaging textbook that will prove indispensable to an academic and general readership alike.” The Journal of Irish and Scottish Studies

From the Publisher