Developments in Race Relations

19th C

• 1840 - Political and military necessity to treat Maori as equals – Belgrave

• Later – Settlers viewed Maori as an impediment• J. Soames (NZ Co.) 1843 – Treaty a ‘praiseworthy device for

amusing and pacifying savages for the moment.’• Maori didn’t sell land as fast as expected – belief in native

title decreased– 1846 Wasteland policy

• Commitment to ToW decreased as no. of settlers increased• Swainson – Crown had no authority over those that didn’t

sign– Rejected – NZ Wars

• O’Malley 1999 – Land sales mini-treaties – piecemeal extension of sovereignty

• 1860s – Crown more able to enforce its view of sovereignty– Land sales, population swamping

Redress 1870s – 1920s

– Limited success using parliament and courts

– 1891 Rees-Carroll and 1908 Stout-Ngata Commissions – little impact restraining demand for land

– Trust Boards – some success gaining compensation but not return – Taranaki/Tainui confiscations

Late 19th – early 20th Century

• Separatists – Kotahitanga 1892, Kingitanga• Maori MPs – James Carroll, Hone Heke• ‘Young Maori Party’ – Apirana Ngata, Te Rangihiroa

(Peter Buck), Maui Pomare• No question of accepting govt sovereignty• To survive Maori had to abandon traditions that

hindered progress in modern world– 1907 Tohunga Suppression Act

• Ngata – government loans and land consolidation• Coates – sympathetic to Maori concerns• Sim Commission 1926 – found confiscations were

largely unjust

Sir Apirana Ngata

Maui Pomare

Peter Buck

WW1

• Maori Pioneer Battalion• Anti-recruitment - Taranaki, Ngāti

Maniapoto and Tainui–Waikato

Ngata’s explanation of the Treaty 1922

• Worried about Maori protest relying on treaty• Already had access to centre of politics – no

need to focus on Treaty• Ngata had mana – explanation carried weight• Ignored Maori version – said Maori had

transferred chiefly authority forever• Objective – stop Maori wasting energy on protest

rather than gaining reasonable benefits from govt allowed in English version

• Still concerned – customary fishing rights (A2) vs Queen’s Chain and 3 mile limit (A3)

Pakeha

What’s all this Treaty business?

Pakeha understanding

• Limited understanding of the treaty – limits ability to redress

• Textbooks– 1888 text - ‘The white race is at present the most

powerful. White men are the best scholars and the best workers.’

– NZ Graphic Reader 6th book 1900 – ‘The rights of the natives under the treaty have been respected and they themselves do not complain that any of its provisions have been unduly strained or arbitrarily set aside’

– Our Nation’s Story 1928 – Treaty ‘the fairest treaty ever made between Europeans and a native race’

• Treaty not compulsory until later 20th C

The Cultural Crutch

Collective Understanding and Dominant Narratives

What does this say about Pakeha knowledge of Maori and the separation of the races?

Who matters?

Errr . . .

Continuing protest

• 1941 – Te Hoani Te Heu Heu case – Privy Council ruled that ToW had no force in domestic law– Standard ruling – treaties have no power

unless enacted

• 1945-55 – 10 royal commissions

WW2 Service

The Price of Citizenship

Postwar

• Urbanisation• Increasing pan-tribal unity

Maori Urbanisation

Dispossession and marginalisation

• Maori disproportionately labourers, unskilled and jailed

• 1963 – 93.3% of Maori boys left school without quals vs 67.4% of Pakeha

• 1967 Maori Affairs Amendment Act and new rating legislation – couldn’t afford to pay rates and could lose land

• Emphasis on equal rights through integration– Hunn Report 1961– Did not consult Maori

1960s-70s

• National – thought uneconomic, fragmented landholdings were holding Maori back – more land acquisition

• No National Maori MPs until 1975• New Zealand Day 1974• ‘We are all NZers’ – assimilation by

another name?

Pepper potting

Results of losing cultural supports?

The new generation

• New Maori leaders – young, university educated, unionists

• ‘Maori renaissance’• Challenged Maori compliance with

Pakeha – thought it was too accepting of Maori disadvantage

Maori Language Petition 1972

Context

• Black Civil Rights movement, indigenous protest in US, Canada and Australia

• Historiography – Marxist, non-Western and post-colonial approaches–Write ‘missing’ history– Tell story of survival in the face of

Western imperialism and culture

Nga Tama Toa

You protest the Springboks, but is NZ any better

than South Africa? Learn

NZ history!

The Treaty Returns

• Early protest – saw treaty as a fraud – should be abandoned

• 1972 Ruth Ross article• Maori began to appeal for sovereignty vs

Article 2 of the English version• Protest to address injustice• 1980s – Waitangi Action Group• Matiu Rata – Labour Minister of Maori

Affairs – urged govt to address grievances

Protest

• 1975 Hikoi – politicised Maori• 1977-78 – Bastion Point occupation• 1978 – Raglan Golf Course

1975 Treaty of Waitangi Act• Created Waitangi Tribunal – appointed by Governor-General• Applies only to actions by Crown• Recognised both versions and set out the principles – self

regulation, redress, duty to consult• No privately held land to be returned• Have to prove claimants would have been better off without

Crown action• At first – only contemporary claims• 1984 – Retrospective claims• Can recommend but not enforce, except return of some

land (1988-90)• Have to convince govt of political sense of settlement –

change hist for present conflicts• Section 7 – No trivial or vexatious claims• Section 6AA – No historic claims to be lodged after

September 2008

Big Claims

• 1983 – Motonui – sewage outfall contaminated fishing grounds

• 1984 – Kaituna – Rotorua proposal to divert sewage to river

• 1986 Te Reo report – Te Reo a taonga– Made an official language 1987

• 1992 Muriwhenua – Maori given 20% of fishing quota

• 1998 Ngai Tahu – Land sales - $170 million compensation and resource management rights

Land Claims

• Growing dissatisfaction with ‘grievance industry’

• 1994 ‘Fiscal Envelope’ – to appease Pakeha voters– Later dropped

• 7th Form History – Less than 1/3 took NZ option

• Persistent myths

Maori language proficiency