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Cited by 57Indigenous Health, Education, and RightsIndigenous Cultures and HistoryIndigenous Peoples' Rights and Law

Land loss and the intergenerational transmission of wellbeing: The experience of iwi in Aotearoa New Zealand

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Thom, Rowan Ropata Macgregor, Grimes, Arthur·2022·Social Science & Medicine
DOI 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114804
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Abstract

We analyse the impact of land loss, through colonisation, on contemporary cultural wellbeing and health outcomes of Māori, the Indigenous population of Aotearoa New Zealand. In 1840, Māori legally owned all land in the country; by 2017, Māori owned just 5% of land. Ties to the land (whenua) have been identified as being critical to spirituality (wairua) and health (hauora). All tribes (iwi) experienced major land loss, but the timing, extent and nature of land loss differed across iwi. In some cases, land was confiscated following the New Zealand wars of the nineteenth century. We draw on recently derived data for historical landholdings of 70 (North Island) iwi to link the extent of historical landholdings, and whether land was confiscated, to contemporary outcomes for five cultural wellbeing and health outcomes for each iwi: te reo Māori (Māori language) proficiency, importance of involvement in Māori culture, visiting an ancestral marae (meeting place), difficulty in finding support for Māori cultural practices, and rates of regular smoking. We find that higher land retention within an iwi's rohe at the end of the nineteenth century is supportive of contemporary cultural wellbeing outcomes, while confiscation is linked to higher contemporary rates of smoking. The evidence is consistent with historical trauma having significant effects on the cultural wellbeing and health outcomes of Aotearoa New Zealand's Indigenous population over a century later.

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  • Ongoing alienation of Indigenous people's communal land has severely restricted the location, quality, and suitability of housing that is available to them, for example, multigeneration housing.

    “Ongoing alienation of Indigenous people's communal land has severely restricted the location, quality, and suitability of housing that is available to them, for example, multigeneration housing.”

    From Review of the Impact of Housing Quality on Inequalities in Health and Well-Being (2023) · cites this paper as [161]

  • Land alienation reduces Indigenous people's intergenerational asset base and their cultural connection to their homeland.

    “Moreover, land alienation reduces their intergenerational asset base and their cultural connection to their homeland (92, 161).”

    From Review of the Impact of Housing Quality on Inequalities in Health and Well-Being (2023) · cites this paper as [161]

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Research works printed but not linked: 11

  1. Cram, F., 2014. Measuring Māori wellbeing-a commentary. MAI Journal 3 (1), 15.
  2. Duran, E., 2006. In: Ivey, A.E., Sue, D.W. (Eds.), Healing the Soul Wound: Counseling with American Indians and Other Native People, first ed. Teachers College Press.
  3. Durie, M., 1998. Mana Whenua: the lore of the land. In: Te Mana, Te Kāwanatanga: the Politics of Māori Self-Determination. Oxford University Press.
  4. Hickford, M., 2008. Strands From the Afterlife of Confiscation: Property Rights, Constitutional Histories and the Political Incorporation of Māori, 1910s-1940s (SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 2756164). Social Science Research Network.
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  6. Moeke-Pickering, T.M., 1996. Maori Identity within Whanau: A Review of Literature [Working Paper]. University of Waikato.
  7. Muriwai, E.M., Houkamau, C.A., Sibley, C.G., 2015. Culture as cure? The protective function of Māori cultural efficacy on psychological distress. N. Z. J. Psychol. 44 (2), 14-24.
  8. Nikora, L.W., Te Awekotuku, N., Rua, M., Temara, P., Maxwell, T.K., Murphy, E., McRae, K.O., Moeke-Maxwell, T., 2010. Tangihanga: the ultimate form of Māori cultural expression -overview of a research programme. Proceedings of the 4th International Traditional Knowledge Conference 2010 400-405.
  9. Wakefield, B., Stirling, T., Kahu, M., 2006. Haumanu taiao ihumanea. Proceedings of the Mātauranga Taketake -Traditional Knowledge Conference 2006 173-186.
  10. Wirihana, R., 2012. Ngā Pūrākau O Ngā Wāhine Rangatira Māori O Aotearoa: The Stories of Māori Women Leaders in New Zealand. Massey University. Doctoral thesis.
  11. Wirihana, R., Smith, C., 2014. Historical trauma, healing and well-being in Māori communities. MAI Journal 3 (3), 197-210.

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Authors
Thom, R. R. M., & Grimes, A.
Affiliations
Victoria University of Wellington (NZ)
Corresponding author
Grimes, Arthur
ORCID
Venue
Social Science & Medicine
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2022-03
Volume
296
Pages
114804
ISSN
0277-9536 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114804
OpenAlex
W4210904632
Cited by
57
References
34
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 5
FWCI
9.20
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Social Science & Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Victoria University of Wellington
  • Victoria University
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Indigenous Cultures and History
  • Social Sciences › Law › Indigenous Peoples' Rights and Law
Keywords
land loss, iwi, Māori, Indigenous wellbeing, cultural well-being, land confiscation, colonization, historical trauma, smoking, whenua, marae, Indigenous health, intergenerational transmission
MeSH terms
Indigenous Peoples, Humans, New Zealand, Smoking, Spirituality

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