Nostalgia for 'innocent homely pleasures': The 1964 New Zealand Controversy over Washday at the Pa

Gender and History

Volumn 9, Issue 2, 1997, Pages 242-261

  Brookes, Barbara ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0347803747     PISSN: 09535233     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/1468-0424.00057     Document Type: Article

References (95)

1. Under the Maori Representation Act, 1867, adult Maori men were given the right to elect four members of parliament, three for the North Island and one for the South. The Act defined a Maori as 'a male aboriginal inhabitant of New Zealand of the age of twenty-one years and upwards and shall include half-castes'. Maori women were enfranchised at the same time as pakeha women in September 1893. However, voting for Maori members was done in the open until the 1936 Electoral Amendment Act, which introduced the secret ballot for Maori elections. Research has yet to be done to indicate how this different voting system affected Maori women's exercise of the franchise.
2. Otago Daily Times, 28 June 1990.
3. Canberra Times, 29 June 1990, cited in Caroline Ralston, 'Maori Women and the Politics of Tradition: What Roles and Power Did, Do, and Should Maori Women Exercise?', The Contemporary Pacific, 5 (1993), p. 26.
4. Canberra Times, 29 June 1990, cited in Caroline Ralston, 'Maori Women and the Politics of Tradition: What Roles and Power Did, Do, and Should Maori Women Exercise?', The Contemporary Pacific, 5 (1993), p. 26.
5. Nicholas Thomas, 'The Inversion of Tradition', American Ethnologist, 19 (1992), p. 213.
6. Thomas, 'The Inversion of Tradition', p. 227.
7. Dorothy Page, The National Council of Women. A Centennial History (Auckland University Press/Bridget Williams Books with the National Council of Women, Wellington, 1996), pp. 103-18.
8. In 1950, for example, leaders of the Women's Institutes met with the Minister of Maori Affairs 'to express their concern at the large numbers of Maori women breaking away from the institutes to join the league'. Marie Tautari, 'Maori Women's Institutes 1929-1950s,' in Women Together. A History of Women's Organisations in New Zealand, ed. Anne Else (Daphne Brasell Associates Press, Wellington, 1993), p. 27.
9. Beverley James, 'The Maori Women's Welfare League. From Social Movement to Voluntary Association' (MA thesis, Waikato University, 1977), p. 26.
10. One estimate derived from the 1951 census put the median male Maori income at 72.4 per cent of that of the pakeha. This had to be spread over larger families. G. V. Butterworth, 'A Rural Maori Renaissance?', Journal of the Polynesian Society, 81 (1972), p. 190.
11. Biddy Martin and Chandra Talpade Mohanty, 'Feminist Politics: What's Home Got to Do with it?', in Feminist Studies/Critical Studies, ed. Teresa de Lauretis (Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1986), p. 195.
12. Lawrence Jones, 'Versions of the Dream: Literature and the Search for National Identity,' in Culture and Identity in New Zealand, ed. David Novitz and Bill Willmott (GP Books, Christchurch, 1990), p. 203.
13. 'Publisher's Note', Ans Westra, Washday at the Pa (Caxton Press edn, Christchurch, 1964), p. 8.
14. Letter to the Editor, 'Washday at the Pa', The Press, 24 August 1964, p. 12.
15. One tourist publication, for example, contrasts the 'fast lane' of European life on the motorway with the 'slow lane' of a rural township where Maori walk or ride on horseback. New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department, Wonderland of the South Pacific. New Zealand (Government Printer, Wellington, 1966), p. 27.
16. Stella Morice, The Book of Wiremu (1949; Blackwood and Janet Paul, Auckland, 1966), p. 36.
17. Stella Morice, The Book of Wiremu, p. 47.
18. Department of Maori Affairs, Integration of Maori and Pakeha. Paper 1 in a series of special studies (Government Printer, Wellington, 1962), unpaginated.
19. M. P. K. Sorrenson, 'Modern Maori: The Young Maori Party to Mana Motuhake', in The Oxford Illustrated History of New Zealand, ed. K. Sinclair (Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1990), p. 341.
20. G. R. Hawke, The Making of New Zealand. An Economic History (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985), p. 199; K. Hunn, Report on Department of Maori Affairs [hereafter Hunn Report] (Government Printer, Wellington, 1961), pp. 18-19.
21. G. R. Hawke, The Making of New Zealand. An Economic History (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985), p. 199; K. Hunn, Report on Department of Maori Affairs [hereafter Hunn Report] (Government Printer, Wellington, 1961), pp. 18-19.
22. Ian Pool, Te Iwi Maori. A New Zealand Population. Past, Present and Projected (Auckland University Press, Auckland, 1991), p. 154.
23. Te Ao Hou, no. 2 (Spring 1952), pp. 53-4.
24. Michael King, Whina. A Biography of Whina Cooper (Penguin Books, Auckland, 1991), pp. 176-7.
25. 'Report of the Board of Maori Affairs', Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives [hereafter AJHR], vol. 2, G-9 (Government Printer, Wellington, 1960), p. 14.
26. New Zealand Parliamentary Debates [hereafter NZPD], vol. 338 (1964), p. 231.
27. 'Report of the Department of Maori Affairs', AJHR, vol. 2, G-9 (1965), p. 5.
28. NZPD, vol. 301 (1953), p. 2215.
29. Hunn Report, p. 80.
30. NZPD, vol. 331 (1962), p. 812.
31. NZPD, vol. 331 (1962), p. 812.
32. P. Koopman Boyden and C. Scott, The Family and Government Policy in New Zealand (Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1984), p. 127.
33. Bill Pearson, 'New Zealand Since the War', Landfall, 16 (1962), p. 158.
34. Minister of Housing, Home Ownership: How to Achieve It (Government Printer, Wellington, 1957), p. 3.
35. Minister of Housing, Housing the Citizen. A Manual for Local Authorities (Government Printer, Wellington, 1954), p. 5.
36. School Publications Branch, Houses to Live In (Department of Education, Wellington, 1949), pp. 9-10.
37. New Zealand Woman's Weekly [hereafter NZWW], May 1964, p. 14.
38. Angela Partington, 'The Designer Housewife in the 1950s', in A View from the Interior: Feminism, Women and Design, ed. J. Attfield and P. Kirkham (Women's Press, London, 1989), p. 208.
39. Lawrence Jones, 'Versions of the Dream', p. 202.
40. NZWW, 4 March 1957, p. 89.
41. Partington, 'The Designer Housewife', p. 213.
42. NZWW, 2 December 1954, p. 14; 9 December 1954, pp. 12-13.
43. NZWW, 2 December 1954, p. 14; 9 December 1954, pp. 12-13.
44. Department of Statistics, New Zealand Official Yearbook (Government Printer, Wellington, 1959), p. 639.
45. Hunn Report, p. 36.
46. Denis Hodgson and Pat Lawson, Kuma is a Maori Girl (Hicks, Smith & Sons Ltd, Auckland, 1961); Jane and Bernie Hill, Hey Boy! (Whitcombe and Tombs, Christchurch, 1961).
47. Denis Hodgson and Pat Lawson, Kuma is a Maori Girl (Hicks, Smith & Sons Ltd, Auckland, 1961); Jane and Bernie Hill, Hey Boy! (Whitcombe and Tombs, Christchurch, 1961).
48. Hill, Hey Boy! (unpaginated).
49. Personal communication, Khyla Russell, 5 February 1996.
50. Department of Maori Affairs, Housing Survey (Department of Maori Affairs, Wellington, 1966), p. 17; Department of Statistics, Population Census, vol. 7, 'Race' (Government Printer, Wellington, 1963), pp. 1-13.
51. Department of Maori Affairs, Housing Survey (Department of Maori Affairs, Wellington, 1966), p. 17; Department of Statistics, Population Census, vol. 7, 'Race' (Government Printer, Wellington, 1963), pp. 1-13.
52. Lawrence McDonald, 'Ragged House Photographs: Ans Westra's Washday at the Pa', Photofile, Spring 1988, p. 22.
53. Te Ao Hou, no. 9 (Spring 1954), p. 59. Department of Maori Affairs, Our Home (Government Printer, Wellington, 1966). This booklet instructed: 'Be Good Neighbours'. 'Be friendly and considerate, take pride in you [sic] home and surroundings.... It is useless to have the home and section in lovely order, the children neatly dressed, then spoil it all by having rowdy parties, especially late at night.'
54. Hunn Report, p. 41.
55. Otago Daily Times, July 1964, ABEP, W4262, 17/2/19, Part 1. Box 782. National Archives of New Zealand, Head Office, Wellington [hereafter NA].
56. Maori Women's Welfare League Collection [hereafter MWWL], 93-180-11/1, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington [hereafter ATL].
57. M. Szaszy, 'Maori Women in Pakeha Society,' in United Women's Convention, United Women's Convention 1973 Report (Auckland Workers Educational Association, Auckland, 1973), p. 23.
58. M. Winiata, The Changing Role of the Leader in Maori Society. A Study in Social Change and Race Relations (Blackwood and Janet Paul, Auckland, 1967), p. 169.
59. MWWL, 93-180-11/1, ATL.
60. MWWL, 93-180-11/1, ATL.
61. 'Publisher's Note', Westra, Washday (Caxton Press edn), p. 2.
62. In an influential nineteenth-century translation of the Bible, however, 'pa' was translated as village. Thanks to Michael Reilly who brought this to my attention.
63. MWWL to Minister of Education, 15 June 1954. 'Education in New Zealand: Resolutions, Remits, Deputations etc', ABEP W4262, 17/2/19, Part 1. Box 782, NA.
64. Quoted in National Education, 1 September 1964, p. 346.
65. The Press, 14 August 1964, p. 3.
66. In Maori society 'anything invested with tapu ought to be avoided or handled only in prescribed ways. Disregard of tapu is supposed to cause sickness or ill-fortune'. Joan Metge, The Maoris of New Zealand (Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1967), p. 81.
67. Westra later stated that she was well aware that the subject matter constituted a violation of tapu but was struck by the fact that the child was not aware of this. Ans Westra, 1987 interview with Lawrence McDonald, cited in L. McDonald, 'Ragged House Photographs', p. 22.
68. Jocelyn Linnekin defines tradition as 'a conscious model of past lifeways' in 'Defining Tradition: Variations on the Hawaiian Identity', American Ethnologist, 10 (1983), p. 241.
69. The Press, 14 August 1964, p. 3.
70. Michael King, Te Puea (Hodder and Stoughton, Auckland, 1977).
71. Butterworth, 'A Rural Maori Renaissance?', p. 186.
72. Te Ao Hou, no. 9 (1954), p. 58.
73. Virginia Myers, Head and Shoulders: Successful New Zealand Women Talk to Virginia Myers (Penguin Books, Auckland, 1986), p. 238.
74. Szaszy recalled, 'The men cut across us and the women began to step back into traditional women's roles and lost their momentum'; Myers, Head and Shoulders, p. 241.
75. M. P. K. Sorrenson, 'Modern Maori', p. 338.
76. The Council remained a 'male' organization until the 1980s; Sorrenson, 'Modern Maori', p. 344.
77. New Zealand Maori Council Newsletter, reproduced in the 'Publisher's Note', Westra, Washday (Caxton Press edn), p. 6.
78. New Zealand Herald, 13 August 1964, Ans Westra Scrapbook, MSX 2514, ATL.
79. Auckland Star, 19 September 1964, Westra Scrapbook, ATL.
80. The Dominion, 12 August 1964, MWWL fms-papers-5402-1, ATL.
81. H. Skiffington, Report on 'Maori Education in the Primary School', 1962. ABEP W4262, 17/4/3/6 Part 7, Box 886, NA.
82. Reprinted in 'Publisher's Note', Westra, Washday (Caxton Press edn), p. 4.
83. Gordon A. Carmichael, 'Post-War Trends in Female Labour Force Participation in New Zealand', Pacific Viewpoint, 16 (1975), p. 80.
84. The Press, 11 August 1964, p. 14.
85. New Zealand Listener, 21 August 1964, p. 8.
86. NZWW letters, undated, Westra Scrapbook, ATL.
87. New Zealand Quarterly Review, Oct.-Nov. 1964, p. 2, Westra Scrapbook, ATL.
88. Review of Caxton Press edition, Hawkes Bay Herald, 5 December 1964, Westra Scrapbook, ATL.
89. 'Right Sense of Value', 'Washday at the Pa', Letter to the Editor, The Press, 13 August 1964, p. 16.
90. New Zealand Listener, 11 September 1964, p. 8.
91. Louis Johnson, 'Looking at Books', The Dominion, 26 December 1964, Westra Scrapbook, ATL.
92. Noel Harrison, 'Maori Attitudes and School Publications', National Education, 1 February 1965, pp. 35-7.
93. The Dean of Dunedin, the Very Rev. P. E. Sutton, quoted in National Education, 1 September 1964, p. 347.
94. Louis Johnson, 'Looking at Books', The Dominion, 26 December 1964, Westra Scrapbook, ATL.
95. New Zealand Listener, 21 August 1964, p. 8.