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Stompin’ n tappin’:
Gumdiggers at
Dancing Camp
A Kiwi sheep
shearer’s shed with
men dancing as
partners to Highland
music.
In researching the Gumtown area, we came
across an online article by key archeo-sleuth
at The Treasury, David Wilton. We learnt that
this remote gumdiggers camp, Dancing Camp,
was located just below the Pinnacles Hut site
in the Kauaeranga Valley. Of course, it was one
of many camps scattered through the valley
over the decades, of both Kauri bushmen and
gumdiggers.
Dancing Camp was thought to be established
around 1900, however, David says it is
possibly older than that; in view of the 1860s
commencement of gum-digging in the
Kauaeranga Valley. The camps moved up the
valley over time, as better tracks and access
roads were developed.
WHY THE NAME?
Auckland geologist Dr Bruce Hayward, author
of Kauaeranga Kauri (1978 p.18), states: ‘...the
original Dancing Camp ... got its name when
gum-diggers held buck dances (no women)
there around 1900.’
Scottish comedian Billy Connolly mentions this
in his World Tour of New Zealandseries while
visiting the Pinnacles Hut by helicopter to film
the story. (Recorded in 2004, it is now available
on DVD). His commentary referred to the term
buck dancing as such:
‘Buck dancing is a folk dance that originated
among African-Americans during the era of
slavery. … The original buck dance, or “buck
and wing,” referred to a specific step performed
by solo dancers, usually men …’
Men dancing together in that era was common,
especially aboard ship. We located this
charming watercolour, above, of NZ sheep
shearers dancing together in their shed, to the
violin and autoharp playing Highland music.
MORE LIKE DANCING STUMP!
Pete Hull, the warden of the Pinnacles Hut
(see previous page, often takes visitors to the
Dancing Camp site.One visitor wrote:
“Pete decided to show us one of his favourite
spots this morning – a huge kauri stump
4.2metres in diameter, near my campsite at
Dancing Creek Dam. Local lore has it that
during the heyday of kauri logging in the
valley, the men would gather at the spot
every few months for a party, and that this
huge stump, when polished up, served as a
dance floor for these gatherings – hence the
name Dancing Creek.
“He then pointed me up the secret track to
summit the peak behind the hut. A good wee
climb, and good to get some mountain-top
stoke to start the morning!”
Maybe Pete will show you around too, just ask.
-CW
26 COROMANDEL LIFE 2016 SUMMER/EASTER
When we read that the origin of the dancing at Dancing Camp could
have come from America, indeed black slaves...that was rather a
stretch to imagine how it got here, halfway around the world. But it did!
Indeed buck dancing was a well-known dance of the period, performed
throughout New Zealand by the minstrel troupes from America, both the
white performers wearing blackface or black performers. Minstrel shows
toured Australia and New Zealand, and the format was even a favourite
for local drama clubs to perform.
The buck focused on the foot and lower leg action. It becomes more
elaborate and showy when the performer flails with leg and arm
movements – the buck and wing. The form kept developing into tap
dancing! As a treat, you can view film from the very era of the gum
Buck dancing. . . Where it came from . . . How it got here. . . See it performed
At a bluegrass music gathering in southern USA, dance champ Jay Bland
performed his fancy footwork, then “oh, here he comes!” was heard, and the
older champion, Thomas Maupin, showed him up.
See this video at
Buck dancing at Mabry Mill (USA) Slaves dancing
near riverboat
and cotton
bales.
A rare 1894
Thomas Edison
film of black
dancers
performing a
“buck and wing”.
camps thanks to Thomas Edison, who filmed black performers in 1894.
Edison’s short clip is near the start of this program about the history of
the buck dance. See
The buck dance also survived among America’s white settlers to the
South’s Appalachian Mountain region. It is still danced solo, on a
buckboard, and mostly by men as a good natured challenge dance. It is
related to the Irish clogdance and perhaps closer to what the gumdiggers
actually danced at the camp.
Simple
accommodations
for gumdiggers
at Dancing
Camp. Shelters
were often made
with what was
at hand, nothing
too permanent.
Diggers might
work solo or
team up in
camps.