 Gum @-@ diggers worked in the old kauri fields , most of which were then covered by swamp or scrub , digging for the gum . Much of the population was transient , moving from field to field , and they lived in rough huts or tents ( which were called " <unk> " , after the Maori for ' house ' ) . It was extremely hard work and not very well paid , but it attracted many Maori and European settlers , including women and children . There were many Dalmatians , who had first come to work the South Island goldfields in the 1860s . They were transient workers , rather than settlers , and much of their income was sent out of the country , resulting in much resentment from the local workforce . In 1898 , the " Kauri Gum Industry Act " was passed , which reserved gum @-@ grounds for British subjects , and requiring all other diggers to be licensed . By 1910 , only British subjects could hold gum @-@ digging licences . 
