MAOR165: Dawn Raids & The 'Justice' System 1
Araumatauai Tuatahi – Digital / AV Pepeha
• First assessed task in Māori165: create a digital / audio-visual pepeha (personal introduction).
• Tutor’s advice:
– Use this unique chance at university to research your own whakapapa / genealogy.
– Dig deeper than family hearsay; example: a student who believed she was French discovered links to Cornwall, Kent, Calcutta, and Tasmania by tracing mountains and waterways connected to her ancestors.
– Effort invested will be visible in grades; “bare minimum” research will earn bare-minimum marks.
Lecture Context & Speakers
• Morning session guest: Ian Sullivan-Hudson (also referred to as Chris Houghton) – Pacific Academic Lead, Pacific Knowledge & Culture Hub.
• Janie (course coordinator) discloses personal context: her Scottish father was technically an overstayer yet avoided scrutiny; sets the scene for racialised enforcement.
• Setting: second afternoon lecture (“04:00 pm class”), small group; repeated content from morning.
Cultural Opening
• Ancient Cook Islands chant performed line-by-line (voluntary student repetition):
Tangaroa supreme above, Tangaroa supreme below,
sweep away angry clouds so that Rū’s people can reach land.
• Links to Aitutaki discovery by Rū; establishes spiritual grounding and clears intellectual “clouds.”
• Speaker whakapapa: mother – Cook Islands; father – Scotland & Ireland.
Visual Prompt – Pacific Migration Map
• Students asked to interpret a map showing settlement routes across the Pacific into Aotearoa.
• Key observations elicited:
– Migration timelines & arrows showing movement.
– Inter-island connection; ocean as a connector rather than separator.
– Shared origins in Moana-nui-a-Kiwa (the Pacific Ocean).
19th-Century Historical Context
• Early Pacific labour in NZ (1860s):
– Daily Cross: “We object to cheap labour of this description.”
– Evening Post racist editorial lumping Pacific, Chinese & Māori as a threat.
• Blackbirding (forced / coerced labour):
– > Pacific Islanders taken between mid-1800s–early 1900s.
– ≈ taken to Australia (sugar-cane); deported after White-Australia policy (early 20th c.).
– Peruvian slavers targeted the Cook Islands.
Early 20th-Century Traumas in the Wider Pacific
• Spanish Influenza in Samoa (1918):
– NZ failed to quarantine the Talune; of population died.
– Refusal of aid from American Samoa – viewed as colonial negligence.
• Black Saturday (28 Dec 1929):
– NZ police fired on peaceful Mau independence march; Samoans killed.
– Major rupture in NZ–Samoa relations.
Post–WWII Labour Recruitment & Settlement
• NZ economy boomed; acute labour shortage.
• Government & employers actively recruited Pacific workers:
– 1940s: first significant arrivals.
– 1950s: formal recruitment schemes (agriculture, forestry, factories).
• Speaker’s grandmother: late-1950s shift Rarotonga → Gore. Cultural shock (cold climate, disappointing “fish & chips”).
• Remittances vital; enduring Pacific population clusters mirror factory towns (visible in Stats NZ data).
Defining the Dawn Raids
• General definition: “Military or police action executed at dawn so targets are unprepared.”
• NZ-specific application (1970s, mainly Auckland):
– Police & immigration officers entered homes 3–5 a.m.; street stops; demanded passports & permits.
– Legislative basis: Immigration Act 1964 & 1968 amendment (Section 33A).
– 1974 Labour Govt (Norman Kirk) intensified focus on Samoan & Tongan ‘permit’ overstayers; Niue, Tokelau, Cook Islands exempt (realm states).
• Statistical imbalance:
– Majority of overstayers were European / North American, yet of prosecutions were Pacific people.
– Election-year politics and racism intertwined.
Personal & Classroom Anecdotes
• Student: grandfather (Niue) taken during raids, had to prove status.
• Lecturer: father (Pākehā policeman) executed raids; mother’s Cook Island family experienced them ⇒ family tensions.
• Drum-group story: Cook Island drummers invited to market, then silenced by noise control; illustrates lingering shame & hesitation to occupy public space.
Psychological, Cultural & Intergenerational Impacts
• Raids caused collective shame, fear, mistrust of authorities; effects persist across generations (children inherit anxiety without always knowing history).
• “Shy yet loud” paradox in Pacific communities – resilience vs. internalised caution.
Polynesian Panthers (PPP)
• Founded 16 June 1971, Ponsonby – 6 youths (Samoan, Tongan, Cook Is, Māori).
• Inspirations: US Black Panthers – adopted berets, black jackets, raised-fist salute.
• Membership mainly high-school & uni students; emphasised collectivism.
• Activities:
– Tenant advocacy, food co-ops, homework centres, legal aid (“Police Investigation Group” monitoring), prison support.
– Campaigns vs. police brutality & racist education policies (e.g.
forced haircuts violating Niuean cultural practice).
– “Reverse raids” – 5 a.m. noise protests outside politicians’ homes to mirror dawn-raid intimidation.
• Core principle: self-determination – “Nothing about us without us.”
Government Apology (1 Aug 2021)
• Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern issued a “formal and unreserved apology” for discriminatory implementation of 1970s immigration laws.
• Objectives: acknowledge harm, lift intergenerational shame, initiate reconciliation.
Pan-Pacific Ceremonial Framework
• Cook Islands: traditional Turou chant by Papa John to welcome PM.
• Samoa: Ifoga – ritual of atonement using ‘ie tōga (fine mats) laid over officials.
• Tonga: Address by HRH Princess Mele Siu’ilikutapu Fotofili; criticised past “racist and unjust” policies.
• Polynesian Panthers: founding members seated on stage as honoured guests.
• Symbolised unity of Pacific nations and practice of doing things “with us, not to us.”
Reparations & Redress Package
• Education & Knowledge:
– fund for academic research/documentation of Dawn Raids history.
– Creation of new exhibitions, curriculum resources.
• Scholarships & Fellowships:
– + to establish annual tertiary scholarships & vocational training grants for Pacific learners.
• Community initiatives: funding for legal support, mental-health services, cultural programmes.
• Critiques from Pacific youth: financial gestures help but systemic change (immigration, policing, housing) still required.
Ongoing Relevance (2020s)
• Immigration dawn raids recorded as late as – vigilance needed.
• Racist noise-control incidents, school-hair policies, etc. illustrate persistence of structural bias.
• Lecture message: knowledge of history empowers action; students, like early Panthers, can drive change regardless of age or status.
Key Take-Home Points
• Pacific peoples’ presence in NZ is rooted in centuries-old oceanic voyaging, not recent pragmatism.
• Labour recruitment → racialised scapegoating demonstrates how policy can pivot from inclusion to exclusion.
• Dawn Raids exemplify state power wielded along racial lines; statistics unmask the prejudice.
• Community mobilisation (Polynesian Panthers) shows effective collectivist resistance combining cultural pride with political strategy.
• 2021 apology marks progress but is a beginning, not an end; genuine partnership (Te Tiriti principles) and structural reform remain essential.
• Practical application for students:
– Engage in self-research for pepeha; locate your own “mountains and waterways.”
– Interrogate present-day “normal” policies for hidden biases as 19th-century newspapers now appear blatantly racist.
– Adopt a pan-Pacific or allied stance: act with, not for/against communities.
Ethical, Philosophical & Real-World Implications
• Ethical: State owes duty of care; failure leads to trauma requiring acknowledgement and restitution.
• Philosophical: The oceanic worldview reframes geography – Moana connects, not divides; informs decolonial thinking.
• Practical: Policymakers must embed cultural protocols and affected voices at every decision stage to avoid repeating inequities.
Formulas & Statistics Recap
• Pacific fatality rate during 1918 Samoa flu: .
• Overstayer prosecution skew: (i.e., ).
• Blackbirding to Australia: individuals; deported later ((~12\%) repatriated).
Final Encouragement
• “Knowledge is power” – knowing the layered history of the Dawn Raids equips future educators, policymakers, and citizens to recognise and oppose modern forms of discrimination.
• Echoing Polynesian Panther ethos: organised, collective, culturally anchored action remains a potent force for justice in Aotearoa.