Since the beginning of time...

Mai i te pō, ko te ture Māori anake te ture

Māori Law Prevailed

Māori have always lived with laws that are irrevocably connected to tikanga and weaved with aroha for our people. Broken laws were about rehabilitation, not punishment.

Titiro whakamuri, kōkiri whakamua

Look back and reflect so you can move forward

Knowing where we come from and the lessons our past can teach us drive us to facilitate change that pays homage to generations of experience and the sacrifices our tīpuna have made for us.

1830

1835

He Whakaputanga o te
Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni

The Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand, was signed by a host of Māori chiefs in 1835. It proclaimed the  independence of New Zealand before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.

1840

1840

Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840. The ceremony took place at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands and included between 43 and 46 Māori rangatira, Captain William Hobson, and other English residents.

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1840's

First prison built in Aotearoa
1850

1853

First Parliament elections
excluded Māori. By 1856
“Responsible Government”
begins and political control
now sits with a Pākehā
settler Government

1858

The Kingitanga movement began with Pōtatau Te Wherowhero 

Pōtatau Te Wherowhero was known widely as a great Māori warrior. He performed his duties as a leader. He later became the first Māori King and founder of Te Wherowhero kingdom. He took the name Pōtatau after he became king in 1858.

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1860

1860's

Suppression of Rebellion Act, New Zealand Settlement Act, Te Kooti Tango Whenua

1860's

Māori imprisoned en masse
1870

1870's

Ngāi Tahu peaceful resistance led by Te Maiharoa 

Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840. The ceremony took place at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands and included between 43 and 46 Māori rangatira, Captain William Hobson, and other English residents.

1877

Prendergast decision
– the Treaty is “worthless”
1880

1880

Māori Prisoners’ Trial Act, West Coast Settlement Act, Indemnity Act

1860's

Te Pāhuatanga met with peaceful resistance at Parihaka 
1890

1890's

Dog Tax: The first direct state-imposed tax on Māori returned no amenities. Dissenters charged with treason and jailed for a year

1898

Dog Tax Rebellion 

1899

1st Māori Minister of Native Affairs 
1900

1900's

Te Kotahitanga argue for separate Māori legislative assembly 

1900's

Māori population hits record low, officials start talking about their role to “smooth the pillow of the dying race” 
1910

1910's

Police raid on Maungapōhatu 

1915

Discharged Soldiers’ Settlement Act

1910's

Waikato resistance to the Conscription Bill led by Te Puea Heerangi 
1920

1920

Māori who fought in WWI return to find their whenua and sites for pure stolen
1930

1930s

The Great Depression

1930s

Upturn in charges against Māori                            
1940

1940's

WWII Māori pay “the price of citizenship” – again

Post - WWII

NZ officials get caught up
in communist hysteria
1950

1950's

Rate of Māori imprisonment starts to rise in alignment with urban migration, funnelling of Māori kids into State Care begins

1950's

Racialisation of crime, moral panic about “youth crime” 
1960

1961

The Hunn Report

1967

Māori Affairs Amendment Act gives government additional powers to take control of Māori land
1970

1970's

Racism intensifies, Comber report on Gangs

1970's

Protest groups like Ngā Tamatoa form

1973

Taskforce Policing introduced which more than tripled Māori and Pasifika arrests 

1975

Land March 

1978

“The day New Zealand cried” 
1980

1984

Official Policy of ‘Biculturalism’

1985

Waitangi Tribunal Amendment Act extends jurisdiction to hear claims retrospective to 1840

1987

Rogernomics – Black Monday

1988

He Whaipaanga Hou report recommendations were largely ignored and author slammed
1990

1990's

Resurgence of protest on land and Treaty issues i.e. Pākaitore, Takahue

1995

Fiscal envelope introduced

1996

First MMP election

1998

Last independent research on Police Bias
2000

2002

Sentencing Act, Parole Act, Victims Rights’ Act

2003

Methamphetamine reclassified from Class B to Class A

2005

WAI 1024: The Offender Assessment Policies Report
2010

2013

Bail Amendment Act

2016

WAI 2540: Tū Mai te Rangi Report 

2017

Corrections establishes Rautaki Māori team

2018

Criminal Justice Summit lacks Māori voice

2019

Hui Māori – We lead, you follow 
2020
Inaia Tonu Nei Leads the way
We will be holding more hui Māori and historic events in an effort for change

You can get involved and help us make real change in the injustices and indifferences our tangata whenua have had to face.

Learn more here
2020
Inaia Tonu Nei Leads the way
We will be holding more hui Māori and historic events in an effort for change

You can get involved and help us make real change in the injustices and indifferences our tangat whenua have had to face.

Learn more here

Pōtatau Te Wherowhero was a Māori warrior, leader of the Waikato iwi, the first Māori King and founder of the Te Wherowhero royal dynasty. He was first known just as Te Wherowhero and took the name Pōtatau after he became king in 1858.

Dan, Co-founder and CEO of Lumio

2018

2016

2019

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