Unracial settler colonialism in Aotearoa: Luka Budak, Marijana Borić, ‘Scientific, linguistic and migration research: Croatian Dalmatian communities in New Zealand’, Časopis Hrvatskih studija, 20-21, 1, 2025 | settler colonial studies blog

Unracial settler colonialism in Aotearoa: Luka Budak, Marijana Borić, ‘Scientific, linguistic and migration research: Croatian Dalmatian communities in New Zealand’, Časopis Hrvatskih studija, 20-21, 1, 2025

27Nov25

Abstract: Croatian immigration to New Zealand dates back to the 1850s. Today, there are well over 100,000 New Zealanders of Croatian descent. The earliest Croatian settlers were almost exclusively from Dalmatia. Over 90% of them came from Makarska and the surrounding area (Podgora, Drašnice, Drvenik, Zaostrog, Živogošće), then from the islands of Korčula, Hvar, Brač and the Pelješac peninsula. After World War II, immigrants also came from other parts of Croatia for economic reasons. In the last ten to twenty years, more than 10,000 highly educated Croats have immigrated to New Zealand. Croatians are the second largest immigrant group in New Zealand after the Irish. Generally speaking, Croats in New Zealand are successful and respectable, and a fairly large number of them play an important role in the economic life of New Zealand. In February/March 2023, in the initial phase of research into Croatian/Dalmatian communities in New Zealand, Dr. (Hon. Causa) Luka Budak, Dr. Marijana Borić and Dr. Josip Lasić began to unlock layers of rich cultural heritage through field research, recording the speeches and migration stories of members of local Croatian/Dalmatian communities on the North Island, through lectures and meetings in their societies/clubs, their museums and libraries, and in addition collecting material and creating numerous contacts and collaborations that will enable further research into Croatian heritage and the contribution of Croats to the development of New Zealand’s multicultural society, and the systematic monitoring of their trace preserved not only in archives, museums and libraries, but also in the places where their daily lives took place: from gum-digging fields and churches to final resting places in cemeteries. The research study showed that in each of the visited cities in New Zealand, the Croatian community was and remains closely connected, preserving language and tradition, creating its own collections and funds filled with memories, with the aim of preserving identity, tangible and intangible heritage. By preserving their community and Croatian heritage, to which they added the contributions they made in their new homeland, they simultaneously successfully integrated into New Zealand multicultural society while preserving their Croatian identity.

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