The meeting place : Māori and Pākehā encounters, 1642-1840 / Vincent O'Malley.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 262-276) and index.

First encounters. Becoming Māori, becoming Pākehā. Before the middle ground - Tasman and the time of mutual incomprehension. Cross-cultural travels : Cook, Banks and Tupaia in Aotearoa. The French connection : Jean-François Marie de Surville in Tai Tokerau. 'The tribe of Marion' : Marion du Fresne's bloody encounter -- Strangers landing in strange lands. Kāwana Kingi and the Norfolk Island connection. A native abroad : Savage and Moehanga. A tragic liaison : George Bruce and Atahoe. Deepsea whalers and Māori. Clashing cultures : the burning of the Boyd. A regal visit : Hongi Hika in London and the aftermath of Kupe's journey -- On the middle ground. Importing missionaries. Ruatara and Marsden. The missionary challenge. Saving souls abroad : Tuai and Titere in England. Southern sealers and whalers. Middle New Zealand : early interactions in the Cook Strait region and further north. Jumping ship : further European settlement in the north. Learning to get along with one another : the nature of Māori and Pākehā relationships before 1840 -- Trading relationships : the commercial frontier. Commerce and gift exchange. Trade and agriculture. Selling services. New wants and needs. Ownership and use rights. 'Tuku whenua' and land dealings -- Sex on the frontier. Sex and sailors. The sexual politics of the frontier -- Subverting conversion? Religious encounters. Understanding Māori 'conversion'. A unique form of Christianity?. Tapu and other customs -- The political world of Aotearoa before 1840. The evolving role of rangatira in the pre-Waitangi era. Taua muru. Rūnanga and komiti. A dying people? -- The impact of cultural encounter on the New Zealand frontier -- The end of the middle ground.