New Zealand - Nelson - General View - 1940's Period - Note Billboards, Railway sidings etc - Real Photo Format #501409 Nelson - Settlement of Nelson began about 700 years ago by Māori. There is evidence the earliest settlements in New Zealand are around the Nelson-Marlborough regions. The earliest recorded iwi in the Nelson district are the Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri, Ngāti Apa and Rangitāne tribes. - Raids from northern tribes in the 1820s, led by Te Rauparaha and his Ngāti Toa, soon decimated the local population and quickly displaced them. (source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson,_New_Zealand)