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 31 - 40 of 270 events.
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Government Advances to Settlers Act
Established the Government Advances to Settlers Office with the original purpose of providing cheap land for farmers in a period of falling overseas prices. It also allowed the government to lend to rural settlers who owned land but had limited access to c…
Date: 1894 Period: 1835-1899 -
Kotahitanga Parliament drafts Native Rights Bill
The Bill was tabled in Parliament by Māori MPs. It sought the abolition of the Native Land Court, the right of Māori to make their own land laws, and Māori control of reserved land and land developments.[i] Parliament rejected the Native Rights Bill in 189…
Date: 1894 Period: 1835-1899 -
Old-age Pension Act
The first statutory provision for old-age pensions. Excludes Māori receiving money under the Civil List Act 1873. Most Māori received less than the full rate and were likely deterred by application requirements, such as providing proof of birth.[i] Neverth…
Date: 1898 Period: 1835-1899 -
Māori Councils Act
Under the Māori Councils Act, Māori settlements were empowered to elect a marae committee (Komiti Marae) – the individual members of which were awarded statutory powers to control the liquor trade, regulate traffic and impose sanitation measures. Komiti Ma…
Date: 1900 Period: 1900-1937 -
Prohibition
Once women have the right to vote, from 1893, elections are commonly accompanied by referenda on alcohol prohibition. Although Māori were not allowed to vote in National Licensing Referenda until 1949, prohibition was something that Māori felt very strongl…
Date: 1900 Period: 1900-1937 -
Public Health Act 1900
The first Māori Doctor, Maui Pomare, was recruited to the new Department of Public Health ‘Māori Health’ section as ‘Health Commissioner for the Natives’ in 1901. Te Rangi Hīroa (Peter Buck) engaged as Pomare’s assistant in 1905.[i]
Date: 1900 Period: 1900-1937 -
Residential care for young offenders
Residential care was regarded as the best option for young offenders and for young people considered to be out of control. Alternative forms of care, such as foster care with non-family members, were reserved for the least difficult children committed to t…
Date: 1900 Period: 1900-1937 -
The Māori Lands Administration Act
The Māori Lands Administration Act granted Māori some local autonomy and some legal power over their land. However, special conditions restricted these gains.[i]
Date: 1900 Period: 1900-1937 -
Native Land Claims and Adjustment and Amendment Act
This Act made it necessary to formally ‘register whangai placements in the Native Land Court to qualify the child to succeed to lands of their whangai parents’.[i] The Act also legalised the adoption of children outside of the kin-based network.
Date: 1901 Period: 1900-1937 -
Old Age Pension policy for Māori
Old-age Pensions Office became an independent department.[i] In 1904 the decision by New Plymouth magistrate Thomas Hutchinson to pay a reduced rate of pension, £12 rather than £18, to a Māori pensioner set a precedent for an unofficial policy that lasted …
Date: 1904 Period: 1900-1937
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.