Chronology for 1835-1899
The colonial redistribution of welfare: Dismantling hapū ora
This period opens with a politically and socio-economically robust iwi Māori population of around 80,000 people.[i] go to footnote Whenua and whakapapa form the basis of hapū and whānau wellbeing. W.H. Oliver argues that the first instrument of social policy in New Zealand was the system set up by Hobson in 1840 for the purchase and resale to settlers of Māori land.[ii] go to footnote Pākehā welfare was dependent on the continued dispossession of Māori land.[iii]go to footnote
The New Zealand Wars (1845–1872) either directly or indirectly impacted all iwi Māori throughout New Zealand.[iv] go to footnote Related legislative measures enabled the Crown to alienate Māori land and taonga across the motu prior to and beyond the next century via confiscation, land tenure reforms, local legislative measures and contested land purchases.
Iwi Māori assertions of rangatiratanga and resistance to the alienation of lands occurred across the motu, either physically, through the courts, via direct petitioning to the government or through the simple occupation of lands. Such measures led to some government concessions, such as the Sims Commission and South Island Landless Natives Act 1906,[v] go to footnote but after 1872 resistance also sometimes led to the government’s use of force in the later 19th century and well into the 20th century. (eg, Parihaka in 1881, Waima in 1898, Takaparawhāu in 1978).[vi] go to footnote
By the end of the 19th century Māori were a minority of the national. In 1896 the Māori population hit an all-time low of 42,650, compared to a Pākehā population of just over 700,000. Although the Māori population was recovering, their communities were reeling from land alienation, decline of resources, indebtedness, diseases and Māori communities survived on subsistence economies, with a growing dependence on paid work.
Māori were either excluded or faced barriers to accessing welfare support introduced during this period.
Chronology events
Displaying 111 - 120 of 270 events.
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Hunn Report published
This report on the Department of Maori Affairs - The Hunn Report, named for its author Jack Hunn - examined the social and economic circumstances of the Māori people. It analysed three specific trends for which Hunn said future policy should account: the …
Date: 1961 Period: 1938-1971 -
Social Welfare Advisory Board
The Social Welfare Advisory Board was established by the Public Services Commission to co-ordinate State welfare activities and to report on the feasibility of establishing a Department of Social Welfare.
Date: 1961 Period: 1938-1971 -
The Māori Education Foundation Act
Set up after the Hunn report, mainly using Department of Education staff, to lift Māori education standards ‘equal to that of the Pākehā’ by encouraging Māori into secondary and tertiary education.[i]
Date: 1961 Period: 1938-1971 -
1955 Adoption Act and its 1962 amendment
Whangai was not a valid practice under these Acts, which ensured the secrecy of parents was upheld in the adoption process. Adoptions passed to the general courts signalling the completion of legal assimilation in this area of tīkanga Māori. The following …
Date: 1962 Period: 1938-1971 -
New Zealand Māori Council formed
The Māori Council was described by Miria Szaszy as an undermining of wāhine Māori leadership and organisation.[i] The Māori Social and Economic Advancement Amendment Act 1961 contained the title ‘New Zealand Māori Council’.[ii] The Act accorded recognitio…
Date: 1962 Period: 1938-1971 -
The Currie Report
Report of the Commission on Education in New Zealand reinforced the State’s provision and control of education. Advocated equality of opportunity, drew attention to the disparity in Māori education and recommended Te Reo as an optional subject at secondary…
Date: 1962 Period: 1938-1971 -
Māori Welfare Amendment Act
Section 2 of Act reinstated the Māori Committees’ authority over wardens, carried out by agreement between the NZMC and the Crown, and at the request of the NZMC.[i]
Date: 1963 Period: 1938-1971 -
‘Washday at the Pa’ published
The publication was distributed and then withdrawn from circulation following complaints from Māori and in particular the MWWL which asserted the booklet was a misrepresentation of Māori family life.[i]
Date: 1964 Period: 1938-1971 -
A Justice Department study into preventing child abuse
The Justice Department began a study of preventative measures aimed at the three categories of child abusers it had identified. Categories: the young and inadequate mother with a large family and little emotional support; the tense and perfectionist type…
Date: 1965 Period: 1938-1971 -
First urban marae
Te Puea, the country's first urban marae, opened in Auckland.
Date: 1965 Period: 1938-1971
Footnotes
- [i] go to main content ‘The first Māori census was attempted in 1857–58’. Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney, Aroha Harris, Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History, Bridget Williams Books, Wellington, 2014, p. 246. Earlier censuses were taken during the 1840s, however these were particular to regions and settlements and from there estimates were made by missionaries and colonists as to what the national population level might have been. Salmond and other prominent authors are sceptical of these figures and believe the numbers were greater. A census of Māori was attempted in 1867 but warfare prevented its completion. Tangata Whenua, Appendix One, p. 490.
- [ii] go to main content Cited in Margaret Tennant, Past Judgement: Social Policy in New Zealand History, co-edited with Bronwyn Dalley, 2004, p. 17.; ‘The April report: report of the Royal Commission on Social Policy’, Volume 1: New Zealand Today, New Zealand Royal Commission on Social Policy, Wellington, 1988, pp. 4–5.
- [iii] go to main content Tennant, 2004, p. 41.
- [iv] go to main content For more detailed information see the following link: https://teara.govt.nz/en/new-zealand-wars
- [v] go to main content For more information see: Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney, Aroha Harris, Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History, Bridget Williams Books, Wellington, 2014, pp. 256–301, and https://teara.govt.nz/en/new-zealand-wars
- [vi] go to main content Tangata Whenua, pp.322-3.