Why is New Zealand Unlike Other Commonwealth Nations?

New Zealand today seems a little bit different than many of the other former British colonies. There, European flora and fauna did not do as well as they did elsewhere which meant that more native species survived European colonization than was the case in most places. The people of New Zealand are also a bit different because to this day, New Zealand has a population of native Maoris far larger than Australia, the United States, or Canada. What accounts for the difference? It can be mostly attributed by the greater ability of the Kiwi flora and fauna and native population to assimilate to what the Europeans imported.

First, Europeans and their plants had some contact with New Zealand before they settled there. This is unlike, for example, Jamestown where Europeans got off the boat and immediatly settled. The initial Cook expeditions left some, if not many, plants and diseases behind that would alter the country slightly by the time Europeans returned. This meant that the New Zealand ecology had some time to assimilate the European species without becoming overrun by them. Certainly, the great variety of species native to New Zealand also contributed to it retaining more of its pre-colonial ecology than other former British colonies. The more unique species a country has, the less the extinction of a few species strips away a sense of uniqueness.

Another factor was that the Maori had a strong desire to get their hands on European weapons. While some Native Americans had the same desire, the Maori were willing to become like the Europeans by clearing land, industrializing, etc. to get these weapons. They accepted Westernization much more willing than did most Native American tribes, so they were not as devastated by that process of Westernization. Many of them were killed initially by European diseases, but those who remained assimilated better into New Zealand society than most Native American tribes did to American society.