 By 1833 Christianity had become established in the north of New Zealand, and large numbers of slaves were freed.w

Slavery was outlawed when the British entered into a constitutional arrangement with New Zealand in 1840 via the Treaty of Waitangi, although it did not end completely until government was effectively extended over the whole of the country with the defeat of the King movement in the Wars of the mid-1860s.One group of Polynesians who migrated to the Chatham Islands became the Moriori who developed a largely pacifist culture.It was originally speculated that they settled the Chathams direct from Polynesia, but it is now widely believed they were disaffected Maori who emigrated from the South Island of New Zealand.