Young Maori Party

▪ Maori cultural association

      association of educated, westernized Maori of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, dedicated to bringing about a degree of cultural assimilation of the Maori nation to the dominant pakeha (white) culture of New Zealand. The party was organized in the 1890s by a number of graduates of Te Aute College, a Maori college; its most notable leaders were Apirana Ngata, Te Rangi Hiroa (Peter Buck), and Maui Pomare. All three were eventually knighted.

      The Maori population had declined as a result of their wars with white settlers in the 1860s, and although a dramatic upsurge in the rate of population growth began in the late 1890s, assuring the survival of the Maori, they continued to have an aversion to the cultural and material aspects of pakeha society. The Young Maori sought to break through this barrier, especially in the fields of public health and education. Working through the government administration (especially 1909–12) and as a parliamentary bloc, the Young Maori made gains in these and other areas.

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