The symposium acknowledges the significance of the South Island high country and its pastoral use. Interest is focused throughout the symposium on pastoral practices, even though both the origins and the solutions to the present situation are much wider in scope. The first paper itself outlines physical, ecological, economic, technological and cultural influences at work over history and prehistory to give rise to the present situation. It notes the role of market forces, not just affecting wool prices in the traditional pastoral industry and in its renaissance in recent decades, but also affecting the demand for land for other uses and purposes. It describes role of myths and icons in the shaping of past and contemporary high country issues.

Paper presented at the 58th New Zealand Grassland Association Conference, 21-24 October 1996, Oamaru.