Native Barns and Huts at Akaroa, Banks Peninsula, 1845 1860

Charles Meryon created this etching, "Native Barns and Huts at Akaroa, Banks Peninsula," in 1845. Meryon, a Frenchman, was a midshipman, who traveled to the Pacific, and sketched what he saw, this etching being one of the results. The image invites us to consider the colonial gaze and its impact on indigenous representation. Meryon depicts a Māori settlement, a constructed image of “native” life, during a period of increasing European colonization in New Zealand. This was a time when indigenous peoples and their customs were being systematically marginalized. Note how Meryon meticulously details the architecture of the barns and huts, perhaps emphasizing the foreignness of the scene to a European audience. What is lost, however, is the nuanced understanding of Māori culture and the individuals who inhabit this space. The people become part of the landscape, viewed through a lens of exoticism rather than humanism. This etching serves as a reminder of how art can both document and distort, and the importance of critically examining the power dynamics inherent in such representations.