Where can I find information about the Yugoslavs who came to New Zealand for gum digging?

Level: Intermediate / Secondary

We really like the Te Ara encyclopedia for finding information about immigration to New Zealand.  To find the information you can Browse the encyclopedia. Click on Themes, then New Zealand Peoples, then select Dalmations (another name for Yugoslavs).  You can then click on the link to the information about Dalmation immigrants.  Information about gum digging is included in the section Work and war : 1890 - 1930.

A search on Google for the keywords gum digging  (and select Pages from New Zealand) will give you a lot more information on the history of gum digging as well. 

You can use the advanced search on the Dictionary of New Zealand biography site to find biographies of gum-diggers. To do this:

• Open the DNZB site
• Click on advanced search
• Under Occupation / Activity - use the drop-down menu to select land use
• Under Refine Occupation - use the drop-down menu to select gum digger
•  Click on Find

HOT TIP: see our entry on gum-diggers for more information.