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 51 - 60 of 270 events.
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Te Hokowhitu a Tū return home from war
Te Hokowhitu a Tū (the New Zealand (Māori) Pioneer Battalion) returned home after the 1919 ceasefire.
Date: 1919 Period: 1900-1937 -
Te Rangihīroa (Peter Buck) appointed
Dr Peter Buck was appointed Director of Māori Hygiene. Māori councils were transferred to the Health Department in 1919 but at this point most only existed on paper.[i]
Date: 1919 Period: 1900-1937 -
Reorganisation of the health system
Led to the formation of divisions for Dental Hygiene, School Hygiene, and Child Welfare, the last under the leadership of Truby King.[i]
Date: 1920 Period: 1900-1937 -
The Prevention of Crime (Borstal Institutions Establishment) Act
Offenders aged 15-21 could be detained in borstals for one to five years for ‘reform’, which included occupational training.[i]
Date: 1924 Period: 1900-1937 -
Child Welfare Act
The Child Welfare Act 1925 expunged the term ‘industrial school’ from the Education Department vocabulary.[i] The legislation caught up with, rather than set, a new welfare policy for children.[ii] It created a separate system of juvenile justice through c…
Date: 1925 Period: 1900-1937 -
Child Welfare Branch set up
Based in the Department of Education, it had responsibility for the welfare of all children (whether in institutional care or in the care of family). The Superintendent of Child Welfare was responsible to both the Minister of Education and the Minister in …
Date: 1926 Period: 1900-1937 -
Māori and the Child Welfare Court
In the late 1930s Māori tamariki/rangatahi increasingly appeared in children’s courts and from 1926-1948 Māori made up 30-40% of all cases of children magistrates placed under supervision each year.[i]
Date: 1926 Period: 1900-1937 -
Pensions Act
First attempt to systematise New Zealand’s pension system. A tight rein placed on Māori eligibility by local magistrate’s assessments. The Commissioner became responsible for agreeing to all renewals of Māori pensions, and adopted the practice of lowering …
Date: 1926 Period: 1900-1937 -
Sim Commission
The Sim Commission inquired into the more than three million acres of Māori land confiscated throughout Taranaki, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty under the 1863 New Zealand Settlements Act. Its subsequent report contained no discussion of justifications for …
Date: 1926 Period: 1900-1937 -
The Child Welfare Amendment Act
Raised the age limit for children’s courts from 16 to 17 which caused a sudden increase in case numbers.[i] It also provided for the state registration and inspection of orphanages.[ii]
Date: 1927 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.