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 71 - 80 of 270 events.
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New housing, employment, and social security policies
Under the first Labour government, these new policies[i] turned needs into rights and then allied these needs and rights with those of the middle classes drawing on a philosophy of the vulnerability of every individual in the face of wider forces.[ii] Fami…
Date: 1935 Period: 1900-1937 -
Maori engagement in economy
Māori land holdings: 4,992,013 acres, and 8.3% of Māori women engaged in paid employment.
Date: 1936 Period: 1900-1937 -
Ngāti Poneke Young Māori Club formed
YMC formed via Lady Pomare’s Welfare Committee.[i]
Date: 1936 Period: 1900-1937 -
Social Security Act
Various forms of governmental assistance that supported family life began: sickness and unemployment benefits, subsidised medical care, state housing schemes, mortgage relief, and later a universal family benefit.[i] The Act brought heath and income mainte…
Date: 1938 Period: 1938-1971 -
First national conference of Young Māori Leaders
There were sessions on economic conditions, housing, health, education, and Māori in the community.
Date: 1939 Period: 1938-1971 -
Outbreak of World War 2
The 28th Māori Battalion is formed and more than 17,000 men enlist.[i]
Date: 1939 Period: 1938-1971 -
Child Welfare Branch concerns re Maori youth
The Child Welfare Branch’s annual reports from the early 1940s noted a growing ‘problem’ among Māori youth. Māori increasingly appeared in children’s courts. Māori youths outnumbered Pākehā coming before the Northland courts by 2.5:1 in 1940-41, although M…
Date: 1940 Period: 1938-1971 -
Māori Purposes Act
Marriages in accordance with Māori custom, and certain earlier adoption orders, were deemed valid for specific land purposes.[i]
Date: 1940 Period: 1938-1971 -
Review of the Child Welfare Division
New Zealand Council of Educational Research review of the Child Welfare Division found that, amongst the approximately 2,500 children in church-run care institutions in 1940, none were Māori.[i]
Date: 1940 Period: 1938-1971 -
Universal superannuation begins
Universal superannuation introduced by the second Labour Government.[i]
Date: 1940 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.