Historians have suggested that Scottish influences are more pervasive in New Zealand than in any other country outside Scotland, yet curiously New Zealand's Scots migrants have previously attracted only limited attention. A thorough and interdisciplinary work, Unpacking the Kists is the first in-depth study of New Zealand's Scots migrants and their impact on an evolving settler society. The authors establish the dimensions of Scottish migration to New Zealand, the principal source areas, the migrants' demographic characteristics, and where they settled in the new land. Drawing from extended case-studies, they examine how migrants adapted to their new environment and the extent of longevity in diverse areas including the economy, religion, politics, education, and folkways. They also look at the private worlds of family, neighbourhood, community, customs of everyday life and leisure pursuits, and expressions of both high and low forms of transplanted culture. Adding to international scholarship on migrations and cultural adaptations, Unpacking the Kists demonstrates the historic contributions Scots made to New Zealand culture by retaining their ethnic connections and at the same time interacting with other ethnic groups.

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“ This comprehensive and rigorous evaluation of the Scots in New Zealand is, on the whole, seamlessly written, while simultaneously displaying the individual fingerprints of both established experts and new scholars. More importantly, the quality of the research has generated a meaty but engaging textbook that will prove indispensable to an academic and general readership alike.” The Journal of Irish and Scottish Studies

“Unpacking the Kists is an outcome of a scholarly collaboration spanning more than ten years—enriched by discussions at conferences, electronic international communication and sharing of ideas which then led to funding for both established and emerging sc

“A landmark publication in New Zealand’s developing historiography of ethnicity among the Pacific nation’s settler population. Provides a solid foundation for further work on both the Scots and other ethnic groups in New Zealand society.” International Journal of Scottish Studies