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Impact Report-Legislation and colonisation

How legislation has negatively affected Māori society.

Introduction

The colonisation of New Zealand has affected Māori negatively and this was thought to be due to differences in cultural beliefs between the British settlers and Māori. In this report, I will present five pieces of legislation that have impacted Māori negatively. Those five pieces of legislation are New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, Public Works Land Act 1864, Native School Act 1867, Tohunga Suppression Act 1907, and Māori Trust Board Act 1955. I will describe each legislation along with the negative effects that caused for Māori.

New Zealand Constitution Act 1852

This is the act that British Parliament passed as “an act to grant a representative constitution to the colony of New Zealand” in 1852 (Derby, n.d. Para 1). This brought the division of New Zealand into 6 provinces (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018). Māori custom and law was supposed to be protected for ‘Māori districts’ under Section 71 of this Act, but the crown never implemented this section (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018). It is important to understand that Māori was not thought about in the implementation of this type of law, and that it did not consider the system of Māori law and the way Maori settled disputes (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018).

Public Works Land Act 1864

This Act meant that any lands needed for constructing roads, railways and other public works were taken by the Crown without compensation (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018). This caused issues, for example, some land did not meet its purpose to use as it was originally suggested and the land was not returned in most of the time (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018). More Maori land was used compared to Pākeha land when roads often go through land owned by Māori and they did not receive compensation for that (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018).

Native School Act 1867

Native Schools were built within Māori communities under this Act and only English was used as the medium of instruction and these schools were going to expand once English became the primary language in the communities of Māori (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018). A number of the Maori generations have experienced physical punishment for speaking Māori at school or in the playground (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018). The Native Schools Act has affected negatively for Māori on the use of te reo Māori and this has subsequently caused a loss of the language and English was used as the first language at home (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018).

Tohunga Suppression Act 1907

This act was established because of concern for tohunga practices that were deceitful (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018). A large number of self-claimed tohunga appeared without the appropriate training (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018). Although this act was barely made use of and only a small number of convictions were made, Māori communities were affected by this act profoundly (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018). This meant that the role of tohunga damaged the way they connect to the spiritual world which influenced Māori society (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018). The number of tohunga decreased and almost no authentic tohunga are practicing now and The Tohunga Act was revoked in 1962. (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018).

Māori Trust Board Act 1955

According to Te Puni Kōkiri: Realising Māori Potential (2018), “Māori Trust Board Act provides the legal framework within which Māori Trust Boards operate and gives the Minister for Māori Development (the Minister) specific powers to enable Ministerial oversight of the affairs of Māori Trust Boards” (p.5). The Crown had the control over the Trust Boards in making final decisions about the finances, land, purchased resources and their management (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018). The Māori Trust Board Act impacted hugely on the social structure of traditional Māori resulting in iwi facing political and economical influence by the act (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018). This meant that the Crown did not have to deal with a number of Māori entities as there were less iwi than hapu. (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, 2018).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Māori society and people were negatively affected by the colonisation of New Zealand and the cultural differences between Māori and the British settlers. In this report, five pieces of legislation including, New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, Public Works Land Act 1864, Native School Act 1867, Tohunga Suppression Act 1907, and Māori Trust Board Act 1955 were described along with its negative effects on Māori. It is clear that colonisation and the legislation that came with it has damaged the traditional Māori practices and Māori people’s identity, and the legislation that was discussed here brought social demise on Māori.

References

Derby, M. (n.d.). Ngā take Māori – government policy and Māori - A new colony 1840s to 1850s , Te Arathe Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved June 26, 2021 from http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/document/34377/constitution-act-1852

Te Puni Kōkiri: Realising Māori Potential (2018). The Māori Trust Boards Act 1955: A practical guide for members and beneficiaries of Māori Trust Boards. Retrieved June 26, 2021 from file:///Users/yakasaka/Downloads/tpk-maoritrustboardsguide-2018%20(1).pdf

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. (2018). Study Guide, Mana Tangata: He Tikanga Whakaaro. Te Awamutu, New Zealand: Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.