Knowing their place: the political socialisation of Maori women in New Zealand through schooling policy and practice, 1867-1969

Abstract

Nineteenth-century British missionaries and the colonial government in New Zealand adopted a policy of assimilation of Maori into Pakeha (European) culture through actively discouraging Maori language, belief systems and culture. Central to the goal of assimilation was a Native School policy which in particular, emphasised the ‘Europeanising’ of young Maori. Church-run schools for Maori, which were subsidised by the state, aimed to return young Maori to their homes to model a Christian Pakeha lifestyle. This article argues that it was Maori girls, rather than Maori boys who were viewed as critical agents of change in the transformation of Maori society and that the colonial curriculum they were taught led to a political socialisation of generations of Maori women.