Mackenzie Basin

For the basin of the Canadian river, see Mackenzie River.

The Mackenzie Country's typical autumn colouration

The Mackenzie Basin (Māori: Te Manahuna),[1] popularly and traditionally known as the Mackenzie Country, is an elliptical intermontane basin located in the Mackenzie and Waitaki Districts, near the centre of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest such basin in New Zealand.[2] Historically famous mainly for sheep farming, the sparsely populated area is now also a popular tourism destination.

The basin was named in the 1850s by and after James Mckenzie, a shepherd and would-be farmer of Scottish origin.[3] Mckenzie was captured for allegedly stealing sheep; he herded his flocks in what was then an area almost totally empty of any human habitation, though Māori previously lived there intermittently.[4] After his capture, the area was soon divided up amongst new sheep pasture stations in 1857.[5]

  1. ^ "Kā Ara Tūpuna Te Manahura". ngaitahu.iwi.nz. Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Mackenzie Basin routes". Department of Conservation. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  3. ^ "Save our Mackenzie Country". Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  4. ^ History of the Lake Tekapo Area (from the Lake Tekapo Tourism website. Accessed 2008-02-12.)
  5. ^ James Mckenzie (from the Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand website)