lecture 17: Maori urban migration Flashcards
Understand what is said in the Hunn Report relative to urban migration.
- commissioned in 1960 to review the department of Maori affairs
- far reaching recommendations
- encouraged urbanisation
- numerous assults on Maori culture
- highlighted that maori were disadvantaged in a number of areas as a result of moving to the urban centres
–> Maori land tenure - maori held land collectively
- collective titles are seen as difficult to manage when individual fee simple titles are the norm
- hindered progression and the full, proper use of one’s land/s
What did the government do to encourage urban migration?
- policy environment placed pressure on Maori to leave their rural homes and migrate to urban areas
- labour government created a revival in Maori fortunes, more concentrated health, housing and education initiatives and funding for land development
- labour also recognised that Maori needed to be incorporated more into the national workforce, they achieved this by focusing on increasing local products for export, primarily agricultural and forestry products, which in turn meant an increase in the demand for labour in these industries, prompting Maori to move
- low interest housing loans and educational benefits
What was the purpose of the Department of Māori ACairs?
advising the government on policies of interest to Māori and monitoring the responsiveness of government agencies to issues facing Māori
What is pepper-potting?
- this is when the department of maori affairs assisted by offering maori families who moved to urban areas low interest rate mortgages
- this places maori families within predominantly european suburbs
- this was a deliberate assimilation stratergy intended to promote better race relations
What were the causes for urban migration?
–> push factors
- strain on limited rural economic resources
- not enough food due to loss of land and therefore traditional food supplies and resources
- led to spread of infectious diseases
- employment
- geographical isolation
- escape the confines of culture
–> pull factors
- economic security
- higher education/training
- adventure
- independence
–> maori war organisation
- contributed to NZ war effort by directing Maori labour to work in short staffed industries throughout the war period
Who migrated?
Maori living in rural areas
Where did they migrate to?
urban areas, sometimes self determined and sometimes go somewhere the government wants them to go
- Auckland was the favoured destination of a significant proportion of maori migrants
also:
- wellington hutt valley
- Hamilton
- gisborne
What challenges did Māori face in urban
centres?
–> employment
- unskilled
- 1980s redundancies
–> housing
- hostels
- inner city living
- ‘pepper-potting’
- ethnic enclaves
–> racism
–> maori womens welfare league
What challenges did they face in rural
communities?
- acute maori over population in relation to the limited resources of the rural area
- unprofitable maori owned farms that were small and less productive
- slow regional development
- a lack of employment opportunities for a growing population
- geographical isolation
What positive experiences did Māori gain
from migrating to urban centres?
- greater economic security and the ability to obtain a higher education
What were the introduced incentives that
helped Māori to adapt to new urban life?
Maori womens welfare league
- advocate for maori in the cities
- housing, health, education, employment
- social work
- maori cultural and language development
maori war effort organisation advised in 1943 appointment of 6 welfare and liaison officers to assist with Maori issues and adapting to urban life
–> maori social and economic advancement act 1945
What were some of the official (government)
narratives in relation to Māori urban
migration?
- it was with much reluctance that the government accepted that maori would no longer remain a rural based population
- as a result their provision of adequate state services to this burgeoning population was ad hoc in its approach
- one of governments aims was the full assimilation of maori, which would mean the absorption of maori into mainstream pakeha culture
What were the challenges and benefits for
future generations?
- overtime attraction of home communities lessened as Maori embedded themselves in the towns and cities
- many maori became locked in a pattern of regular employment in order to meet financial obligations that restricted the time they had to devote to other traditional cultural demands
- assimilation of maori culture
- large redundancies largely impacted maori who were employed in the industries being restructured
adjustments for maori in urban centres
- religious groups
- cultural clubs
- tribal groups
- maori organisations
- urban, pan tribal marae
- pan tribal maori authorities
- distance from turangawaewae
