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Kauri gum is
resin A resin is a solid or highly viscous liquid that can be converted into a polymer. Resins may be biological or synthetic in origin, but are typically harvested from plants. Resins are mixtures of organic compounds, predominantly terpenes. Commo ...
from kauri trees (''
Agathis australis ''Agathis australis'', commonly known as kauri, is a species of coniferous tree in the family Araucariaceae, found north of 38°S in the northern regions of New Zealand's North Island. It is the largest (by volume) but not tallest species ...
''), which historically had several important industrial uses. It can also be used to make crafts such as jewellery. Kauri forests once covered much of the
North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
of New Zealand, before early settlers caused the forests to retreat, causing several areas to revert to weeds, scrubs, and
swamps A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
. Even afterwards, ancient kauri fields and the remaining forests continued to provide a source for the gum.Hayward, pp 4–5 Between 1820 and 1900, over 90% of Kauri forests were logged or burnt by Europeans. Kauri gum forms when resin from kauri trees leaks out through fractures or cracks in the bark, hardening upon exposure to air. Lumps commonly fall to the ground and can be covered with soil and forest litter, eventually
fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...
ising. Other lumps form as branches forked or trees are damaged, releasing the resin.Hayward, p 2


Uses

The
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
had many uses for the gum, which they called ''kapia''. Fresh gum was used as a type of
chewing gum Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its tex ...
(older gum was softened by soaking and mixing with juice of the puha thistle). Highly flammable, the gum was also used as a fire-starter, or bound in
flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...
to act as a torch. Burnt and mixed with animal fat, it made a dark pigment for '' moko'' tattooing. Kauri gum was also crafted into jewellery, keepsakes and small decorative items. Like
amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...
, kauri gum sometimes includes insects and plant material. Kauri gum was used commercially in
varnish Varnish is a clear Transparency (optics), transparent hard protective coating or film. It is not to be confused with wood stain. It usually has a yellowish shade due to the manufacturing process and materials used, but it may also be pigmente ...
, and can be considered a type of
copal Copal is a tree resin, particularly the aromatic resins from the copal tree '' Protium copal'' ( Burseraceae) used by the cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica as ceremonially burned incense and for other purposes. More generally, copal includ ...
(the name given to resin used in such a way). Kauri gum was particularly useful for this, and from the mid-1840s was exported to London and America. Tentative exports had begun a few years earlier, for use in marine glue and as fire-kindlers; gum was part of an export cargo to Australia in 1814. Since kauri gum would mix more easily with
linseed oil Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colorless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant (''Linum usitatissimum''). The oil is obtained by pressing, sometimes followed by ...
at lower temperatures, by the 1890s 70% of all oil varnishes made in England used kauri gum.Hayward, p 45 It was used to a limited extent in paints during the late 19th century, and from 1910 was used extensively in manufacturing
linoleum Linoleum is a floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (linoxyn), Pine Resin, pine resin, ground Cork (material), cork dust, sawdust, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a Hessian fabric, hes ...
. From the 1930s, the market for gum dropped as synthetic alternatives were found, but there remained niche uses for the gum in jewellery and specialist high-grade varnish for
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
s. Kauri gum was
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
's main export in the second half of the 19th century, sustaining much of the early growth of the city. Between 1850 and 1950, 450,000 tons of gum were exported. The peak in the gum market was 1899, with 11,116 tons exported that year, with a value of £600,000 ( $989,700 US).Hayward, p 46 The average annual export was over 5,000 tons, with the average price gained £63 ($103.91 US) per ton.


Appearance

The gum varied in colour depending on the condition of the original tree. It also depended on where the gum had formed and how long it had been buried. Colours ranged from chalky-white through red-brown to black. The most prized was pale gold, as it was hard and translucent. The size of each lump also varied greatly. Swamps tended to yield the small nuggets known as "chips", whereas hillsides tended to produce larger lumps. The majority were the size of acorns, although some were found which weighed a few pounds. The largest (and rarest) were reported to weigh half a
hundredweight The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and United States customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the United States customary and British imperial sy ...
(25.4kg, 56lbs). Kauri gum shares a few characteristics with
amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...
, another fossilised resin found in the
Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...
. While amber can be millions of years old,
carbon-dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was de ...
suggests the age of most kauri gum is a few thousand years.


Gumfields

Most of the gumfields were in Northland, Coromandel and
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, the site of the original kauri forests. Initially, the gum was readily accessible, commonly found lying on the ground.
Captain Cook Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...
reported the presence of resinous lumps on the beach at
Mercury Bay Mercury Bay is a large V-shaped bay on the eastern coast of the Coromandel Peninsula on the North Island of New Zealand. It was named by the English navigator Captain James Cook during his exploratory expeditions. It was first named ''Te-Whan ...
, Coromandel, in 1769, although he suspected it came from the
mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...
s, and missionary
Samuel Marsden Samuel Marsden (25 June 1765 – 12 May 1838) was an English-born priest of the Church of England in Australia and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society. He played a leading role in bringing Christianity to New Zealand. Marsden w ...
spoke of their presence in Northland in 1819. By 1850, most of the surface gum had been harvested, and people began digging for it. The hillsides yielded shallow-buried gum (about 1 m), but in swamps and beaches it was buried much deeper (4 m or below).


Gum-diggers

Gum-diggers were men and women who dug for kauri gum in the old kauri fields of New Zealand at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The term may be a source for the nickname " Digger" given to New Zealand soldiers in
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. In 1898, a gum-digger described "the life of a gum-digger" as "wretched, and one of the last ccupationsa man would take to." Gum-diggers worked in the old kauri fields, most of which were then covered by swamp or scrub, digging for gum. Much of the population was transient, moving from field to field, and they lived in rough huts or tents (which were called "
whare A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called '' whare' ...
s", after the Maori for 'house'). It was extremely hard work and not well paid, but it attracted many Maori and European settlers, including women and children.Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand: Gumdigging
/ref> There were many
Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
ns, who had first come to work the South Island goldfields in the 1860s. They were transient workers, rather than settlers, and much of their income was sent out of the country, resulting in resentment from the local workforce. In 1898, the "Kauri Gum Industry Act" was passed, which reserved gum-grounds for
British subjects The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...
, and requiring all other diggers to be licensed. By 1910, only British subjects could hold gum-digging licences. Gum-digging was the major source of income for settlers in North Auckland, and farmers often worked the gumfields in the winter months to subsidise the poor income from their unbroken land. By the 1890s, 20,000 people were engaged in gum-digging, of which 7000 worked full-time.Hayward, p 47 Gum-digging was not restricted to settlers or workers in the rural areas; Auckland families would cross the
Waitematā Harbour The Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. The harbour forms the northern and eastern coasts of the Auckland isthmus and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is matched on the southern side of the city ...
by ferry at weekends to dig in the fields around
Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...
, causing damage to public roads and private farms, and leading to local council management of the problem.


Methods

Most gum was dug from the ground using gum-spears (pointed rods to probe for gum) and "skeltons", defined as blade-edged spades for cutting through old wood and roots as well as soil. Once the gum was retrieved it would need to be scraped and cleaned.Te Are Encyclopedia of New Zealand: Gumdigging methods
/ref> Gum-diggers in the Auckland region had access to "gum sheds" with an open fireplace where the gum was dried and sorted into different qualities or grades. Clear, transparent gum called "specimen gum" would often be found and would be put aside for use in high quality ornaments and trinkets. Digging in swamps was more complicated. A longer spear (up to 8m) was often used, often fitted with a hooked end to scoop out the lumps. Scrub was often cleared first with fire; some became uncontrolled and swamp fires could burn for weeks. Holes were often dug by teams in both hills and swamps—often up to 12m deep—and some wetlands were drained to aid in the excavation of gum. As field gum became scarce, "bush gum" was obtained by purposely cutting the bark of kauri trees and returning months later to retrieve the hardened resin. Due to the damage caused to the trees by the cutting the practice was banned in state forests in 1905. Gum chips, small lumps useful for the manufacture of linoleum, were difficult to find. By 1910, the process of washing and sieving to retrieve the chips became common. The process was later mechanised.


Gum merchants

Gumdiggers generally sold their gum to local gumbuyers, who transported it to
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
(generally by sea) for sale to merchants and exporters. There were six major export firms in Auckland who dealt in gum, employing several hundred workers who graded and rescraped the gum for export, packing them in cases made from kauri timber. As early as the 1830s and 1840s, merchants, including Gilbert Mair and Logan Campbell, were buying gum from local Māori for £5 ($8.25) a ton or trading it for goods. The majority of the gum was exported to America and London (from whence it was distributed throughout Europe), although smaller amounts were sent to Australia,
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
, Japan and Russia.Hayward, p 44


Gallery

Group of gum diggers in gumfield (1908).jpg, Group of gum-diggers in gumfield (1908), alt=Large group of men filling a picture of a mining field. E. Mitchelson & Co. Gum sorters at work, 53228-a.jpg, Gum sorting at the E. Mitchelson & Co. kauri gum and grain facility on the
Auckland waterfront The Auckland waterfront (rarely the Auckland harbourfront) is a city-side stretch of the southern Waitematā Harbour coastline in Auckland, New Zealand. Previously mostly dominated by Ports of Auckland uses, from the 2000s on it is becoming i ...
(1906), alt=Large line of men sorting gum resin, surrounded by baskets and loose piles of resin. E. Mitchelson & Co. Rescraping kauri gum, 53227-a.jpg, Gum rescraping at the E. Mitchelson & Co. kauri gum and grain facility (1906), alt=Four seated men holding large pieces of gum resin, scraping the outsides. Gum climbers' camp on the Waipapa River, near Rangiahua, 1918 ATLIB 301546.png, A Gum climbers' camp near the Waipapa River in Northland, alt=Two men washing dishes in a basin in front of a shelter thatched with palm fronds.


See also

*
Kauri Museum The Kauri Museum is in the west coast village of Matakohe, Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand. The museum, to the south of the Waipoua Forest, contains many exhibits that tell the story of the pioneering days when early European settlers i ...
* Dammar gum * Northland temperate kauri forests


Notes


References

* Hayward, Bruce W (1982). ''Kauri Gum and the Gumdiggers: A Pictorial History of the Kauri Gum Industry in New Zealand''.
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
: Lodestar Press. * McClure, Margaret (1987). ''The Story of Birkenhead''. Auckland: Birkenhead City Council. * Reed, Alfred (1972). ''The Gumdiggers: The Story of Kauri Gum''. Auckland: A.H. & A.W. Reed. * Dunmore, Patricia (ed.) (1977). ''The Dunmore Book of New Zealand Records''.
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
: Dunmore Press.


External links


Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand



The Kauri Museum
{{Non-timber forest products Fossil resins Economy of New Zealand Organic gemstones * Culture of New Zealand