Māori Scholarships and the Musket Wars

While some may have visions of green when discussing Māori scholarships, I think about how they are just a small drop in the bucket of debt the New Zealand government owes.  

The discussion of iwi-based grants and scholarships is a tired argument at this point, with almost every Māori having an anecdote about trying to explain why the government isn’t just giving us special treatment. Yet there are always people who only focus on money they feel they are missing out on, grants they think they're equally entitled to. 

But for Māori, we see the centuries of money and investments that were lost to the musket wars, land confiscations and exclusion from industries and institutes founded by European settlers.  

The early Māori economy had no monetary basis. Instead, the earliest version of the economy for Māori was one that thrived on bartering and exchanging gifts both within iwi and externally. After their first arrival on Aotearoa’s shores, Māori developed sustainable methods of harvest that allowed them to create a trading system. This strengthened their inter-tribal relations and enabled individual hapū to be self-sufficient. Coastal hapū held capital over kaimoana, while more inland whanau produced a variety of fruit and vegetable produce. There was also the trading of different types of stone for weaponry, artistry, and jewelry.  

But by far, the most important resource available to Māori was the land of Aotearoa itself. The land was what provided Māori with the resources they needed to not only survive but also lead rich lives. 

Looking at the resources Māori prioritized, it becomes apparent that early Māori had no use for money, especially not how their European counterparts did. At the time, money would have done nothing to sustain an iwi in the way that food, stone, and land did. 

While early Māori had no use for European currency, the settlers were still able to provide unique resources that Māori could utilize in their own culture, such as iron tools and livestock. In early trading settings with the Europeans, Māori became adept at navigating deals that would better benefit their needs. The settlers had little say if they wanted access to the food that Māori cultivated. And by the 1850s Māori had carved out a mutually beneficial market.  

However, this dynamic of reliant trade came to a bitter end with the introduction of muskets. As the lethality of muskets became apparent, the demand for them surged, as did the prices Europeans could charge. To gather enough muskets for warfare many Rangatira worked both their people and their lands to exhaustion. This proved unsustainable and tanked the Māori economy. Hapū members were sometimes on the brink of starvation and forced to strip the land of its resources only to then watch them be given to their Pākehā counterparts. Even once the iwi had enough guns and could focus their kai on themselves again, the subsequent wars led to back-and-forth territorial losses. Losses that were quickly claimed by European settlements. 

The loss of Māori land to settlers who had unwittingly sparked wars further wounded the already deteriorating Māori economy. Conditions were made worse when the Crown decreed that it would confiscate land from Māori who were “rebellious” to the Crown. It was a vague and greedy term, allowing 1.3 million more hectares of land to be stolen from iwi across Aotearoa. From there, Māori were left struggling to find space to cultivate their once thriving agriculture as they lost more and more land over the decades. 

While this was happening, British money slowly crept in as Aotearoa’s legal form of currency. By the time it was officially established, the musket wars were ending. Many Māori were too busy dealing with the fallout to see that the Europeans were investing in the land for their future generations. Industries such as the wool economy and dairy production proved wildly successful and led to an amass of wealth that most Māori were blocked from. After having the rug of currency swept out from under them, Māori could only watch for centuries as they were blocked from the land's monetary worth. With no foothold in their ancestral lands, many iwi slipped deeper into poverty. 

When the Government pours upwards of billions of dollars into different iwi, it is not because it is a “handout”. It is a small beginning in providing reparations. Truthfully, most of the money provided is nowhere near what the total income of the iwi could have been had they retained their whenua. But when iwi receive financial compensation, it is entirely up to them to decide what they wish to do with it. The scholarships and grants for younger Māori are an independent choice, an investment of their own. A chance to finally break into the industries and institutions they have been discouraged from through their younger members. Previously, older members were scared off from settings like university due to the belief that they were established for Pākehā only. My whanau is familiar with this fear, as my dad went to university for a single day and dropped it after failing to find a single Māori besides himself on the campus.  

So, the scholarships that iwi provide are not just investments in whanau that would not otherwise have the opportunity to afford learning costs. They are also an encouragement to create a place in universities for us where previously there wasn’t one. The money that Māori are given allows younger members like me to open doors that were once closed to all of us, so that the wider iwi may flourish again. 

Translations  

Iwi – An extended kinship group made up of multiple smaller units known as ‘hapū’. Is often roughly translated to ‘tribe’.  

Rangatira – A Māori chief, or high-ranking noble. 

Hapū - a smaller political unit within the much larger Iwi 

Kaimoana - food that is gathered from the sea