148. The 50 years before the Inquiry period saw two world wars, economic hardship for many, increasing urban migration for Māori and the beginnings of Pacific Peoples’ large-scale migration to Aotearoa New Zealand. The heterosexual nuclear family was seen as the preferred, natural model and diversity was often not tolerated. These decades also saw the beginnings of widespread State welfare and the growth of large institutions.

Ngā raraunga tukupū mō te Māori i ngā pūnaha taurima i mua i te 1950
General data on Māori in care before 1950

149. Few tamariki or rangatahi Māori lived in any form of State or faith-based care before the 1940s.

150. A 1942 study of church homes noted that there were “no orphanages for Māori children”, and that there was little demand for such homes among Māori.[185] In addition, some private children’s homes refused to admit Māori.[186]

151. There is little information available on the number of tāngata whaikaha Māori / whānau hauā Māori admitted to State or faith-based care during the first half of the 20th century. Given Māori understandings of and attitudes to disability, it is likely that they were integrated into their whānau and cared for alongside all other members.

152. Prior to the 1940s, the number of Māori residing in psychiatric hospitals was low. In 1909, Māori made up just more than 1 percent of 3,549 psychiatric inpatients nationwide, increasing to 1.8 percent of 7,797 in 1938.[187] A decade later, in 1948, the number of Māori in psychiatric hospitals had increased to 2.6 percent of the total psychiatric patient population.[188]

153. Before the Inquiry period there were proportionally fewer Māori in psychiatric hospitals compared to non-Māori. Available data shows that for every 100,000 people in Aotearoa New Zealand, there were 208 Māori in psychiatric care, compared to 510 non-Māori.[189]

154. Reasons for this may include the preference of whānau to care for members experiencing mental distress at home using the resources of extended kin. Some Māori did not trust Western medicine and preferred to consult tohunga for their ailments.[190]

155. Other reasons may have included the fact that public hospitals charged fees and that some barred Māori patients, on the grounds of non-rates payment.[191] The number of Māori patients entering public hospitals of all types increased markedly after the State introduced free hospital care in 1939.[192]

Te pikinga o ngā uauatanga i ngā hāpori Māori
Increasing hardship in Māori communities

156. During the first half of the 20th century there were several factors that led to whānau and hapū Māori experiencing increased financial and social hardship. For example, there was a significant loss of Māori life in the First and Second World Wars. This, the lack of support available to Māori veterans, and the introduction of mass trauma into whānau, hapū and communities from men returning home from war untreated negatively affected whānau, hapū and iwi.

157. The State encouraged Māori urban migration from the mid to late 1940s partly because of the view that it would help the goal of full assimilation. The Department of Māori Affairs provided incentives for Māori to move to the cities, in the form of housing assistance and job opportunities. It also facilitated access to social services and welfare support.[193] Hostels, some established and managed by churches, were set up from the mid-1940s for Māori seeking work in towns and cities.[194]

158. While many of those who moved to the cities returned regularly to their whenua, moving between the two worlds,[195] the policy of urbanisation contributed to the breakdown of whānau, hapū and iwi and decline of te reo Māori. Tribal organisational structures were still important, and new collective entities were established.[196] But urbanisation and other impacts of colonisation had a direct impact on the health of Māori and their culture. This included the ability for Māori to maintain and uphold traditional family structures, cultural values and practices, including the use of mātauranga (knowledge).

159. Throughout the 20th century, Māori would often be empowered by the State to develop policies and programmes, but only to the extent that these met criteria set by the State.[197] This is a pattern that persisted throughout the Inquiry period and beyond, one where “the illusion of self-government exists, but the reality is mainstream control”.[198]

160. This pattern took the form of periods of change and increased power for Māori followed by a wave of Crown actions to decrease their level of autonomy.

161. During the Second World War, Sir Āpirana Ngata’s Māori War Effort Organisation showed the potential for Māori to work independently and cultivate kotahitanga, or unity. Towards the end of the war, Māori leaders argued that, based on this success, an independent tribal committee system should take over from the Department of Native Affairs.[199]

162. As the war ended and Māori support was no longer as critical, the State became concerned at the power Māori leadership had achieved. The Māori Social and Economic Advancement Act of 1945 established a network of official Tribal Committees and Tribal Executives operating within the Department of Native Affairs (the Department of Māori Affairs after 1947, which oversaw general issues relating to Māori development).[200]

163. Māori communities had to join the new system to gain official recognition for their tribal committees, which had to “follow European administration and meeting procedure”.[201] In 1949, the department characterised the main purpose of the Māori Social and Economic Advancement Act as being “to facilitate the full integration of the Māori race into the social and economic structure of the country”.[202]

164. The Māori Women’s Welfare League was formed in 1951 to assist with issues such as health, housing and discrimination faced by Māori, and helped the voice of Māori women to be heard at a national level.[203] This was largely in response to increased urbanisation of Māori during the 1930s and 1940s.

165. However, continued policies of assimilation and integration affected the ability of hapū and iwi to enforce and uphold important cultural controls, supports and practices. This contributed to an environment where tamariki and rangatahi Māori and whānau members could experience abuse and neglect inflicted in families and wider communities.

Te whakatāuke i te hunga whaikaha me te hunga e rongo ana i te wairangitanga
Segregation for disabled people and people who experienced mental distress

166. As mentioned in Chapter 3, the eugenics movement promoted the idea that some individuals were better suited to having children than others. Eugenicists argued that disabled people should be separated from the rest of society to prevent them from breeding a “subnormal” race.[204] This occurred at the same time as people were becoming concerned about a decline in the European birth rate.

167. Eugenics gained momentum and popularity in the second half of the 19th century and continued into the 20th century. It was supported by some prominent figures in science and politics, including Plunket founder Sir Truby King.

168. Training institutions and detention centres were opened for “those who could be brought up to … standard, and the segregation of those who could not”.[205] The Education Act 1914 required parents, as well as officials, teachers and police, to report “mentally defective” children to the Department of Education.[206]

169. The mass recruitment for the First World War resulted in 57 percent of men rejected for service on medical grounds, focussing State attention on the health of the nation and on children in particular.[207]

170. In 1925, the Committee of Inquiry into Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders addressed anxiety about “the number of mental defectives becoming a charge upon the State and the alarming increase in their numbers through the uncontrolled fecundity of this class”.[208]

171. Eugenics was condemned after the Second World War following the horrors of the Nazi regime, but its ideas still influenced laws, policies and attitudes during the Inquiry period. For example, the use of contraception without consent in care settings and the segregation of disabled people away from their communities can be seen as echoing the ableist beliefs underlying the eugenics movement, that non-disabled people are more valuable than disabled people.[209]

Ka rongo pea te hunga Turi, te hunga whaikaha me te hunga wairangi i te rawakoretanga mō te roanga o ō rātou oranga
Deaf, disabled people and people experiencing mental distress could experience lifelong poverty

172. During the Inquiry period, Deaf, disabled people and people who experienced mental distress often experienced lifelong poverty that impacted their life options. They were generally excluded from mainstream work. When work was available, it was often low paid, part time or temporary, with poor working conditions and few career opportunities.[210]

173. The Soldiers’ Civil Re-establishment League established workshop-based employment for returned servicemen considered unfit to resume former occupations from the 1930s.[211] Sheltered workshops were also established for other disabled New Zealanders, and these continued operating throughout the Inquiry period. See Part 2 Chapter 12 for more information on sheltered workshops.

Te hūnuku o ngā iwi Pasifika ki Aotearoa
Pacific Peoples’ migration to Aotearoa New Zealand

Te whanaungatanga i waenganui i a Aotearoa me ngā whenua Pasifika
Relationships between Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific nations

174. Aotearoa New Zealand has longstanding historical relationships with Pacific Peoples that predate European contact. Māori and Pacific Peoples share whakapapa and a common history of migration across the South Pacific region. However, these connections have not always extended to how some New Zealanders and the State viewed and treated Pacific Peoples.

175. The historic relationship with Pacific nations has tended to be paternalistic, with Aotearoa New Zealand “doing what was best for the immature, incapable and unknowing children, with or without their consent”.[212] This relationship included a civilising agenda and led to the colonisation of some Pacific nations.

176. Pacific Peoples have had a unique experience as a migrant community in Aotearoa New Zealand. This is due to the relationship between Pacific Peoples and Māori, and Aotearoa New Zealand’s colonial relationship with the Pacific nations.

177. Pacific Peoples have a history of migration to Aotearoa New Zealand, especially from the Realm countries with citizenship rights. Aotearoa New Zealand is called a Realm because it is a monarchy. The Realm of New Zealand includes Aotearoa New Zealand, Tokelau, the Ross Dependency (in Antarctica) and the self-governing states of the Cook Islands and Niue.[213]

178. Aotearoa New Zealand annexed the Cook Islands and Niue in 1901 and began an administration of Tokelau in 1926, before annexing it in 1948.[214] The Cook Islands declared independence in 1965 and Niue in 1974, but both continued to have a formal relationship with Aotearoa New Zealand.[215] Tokelau is still a territory of Aotearoa New Zealand. People born in Niue, Tokelau or the Cook Islands are New Zealand citizens, and Aotearoa New Zealand has a legal duty to them.[216]

179. Aotearoa New Zealand also has a special relationship with Samoa because of its formal administration of the nation from 1920 to 1962 (under a League of Nations mandate from 1920, and as a United Nations Trust Territory from 1946). This administration was resisted almost from its beginning by the Mau movement, culminating in the Aotearoa New Zealand administration opening fire on peaceful protestors in 1929 and killing several people.[217]

180. Samoa obtained independence in 1962 and the two countries signed a Treaty of Friendship, pledging to work closely together to promote the welfare of the Samoan people.[218]

181. Large-scale immigration of Pacific Peoples to Aotearoa New Zealand began in the 1950s and increased rapidly.[219] The State initially actively recruited Pacific Peoples for low-skilled, low-paid jobs.[220] Pacific Peoples also participated in the New Zealand armed forces in both the First and Second World Wars, and some of these veterans returned and settled in New Zealand.[221]

182. While Pacific Peoples took up the opportunity for a new life in Aotearoa New Zealand, some found the migration challenging. Economic hardship and racism made it hard to adjust to a new way of living and affected the ability of aiga or kāinga (family) to enforce and uphold important cultural controls, values, supports and practices.[222]

Ka tipu haere ngā mōtika tamariki
Children’s rights begin to increase

183. From the late 19th century children increasingly became seen as human beings in their own right and in need of protection, and the State began to take a more active role in child welfare.[223] By the early 20th century there was general acceptance in Aotearoa New Zealand that the State had a role in intervening in families to promote child welfare, resulting in legislation that concerned children and their rights specifically, such as the Infant Life Protection Act 1908 and the Child Welfare Act 1925.

Te mārama haere ki te whanaketanga tamariki
Growth in the understanding of child development

184. During the Second World War, British psychiatrist John Bowlby studied what happened to children who were separated from their caregivers. His research showed the importance of the relationship between children and their caregivers. He called this ‘attachment theory’ and it helped people understand the bond between children and their caregivers, including in Aotearoa New Zealand.[224]

185. Attachment is the bond (physical and psychologically) that babies develop with their caregivers, and helps the developing child feel safe and secure.[225] Attachment shapes early brain development and is so fundamental to human development that failure to develop, or loss of, these bonds can create distress in babies, serious developmental delay and heightened risk of long-term mental illness.[226]

186. Attachment is expressed and understood differently across cultures. European approaches have a more individualised view of the process of attachment, particularly regarding the mother-to-child bond.[227]

187. Te ao Māori understandings of attachment are more collective. While parent to child attachments are integral, these are only some of many crucial relationships essential to developing a sense of self, including connection to wider whānau, hapū, iwi, whenua and wairuatanga (spirituality). Pacific Peoples' views of attachment are also more collective.

188. The ability to form, develop and maintain key relationships is vital for any child’s healthy growth.[228] By the 1950s, State and other officials would have been aware of the theory that children needed secure, loving care from parents or other familiar caregivers. For example, even the 1954 Mazengarb Report, which was very critical of children and young people’s motivations and behaviour,[229] noted the importance of the psychological link between mother and child.[230] Despite this understanding, there was a sharp rise in the number of children and young people being removed from their families into care settings from the 1950s through to the 1980s. Parts 3 and 4 cover the removal of children in Aotearoa.

Footnotes