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 91 - 100 of 270 events.
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Labour Government defeated by National
First Māori woman MP, Iriaka Ratana (until 1969), elected.[i] Throughout her 20-year political career Iriaka focused much on the welfare needs of Māori.[ii] Māori Electoral Roll established for the Māori seats.[iii]
Date: 1949 Period: 1938-1971 -
Māori Welfare Division
Comprised 63 tribal executives and 381 committees under the 1945 Act, headed by Rangi Royal.
Date: 1949 Period: 1938-1971 -
Establishment of Māori Boys and Māori Girls’ trade training hostels
From the 1930s, as Māori began moving to urban centres, concerns arose among iwi Māori, mission organisations and the state about the safe accommodation of young Māori girls and boys in the country’s cities. By the 1950s, trade training institutions such a…
Date: 1950 Period: 1938-1971 -
Māori Purposes Act 1950
This iteration of the Māori Purposes Act excluded Māori customary marriage from legal benefit qualifications,[i] although family benefits were paid for all children whether legitimate or not.
Date: 1950 Period: 1938-1971 -
Establishment of the Māori Women’s Welfare League (MWWL)
The League undertook myriad community-based voluntary welfare activities. In its first few years it advocated for te reo Māori in schools, culturally responsive hospital services and preserving Māori arts. The League brought Māori women together to address…
Date: 1951 Period: 1938-1971 -
MWWL survey of Auckland housing for Māori
Survey provides evidence of Māori need for housing.[i]
Date: 1952 Period: 1938-1971 -
Enquiry into Māori offending
Growth of Māori delinquency encouraged the Justice Department to undertake a special inquiry in 1953/4 which examined all Māori offending.[i]
Date: 1953 Period: 1938-1971 -
Child Welfare Amendment Act (No.2)
Targeted the allegedly central role of girls and young women in fostering illicit relationships by creating the new category of ‘delinquency’ for all adolescents who committed indecent acts, or allowed them to be performed on them.[i]
Date: 1954 Period: 1938-1971 -
The Mazengarb Report
The Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents criticised films, comics and declining standards of family and religious life. Later described as leading to a ‘moral panic’.[i]
Date: 1954 Period: 1938-1971 -
Adoption Act
This Act and its 1962 Amendment upheld the principle of secrecy via ‘closed adoption’. Legislation inferred the transparency inherent to ‘whangai practices [was] somehow detrimental to the child and their whangai parents.’[i]
Date: 1955 Period: 1938-1971
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.