Chronology for 1835-1899
The colonial redistribution of welfare: Dismantling hapū ora
This period opens with a politically and socio-economically robust iwi Māori population of around 80,000 people.[i] go to footnote Whenua and whakapapa form the basis of hapū and whānau wellbeing. W.H. Oliver argues that the first instrument of social policy in New Zealand was the system set up by Hobson in 1840 for the purchase and resale to settlers of Māori land.[ii] go to footnote Pākehā welfare was dependent on the continued dispossession of Māori land.[iii]go to footnote
The New Zealand Wars (1845–1872) either directly or indirectly impacted all iwi Māori throughout New Zealand.[iv] go to footnote Related legislative measures enabled the Crown to alienate Māori land and taonga across the motu prior to and beyond the next century via confiscation, land tenure reforms, local legislative measures and contested land purchases.
Iwi Māori assertions of rangatiratanga and resistance to the alienation of lands occurred across the motu, either physically, through the courts, via direct petitioning to the government or through the simple occupation of lands. Such measures led to some government concessions, such as the Sims Commission and South Island Landless Natives Act 1906,[v] go to footnote but after 1872 resistance also sometimes led to the government’s use of force in the later 19th century and well into the 20th century. (eg, Parihaka in 1881, Waima in 1898, Takaparawhāu in 1978).[vi] go to footnote
By the end of the 19th century Māori were a minority of the national. In 1896 the Māori population hit an all-time low of 42,650, compared to a Pākehā population of just over 700,000. Although the Māori population was recovering, their communities were reeling from land alienation, decline of resources, indebtedness, diseases and Māori communities survived on subsistence economies, with a growing dependence on paid work.
Māori were either excluded or faced barriers to accessing welfare support introduced during this period.
Chronology events
Displaying 1 - 10 of 33 events.
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Te Whakaputanga
Northern Rangatira sign Declaration of Independence.
Date: 1835 Period: 1835-1899 -
Māori population estimated at 80,000
An iwi Māori population supports a dependent Pākehā population of approximately 2,000 c.1839.
Date: 1840 Period: 1835-1899 -
Signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is signed on 6 February 1840 at Waitangi, in the Bay of Islands.
Date: 1840 Period: 1835-1899 -
Beginning of the New Zealand Wars
The New Zealand Wars (1845 to 1872).
Date: 1845 Period: 1835-1899 -
Destitute Persons Ordinance
Promoted the start of the family responsibility themes in New Zealand social policy.[i] Was put in place due to concern about ‘dangerous lunatics’ and made families financially responsible for their own members.[ii] Became New Zealand’s first income suppor…
Date: 1846 Period: 1835-1899 -
Hospitals established in the North Island
The establishment of state-financed hospitals in Auckland, Wellington, Wanganui, and New Plymouth, creating the nucleus of a national hospital system.[i]
Date: 1846 Period: 1835-1899 -
Limited government support for Mission Schools
Māori women played a significant role in establishing Mission Schools. Māori children were initially educated in Mission Schools, separate from Pākehā children, and received some funding from government from 1847.
Date: 1847 Period: 1835-1899 -
Pensions Ordinance
Provided a limited pension for volunteers and others who were disabled or seriously wounded while acting with or in aid of the Crown forces in the suppression of the rebellion in the far north of New Zealand in 1845/46.[i]
Date: 1849 Period: 1835-1899 -
Civil List for ‘Native purposes’
From 1852 the Civil List included a sum of £7,000 for 'Native Purposes' including medicines and medical services.[i]
Date: 1852 Period: 1835-1899 -
New Zealand Constitution Act
New Zealand is now self-governing, with allowances made for self-governing Māori districts. Provinces are responsible for the ‘needy poor’.
Date: 1852 Period: 1835-1899
Footnotes
- [i] go to main content ‘The first Māori census was attempted in 1857–58’. Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney, Aroha Harris, Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History, Bridget Williams Books, Wellington, 2014, p. 246. Earlier censuses were taken during the 1840s, however these were particular to regions and settlements and from there estimates were made by missionaries and colonists as to what the national population level might have been. Salmond and other prominent authors are sceptical of these figures and believe the numbers were greater. A census of Māori was attempted in 1867 but warfare prevented its completion. Tangata Whenua, Appendix One, p. 490.
- [ii] go to main content Cited in Margaret Tennant, Past Judgement: Social Policy in New Zealand History, co-edited with Bronwyn Dalley, 2004, p. 17.; ‘The April report: report of the Royal Commission on Social Policy’, Volume 1: New Zealand Today, New Zealand Royal Commission on Social Policy, Wellington, 1988, pp. 4–5.
- [iii] go to main content Tennant, 2004, p. 41.
- [iv] go to main content For more detailed information see the following link: https://teara.govt.nz/en/new-zealand-wars
- [v] go to main content For more information see: Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney, Aroha Harris, Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History, Bridget Williams Books, Wellington, 2014, pp. 256–301, and https://teara.govt.nz/en/new-zealand-wars
- [vi] go to main content Tangata Whenua, pp.322-3.