The Young Māori Party was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

organisation dedicated to improving the position of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

. It grew out of the Te Aute Students Association, established by former students of

Te Aute College Te Aute College (Māori: Te Kura o Te Aute) is a school in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. It opened in 1854 with twelve pupils under Samuel Williams, an Anglican missionary, and nephew and son-in-law of Bishop William Williams. It has a ...

in 1897. It was established as the Young Māori Party in 1909. While the Young Māori Party had political intentions, it did not function as a political party as they are generally understood. The Young Māori Party's members either acted as independents or joined an existing party, such as the

New Zealand Liberal Party The New Zealand Liberal Party was the first organised political party in New Zealand. It governed from 1891 until 1912. The Liberal strategy was to create a large class of small land-owning farmers who supported Liberal ideals, by buying larg ...

. In most respects, the Young Māori Party is best understood as a club or association, not a united electoral bloc. Anthropologist and author Toon Van Meijl said of the group "the Young Maori Party's programme generated a basic division within Maori society between a relatively small educated elite and a predominantly illiterate mass of poor people".

Membership

The membership of the Young Māori Party consisted primarily of younger Māori who had received a European-style education. Many were from the East Coast or the

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. Prominent members included James Carroll,

Paraire Tomoana Paraire "Friday" Henare Tomoana (died 15 April 1946) was a Māori political leader, journalist, historian, sportsman, and lyricist of the Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāi Te Whatu-i-Apiti tribes. Born either in Waipatu or Pakowhai near Hastings, he wa ...

Āpirana Ngata Sir Āpirana Turupa Ngata (3 July 1874 – 14 July 1950) was a prominent New Zealand statesman. He has often been described as the foremost Māori politician to have served in Parliament in the mid-20th century, and is also known for his work ...

Te Rangi Hīroa Sir Peter Henry Buck (ca. October 1877 – 1 December 1951), also known as Te Rangi Hīroa or Te Rangihīroa, was a New Zealand doctor, military leader, health administrator, politician, anthropologist and museum director. He was a prominen ...

(who was a founding member), and Maui Pomare. The most important concern of the group was the improvement of Māori health and welfare. Most members of the Party believed that in order to prosper,

needed to adopt European ways of life, particularly Western medicine and education. At times, especially earlier in their careers, they offended older and more traditional Māori by attempting to abolish traditional practices. Later they developed more sensitivity and tended to present Western ways as similar to pre-European traditions. Ngata in particular also realised that Māori culture was in danger of being corrupted or swamped by European culture, and encouraged the revival of many Māori arts and crafts, such as

kapa haka Kapa haka is the term for Māori action songs and the groups who perform them. It literally means 'group' () and 'dance' (). Kapa haka is an important avenue for Māori people to express and showcase their heritage and cultural Polynesian identi ...

and carving. He also recorded many waiata and other forms of Māori literature, ensuring its preservation.

Loss of members

As it was a group of like-minded politicians rather than a true party, the Young Māori Party did not survive the retirement, defeat and deaths of its members. Hiroa left parliament in 1914, and by 1930 Carroll and Pomare had both died. Ngata remained in parliament until 1943, when he was defeated by

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- Ratana candidate Tiaki Omana.

New Māori

The Party was widely admired by Pakeha, who saw their programmes as advancing the Maori race, and by contemporary Māori, who benefitted from their initiatives and admired their ability to work within Pakeha systems. From the 1970s, however, a new generation of activist Māori began to see the Young Māori Party as 'sell outs' who had swallowed the myth of European cultural superiority. They believed that the Party was mistaken in believing that if Māori adopted European ways, they would be treated as equals. Recently this perception has been revised by historians such as Ranginui Walker and James Belich, who emphasise the achievements of the Party, especially Ngata, and stress that their strategy of co-operation was effective in the context of its time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young Maori Party Defunct political parties in New Zealand Māori political parties in New Zealand Political parties established in 1897 1897 establishments in New Zealand Political parties with year of disestablishment missing