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Maranga Mai!
1851-1899: Cont. further dispossession of land, Māori tamariki are educated to be an underclass, corporal
punishment in schools for speaking Māori, iwi forced into material hardship, Māori health and population
decline, Old Age Pension reviewed to reduce number of eligible Māori.
Land
1872: Taking land for public works
began during the sovereignty
(land) wars. The Crown stops
consulting Māori and begins to
acquire land for roads compulsorily
(Waitangi Tribunal 2010).
Māori Prisoners Act 1880 made it
legal for Māori to be held without
charge or trial (Scott, 1984). All
Natives “committed for and waiting
trial … shall be deemed to have
been lawfully arrested and to be
in lawful custody and may be
lawfully detained [and] no Court,
Judge, Justices of the Peace or other
person shall … discharge, bail,
or liberate the said Natives” (The
Māori Prisoners Act, 1880 cited in
Scott, D 1984:64
1881: 1500-armed constabulary
invade and destroy Parihaka. In
the process, some Māori women
are raped. Te Whiti and Tohu are
detained without charge or trial
under the Māori Prisoners Act
passed the previous year (Scott,
1984). Some of the land that is
confiscated is given to members of
the constabulary (Shaw 2021).
Indemnity Act 1882 deemed hui at
Parihaka to be illegal. Any person
who damages or takes property
to prevent iwi from meeting at
Parihaka, was deemed to have
done so legally. The Act “gave
immunity from prosecution for
anyone who had committed an
‘unexpected act’ on the West
Coast of Taranaki. [Torture, rape,
and beheadings were] forgiven”
(Taonui, 2021).
Native Lands Rating Act 1882
introduced rates on Māori land
which were rated at up to 300%
of equivalent European land
(Taonui 2012b)
Native Land Purchase and
Acquisition Act 1893 is enacted to
make ‘idle’ Māori land available
for settlement. Government could
deem land owned by Māori to
be suitable for settlement, paying
only five shillings an acre for it.
The market rate at the time was
£30. This land was ‘idle’ due to
legislation that made it impossible
to raise loans to develop Māori
land (banks would not loan on
communally owned land)
The Public Works Act 1894
allows authorities to take ‘native
lands’, but it’s not clear what
that means. Responsibility for
applying to the Native Land
Court for compensation now lies
with the taking authority, not
with the owners thus rendering
Māori powerless if they are never
compensated (Ward, A. 1997).
The Advances to Settlers Act
1894 provided low interest loans
to settlers for land purchase
and development; owners of iwi
descent were excluded from access
to government development
finance until the 1930s.
Validation of Invalid Land Sales Act
1894 made some past land deals,
which were illegal, legal.
Education
Native Schools Act, 1858; the
Native Schools Act, 1867 & 1871.
These Acts established a national
system of non-denominational
primary schools so long as the
hap�� provide the land, half the
cost of the buildings and 25% of
the teacher’s salary (Barrington &
Beaglehole 1974; Treaty Resource
Centre (2019).
The use of te reo Māori was
eliminated from Native Schools
and the English only policy was
rigorously enforced with corporal
punishment. Many traumatised
tamariki went on to experience
identity alienation. (Reid, J. et
al, 2017). Many Māori parents
encourage only the English
language to protect their tamariki
from punishment.
Schools teach a labour-based
curriculum, …to prepare Māori for
a future as a labouring underclass
[creating the] British brown
proletariat” (Walker, 2016: 23)
Health
As land moved swiftly and
illegitimately into Crown and
settler ownership, Māori kāinga
shrunk, access to resources like
water became difficult, and Māori
sources of food disappeared or
were severely limited. Iwi are