Chronology for 1900-1937
On the fringes of mono-cultural welfare
Most Māori lived in rural enclaves of Aotearoa New Zealand and practiced customary ways of living and caring for whānau. However, assimilationist policies and a capitalist economic framework were beginning to impact, especially with the migration of adults in search of paid work. By 1920, Māori land holdings had decreased to 8% of total New Zealand lands and the population had increased from 56,987 in 1921 to 82,326 in 1936.[i] go to footnote Factors contributing to this significant population growth, which continued beyond the 1920s, were ‘falls in infant and child mortality, especially but not exclusively from the end of the 19th century to 1976’, ‘reductions in mortality at older ages’, and ‘the high relative fertility of Māori women’.[ii] go to footnote While Māori women and children were at the forefront of the recovery of te ao Māori, they were also targets of state messaging about their ‘proper’ family roles and places in New Zealand society.
Western concepts of child welfare were introduced legislatively in the early 20th century (whāngai restrictions to whenua) and enforced increasingly throughout the century as Māori children began to enter the child juvenile system. Access to pensions and benefits are either denied or paid at a lower rate than for Pākehā.
Iwi Māori continued to fight for hapū autonomy and control over their own welfare. Wāhine Māori, such as Whina Cooper and Te Puea Hērangi, were among Māori leaders pushing for tikanga-based solutions for the welbeing of their people and Māori nationwide.[iii] go to footnote
Chronology events
Displaying 21 - 30 of 270 events.
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Māori Representation Act
Māori acquired four seats in the House of Representatives.
Date: 1867 Period: 1835-1899 -
Native Schools Act
Native Schools Act 1867 provided subsidies for rural Māori communities that offered land for a school site and contributed to the teachers’ salaries. This was a parsimonious measure, paid for partly by withdrawal or diminution of government contributions t…
Date: 1867 Period: 1835-1899 -
Neglected and Criminal Children Act
Authorised residential institutions which formed the basis of government social services for children in 19th century New Zealand.[i] Enabled Provincial Councils to establish ‘industrial schools’ to which the courts could commit neglected, indigent or deli…
Date: 1867 Period: 1835-1899 -
Earliest records of special courts for children
Until the early 1900s children committed to state care in New Zealand passed through the regular adult court system, normally the magistrate’s court.[i]
Date: 1870 Period: 1835-1899 -
Treaty of Waitangi rights judged a legal nullity
by Chief Justice Prendergast.
Date: 1877 Period: 1835-1899 -
Jurisdiction over industrial schools
This change of jurisdiction from the Department of Justice to the Department of Education signalled a shift from residential schools as primarily punitive institutions to more reformative institutions. [i]
Date: 1880 Period: 1835-1899 -
Native Succession Act
Māori women’s property rights took a step backwards in 1881 when the Native Succession Act created the potential to discriminate against Māori women’s property rights under customary marriage.[i]
Date: 1881 Period: 1835-1899 -
Infants Guardianship and Contracts Act
Legislation was mainly concerned with the welfare of the child from 1887. The Infants Guardianship and Contracts Act 1887 listed three factors judges were to consider when awarding custody: 1. welfare of the child; 2. parents’ behaviour; 3. parents’ wishes…
Date: 1887 Period: 1835-1899 -
Developments in welfare and income provision
This decade saw the enactments of women’s suffrage, labour legislation, and old-age pensions.[i] Hospitals existed as a charitable aid system and pensions were available for the aged and widowed, alongside existing provision by religious and other voluntar…
Date: 1890 Period: 1835-1899 -
Māori Parliament established
Establishment of Kotahitanga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Meri Te Tai Mangakahia campaigned for women’s suffrage. The first woman to address the Kotahitanga Parliament (in May 1893), she noted that Māori women were landowners, and entitled to political represen…
Date: 1892 Period: 1835-1899
Footnotes
- [i] go to main content The New Zealand Official Year Book 1945
- [ii] go to main content Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney, Aroha Harris, Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History, Bridget Williams Books, Wellington, 2014, p. 491.
- [iii] go to main content Hērangi, Te Kirihaehae Te Puea – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography – Te Ara; Cooper, Whina – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography – Te Ara.