2.4 The New Zealand empire and the Pacific Understanding the relationship between the New Zealand empire and the Pacific Islands also provides important context to the experiences of Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand today. New Zealand22 actively sought colonial options in the South Pacific and saw itself as the Britain of the South Pacific.23 The New Zealand Government represented itself as capable of taming and civilising what it positioned as the unruly and uncivilised Pacific population.24 This racist and colonial ideology was evident in the New Zealand empire’s active complicity in blackbirding in the Pacific, which saw European slave traders enslaving or deceiving Pacific peoples into slave labour on plantations in New Zealand, Australia and various other countries.25 It was also evident during New Zealand’s colonial rule in Samoa, particularly when colonial officials mishandled the 1918 influenza pandemic by allowing sick passengers to disembark from SS Talune and infect the Samoan people.26 This bungling proved tragic and fatal, resulting in 8,500 or 22–25 percent of the Samoan population dying.27 The New Zealand Government’s oppressive approach to colonial rule in Samoa resulted in the formation of the Mau 8 movement, which fought to assert the rights of the Samoan people against the New Zealand colonial administration. Tensions between groups erupted on Black Saturday (28 December 1929) when New Zealand Police opened fire on a peaceful march of the Mau movement, murdering 11 Samoans.28 New Zealand’s administration of Niue can also be understood as harmful, seen in 1953 when New Zealand High Commissioner Cecil Larsen became New Zealand’s only diplomat to be murdered while living overseas by three young Niuean men following accusations of serious mistreatment and abuse of power by the High Commissioner at the time.29 In relation to the enduring inequities experienced by Pacific peoples in New Zealand today, one important point to highlight is that the colonial role of New Zealand has significantly shaped education programmes in the Pacific from the 1840s. Under colonial rule, an underresourced education system was established within the Pacific that was designed to ensure Pacific peoples specialised in manual labour and had limited access to literacy and numeracy programmes.30 As a result of these policies, Pacific peoples’ access to higher education necessitated travelling overseas, ensuring that tertiary education was almost unattainable to most.31 22 New Zealand is used here as this section refers to the state of New Zealand. 23 Ministry for Culture and Heritage. “New Zealand in the Pacific.” New Zealand History. Updated January 13, 2016. https:// nzhistory.govt.nz/war/capture-of-samoa/background. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/capture-of-samoa/background. 24 Leenen-Young, Marcia, and Sereana Naepi. “Gather Pandanus Leaves: Colonization, Internationalization and the Pacific.” Journal of International Students 11 no. S1 (2021): 17. 25 Hamilton, Scott. The Stolen Island: Searching for ’Ata. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 2016, 40-43; Blundell, Sally. “Blackbirding: New Zealand’s Shameful Role in the Pacific Islands Slave Trade.” Stuff. December 2, 2018. https://www.stuff. co.nz/national/noted/listener/108992096/blackbirding-new-zealands-shameful-role-in-the-pacific-islands-slave-trade. 26 Tahana, Jamie. “How NZ Took Influenza to Samoa, Killing a Fifth of its Population.” Radio New Zealand. October 7, 2018. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/375404/how-nz-took-influenza-to-samoa-killing-a-fifth-of-its-population. See also: Tomkins, Sandra. “The Influenza Epidemic of 1918–19 in Western Samoa.” The Journal of Pacific History 27, no. 2 (1992): 185. 27 Tahana, “How NZ Took Influenza to Samoa, Killing a Fifth of its Population.” 28 Ministry for Culture and Heritage, “New Zealand in Samoa.” New Zealand History. Updated April 30, 2020. https://nzhistory. govt.nz/politics/samoa. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/samoa. 29 The Niue youth were Folitolu (26), Latoatama (19) and Tamaeli (16); “Untold Pacific History: Episode 2 – Niue/The Murder of Commissioner Larsen.” The CoconetTV. June 2, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-gE1tyepVo. 30 Leenen-Young and Naepi, “Gathering Pandanus Leaves,” 18-22. 31 Leenen-Young and Naepi, “Gathering Pandanus Leaves,” 18-22.