The third wave followed 70 years later when Pacific
peoples who had served the colonial government as
civil servants within the Pacific ‘territories’ or in the
colonial armed forces were permitted to relocate to
New Zealand.7
The fourth migration, which followed World War
II, was perhaps the most significant and is the
migration story most people are familiar with today.
Pacific peoples migrated for economic reasons
during the fourth migration and found work in
the manufacturing and service sectors in post-war
Aotearoa New Zealand.8
2.3 The relationship between Pacific peoples
and Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand
Given that the Pacific Pay Gap co-exists with the
Māori pay gap9 and that honouring te Tiriti o Waitangi
is central to addressing intersectional inequities
in Aotearoa New Zealand,10 this section examines
the literature exploring the relationship that Pacific
peoples have with Māori as Tangata Whenua of
Aotearoa New Zealand. This is while noting that there
are people who are both of Māori and Pacific descent
in Aotearoa New Zealand.11
As Māori scholars have pointed out, it is important to
acknowledge that, unlike most of the relationships
that Māori have with other migrant populations in
Aotearoa New Zealand, the relationship between
6
Māori and Pacific peoples pre-dates the signing of
te Tiriti.12 For example, Jackson notes that Māori
and Pacific peoples have held unique whakapapa
relationships with each other well before 1840, but
forces of colonisation have “created division”:13
One of the worst things that colonisation did to
our people was make us forget that we are Pacific
peoples. So for generations ‘Pacific Islanders’ did
not include Māori, ‘Pacific Islanders’ were those
people over there … and so that created division
where history and whakapapa had once bound us
together …
In terms of the modern dynamics of this “division”,
Teaiwa and Mallon have described contemporary
relationships between Māori and Pacific peoples as
an “ambivalent kinship” that has led to “a denial of
kinship; or an assertion of seniority within the kinship
model; or it may produce movements were the
representation of a united ‘happy family’ may feel the
most comfortable and appropriate”.14
In a similar vein, scholars have highlighted tensions
and missed opportunities for solidarity between the
two groups.15 For example, Anae observes that there
is a sense among Pacific peoples that “the Treaty of
Waitangi has formally very little to do with Pacific
peoples … it is probably true that most Pacific people
in New Zealand do not take an interest in it - fuelling
the belief that in essence it involves Māori and the
7
Patterson, Sereana. “Beyond the Dusky Maiden: Pasifika women’s experiences working in higher education.” PhD thesis,
University of British Columbia, 2018, 12. https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0370998.
8
Patterson, “Beyond the Dusky Maiden,” 12; Te Punga Somerville, Once Were Pacific, xxii.
9
The wāhine Māori pay gap is currently one of the subjects of the Mana Wāhine Inquiry being heard by the Waitangi Tribunal.
See Ministry for Women, Mana Wāhine Inquiry. https://women.govt.nz/w%C4%81hine-m%C4%81ori/mana-w%C4%81hineinquiry.
10
Jackson, Moana. “Understanding Racism in this Country,” E-Tangata, February 25, 2018. https://e-tangata.co.nz/commentand-analysis/moana-jackson-understanding-racism-in-this-country/; Jackson, Moana. “Space, Race, Bodies – A Conference
Theme, A Timely Reminder.” Sites: New Series 14 (2017): 7.
11
The exact number of people who are both Māori and Pacific is not known but it is estimated that “as much as two-thirds of
New Zealand born Pacific peoples whakapapa Māori as well”. See Vaka’uta, Koro. “Māori-Pasifika: Generation B emerging in
Aotearoa.” Radio New Zealand. February 8, 2021. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/435907/maori-pasifikageneration-b-emerging-in-aotearoa.
12
Ngata, Tina.“Environmental Racism and Te Tiriti o Waitangi webinar.” YouTube, April 22, 2020. https://youtu.be/
XPb6mpYIZos; Jackson, Moana. “A kōrero with Moana Jackson – Te Tiriti Based Futures 2020 Webinar.” YouTube, March 21,
2020. https://youtu.be/XPb6mpYIZos; Te Punga Somerville Once Were Pacific, xvii.
13
Jackson, “A kōrero with Moana Jackson.”
14
Teaiwa, Teresia, and Sean Mallon. “Ambivalent Kinships? Pacific People in New Zealand.” In New Zealand Identities: Departures
and Destinations, edited by James H Liu, Tim McCreanor, Tracey McIntosh, and Teresia Teaiwa, 208. Wellington: Victoria
University Press, 2005.
15
Awatere, Donna. Māori Sovereignty. Auckland: Broadsheet, 1984, 14, 37-40; Mafile’o Tracie, and Wheturangi Walsh-Tapiata.
“Māori and Pasifika Indigenous Connections: Tensions and Possibilities.” AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous
Peoples 3 (2007): 128-145; Vaka’uta, Koro.“Where do Pasifika fit in the Treaty of Waitangi?” Radio New Zealand (February 6,
2020). https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/408963/where-do-pasifika-fit-in-the-treaty-of-waitangi; Hill, Richard.
“Fitting Multiculturalism into Biculturalism: Maori–Pasifika relations in New Zealand from the 1960s.” Ethnohistory 57 (2010):
291-319.