Archival Research on Early Settler Relationship to Place

Abstract

This research project explores early settler relationships to place, land, and the environment in Dunedin from the mid to late 1800s. The project aims to provide a new perspective by looking at the affective responses of settlers to the environment/nature and how they helped create a sense of belonging. This project has drawn on various ephemera from the Hocken Collection, primarily settler letters and diaries, to analyze the emotional connections and/or disconnections being formed. The project highlights the individual relationships to place through these personal accounts. Themes reflected on in the project also include the idea of utopia and the physical ‘improvement’ of the landscape. Key questions have been asked, such as, how do we feel like we belong in place? Did the physical transformation help to make settlers feel at home? How do we (pākehā) belong to a place that is not ours, but constructed to be ours? Ultimately, this research project aims to understand the affective dimension of belonging by exploring the early settlers' emotional responses to place/environment in Dunedin.

Supervised by: Dr. Abbi Virens

Scholarship Project Funded by: Centre for Sustainability