Having a say before the vote

Life for Māori Women in the Decade of the Vote

The 1890s was a period of social and economic crisis. The fertility rate of Māori was at its lowest during this period,
and the mortality rate for Māori in that decade was the highest in recorded history. The Māori population in 1840 was
estimated to have been over 100 000. By 1891 there were about 19 000 women in an estimated Māori population of
about 43 000. The most significant reasons for this population decline were disease, and the loss of land through war,
use of legislation to divest Māori of their land and land sales.

Image: Map

Map showing signatures of women who signed the Treaty of Waitangi and the locations
where they signed.

Most Māori women lived in rural areas working on the land to support their whānau and in some cases to produce a surplus for sale. They also worked as labourers gum digging, shearing, market gardening and in the flax industry. A number of Māori women owned and managed large estates which they farmed along European lines. Two examples of these women are Maata Te Taiawatea (Whakatane) and Airini Tonore (Hawkes Bay).

An increasing number of Māori women were becoming literate as a result of compulsory primary education. A system of state native schools was operating throughout the country. In 1893, 2133 Māori pupils attended native schools, of whom 952 were girls. The curriculum offered was similar to that in other state schools and the teaching staff was almost entirely Pākehā. The only known Māori teacher in charge of a school at this date was Mary Tautari at Taumarere, in Northland. There were two private Māori schools for girls, Hukarere Māori Girls School with 52 pupils, and St Joseph’s School for Māori Girls with 31 pupils. Māori girls also attended other state and private schools. Widespread education meant that more Māori women were becoming aware of the processes of government. Between 1886 and 1896 at least forty petitions concerning land issues were presented to Parliament signed by Māori women on their own account or on behalf of their iwi.

Image: Heni Pore

Heni Pore standing beside the flag which she made for the Kingitanga movement.

[Museum of New Zealand]

By 1890 after over fifty years of European settlement, Māori were left with only 40 percent of the land in the North Island and in the South Island only a few reserves remained. In the first years of the decade, as the Government worked to provide for a growing number of settlers, legislation was passed which put increasing pressure on Māori to sell their land. One of the ways in which Māori women responded was by seeking an independent voice in political institutions. They wanted and needed the vote.

 

Image: Maata Te Taiawatea Rangitukehu

[Eruera Manuera Whānau]

Māori Voting Rights 1852-1876

In 1852 the New Zealand Constitution Act provided
parliamentary franchise to European, Māori and half
caste men who met the property criteria. Fifteen
years later, the Māori Representation Act 1867
provided for the establishment of four Māori
seats; only men could stand for these. In 1876 the Municipal Corporations Act gave
both men and women ratepayers the right to vote and stand for local government
office. It is not known how many women exercised this right.

In the last decade of the nineteenth century, Māori women were involved in two
suffrage movements at the same time. Māori women supported the Women’s
Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in seeking the right to vote for members
of the New Zealand House of Representatives, and they also sought the right to
vote and to stand as members of the Māori Parliament – Te Kotahitanga. By the
turn of the century both these goals had been achieved. Their involvement
in the suffrage movements was a significant development in the story of Māori women and the ways in which they organised at a national level to deal with issues of importance to them and their communities.

Image: Seddon cartoon

Premier Richard Seddon visited a number of the Māori districts in 1894. On
one marae a Māori women leader challenged him on government land
legislation, but as this cartoon implies, his reply lacked conviction

[Seddon Papers, Archives New Zealand]

In traditional Māori society, women were mainly responsible for caring for children,
collecting and cooking food, making garments to wear, gardening and weaving mats
and baskets. Some tasks such as gardening and food gathering were shared with
the men. The older women performed lighter duties such as caring for the children,
and the younger women took care of the heavier work.

Responsibility for the general welfare of their whānau and hapū also extended to
giving a select group of rangatira women the authority to act as representatives of
their people and to make important decisions on their behalf, eg, Waitohi, a woman
from Ngāti Toa Rangatira and Ngāti Raukawa had such great mana that she was
able to persuade a section of her iwi to settle in the Horowhenua district. The area of land which she designated for
them has remained as their tribal boundary to this day.

When European settlers began to arrive in the early nineteenth century they put pressure on Māori to sell their land.
In order to control this process, Māori signed the Treaty of Waitangi with the British Crown in 1840. This was a
significant political event and Māori women were involved. The Treaty guaranteed to Māori the undisturbed possession
of their lands, forests and fisheries.

Thirteen Māori women have so far been identified as having signed the Treaty. Women such as Takurua, Te Marama,
Ana Hamu, Marama, Ereonora, Rangi Topeora, Kahe Te Rau o to Rangi, Pari, Te Kehu, Ngaraurekau, Te Rene o Maki,
Hoana Riutoto, and Te Wairakau signed on behalf of themselves and their iwi.

Only twenty years later the Pākehā population outnumbered Māori and in the 1860s war broke out over land. During
these Land Wars, British troops assisted European settlers to take control of Māori lands. Māori women leaders are
known to have used the authority vested in them by their people to defend tribal lands. One of these women was
Heni Pore of Te Arawa who fought against the British troops in support of the Māori King and his followers. She also
fought in the Battle of Gate Pa in 1864.

From 1865 with the passing of the Native Land Act, Māori women attempted to use legal remedies to retain or confirm
their interest in tribal lands. As the century progressed, growing numbers of women took cases to the Native Land
Court as individuals and on behalf of their iwi. Maata Te Taiawatea, a Ngāti Awa rangatira from the Bay of Plenty
devoted herself to the task of seeking the return of confiscated tribal land. She, like many other women of her time,
spent long hours in the Native Land Court and her letters to government span more than forty years.

These women made approaches to government over land legislation and by the 1880s were organising with Māori men
to make direct petitions to the Crown urging fulfilment of its obligations as a Treaty partner. Māori frustrations with
Pākehā systems of land tenure and government increased during this decade, and the idea of an alternative Māori
institution of government was under discussion in Māori communities throughout the country. Māori women supported
the idea of a separate Māori system of government, ie, a Māori parliament. In comparison with the existing system, it
promised them more opportunities for representation.

Over the course of the nineteenth century Māori women faced increasing restrictions on their role from male dominated
European society. Until 1884 they found that if they married under European law any land they held under Crown
grants (ie, that had passed through the Native Land Court) became the property of their husbands. Māori society was
influenced by European attitudes to women and traditional restrictions such as not being able to speak on the marae
were reinforced. Māori women had little choice but to explore new ways of retaining their political voice. They did this
by supporting the establishment of the Māori Parliament and the franchise campaigns of the WCTU.

Image: Heni Pore – 1841-1933

Heni Pore, who was also known as Jane Foley, of Te Arawa was born in the Bay of
Islands. She is famous for her support of the Kingitanga during the early 1860s. She
took part in skirmishes against the British troops and in 1864 fought in the Battle of
Gate Pa.

She married Denis Foley and together they managed the Travellers Rest Hotel at
Maketu. Undoubtedly, her experience as a hotelier would have reinforced her
convictions against the ‘demon drink’ as shown by her staunch commitment to the
WCTU during the 1890s and early 1900s.

Heni was a licensed interpreter and her involvement in issues relating to land and the
general welfare of her people kept her in demand.

In 1896 Heni Pore was elected secretary of the Ohinemutu branch of the WCTU which
had a membership of 52 women and an associated committee of 13 men. Heni held her
position for nearly two years and in 1898 she assisted the Māori organiser, Mrs Hewett,
in overseeing the work of branches in the Rotorua district. As a prominent organiser of
the WCTU she helped set up nine Māori branches in the Bay of Plenty.

In 1903, she reported many deaths amongst Māori and a general reluctance and loss
of interest in WCTU work in the Rotorua district. At that time, Heni was the secretary
of the Māori missions.

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