Gold Mining
Lesson 3: The Chinese Miners
What Lies Beneath (2006)
Key Content
- 19th Century Chinese gold miners.
- Racism in 19th Century New Zealand.
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Describe the reasons Chinese migrated to New Zealand in the 19th century.
- Describe the problems Chinese immigrants faced in 19th century New Zealand.
6. Contact: Chinaman's Gold [extracts], TVNZ, 1981
Chinaman's Gold (1981)
Archaeological study of the site of Chinese miners in the Clutha Valley in the late nineteenth century. Archaeologist Neville Ritchie and his team spends ten weeks on site and around the township of Cromwell. The site was soon to be overwhelmed by the construction of the massive hydro-electric power dam at Clyde. Their tools, huts and utensils are pieced together having been untouched for 60 years.
a. By 1871, what percentage of all gold miners in the area were Chinese? 40%
b. How did European/Pakeha New Zealanders react to the Chinese miners?
Racist outburst, mistrust, Government legislation specifically against them.
c. How many Chinese miners were left by the end of the 19th century?
Very few. Most either returned to China or had died.
d. What modern day development will cause many of the old archaeological sites around the Clutha river to disappear?
The construction of the Clyde dam.
e. Why did the Chinese miners move from China?
To escape poverty and political upheaval back home.
f. Why do you think it necessary for archaeologists to study the Chinese miners’ settlements?
No written history about them left. Only two surviving photographs. Once the Clyde Dam is complete the area will be flooded and an important part of New Zealand’s history will be lost.
7. What Lies Beneath, The Missing Miners, [extracts], Natural History NZ, 2006
What Lies Beneath (2006)
Archaeologists attempt to extricate from the Otago land evidence of the 4000 Chinese miners living in New Zealand in the 1870s during the gold rush living conditions and life styles at a site in Lawrence.
a. When did the first Chinese miners arrive in NZ? 1866.
b. By 1871, how many Chinese miners were in NZ?
Over 4000 – mostly in Otago.
c. In what part of central Otago was gold first discovered?
Gabriel’s Gully.
d. By living frugally (ie. not spending too much money), how much of their income could the Chinese miners save?
Over half.
e. What sort of jobs did the Chinese miners do back in their homeland?
Artisans / rural workers / peasants. They typically had no previous experience with mining.
f. What did most of the Chines miners want to do once the gold rush ended?
Return to China.
g. How did the Chinese miners survive in the gold fields?
By working cooperatively in groups of ten or so (with usually only one person in the group who could speak English. They often carefully reworked the tailings left over by the European miners to get the gold that they had missed the first time around.
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