Urban Māori - The Second Great Migration

By Bradford Haami
Foreword by John Tamihere

The first comprehensive record of Māori urbanisation told through the stories of those who came to the cities

“Urban Māori had to evolve and develop new tikanga. We had to develop new marae that celebrated our tribal diversity but did not wallow in our tribal differences ...”
— John Tamihere, CEO, Te Whānau o Waipareira

The post-1945 migration to the cities by Māori transformed Aotearoa New Zealand forever. Before the Second World War 90% of Māori lived in rural tribal communities; by the mid-1970s almost 80% lived in the cities —perhaps the fastest movement of any population from traditional homelands to the cities.
Economic opportunity improved the lot of many but created huge disruption and challenges, making this a story of expectation, need, loss, isolation and revival.

Exploring what being Māori means today, Bradford Haami looks back to the experience of the first migrants, and traces the development of an urban Māori identity over the following years. Commissioned by Te Whānau o Waipareira, Urban Māori intersperses first-person accounts of migrants with readable history and numerous photos, covering the full spectrum of the migration experience — including ground-breaking accounts of urban marae, social deprivation, trade training schemes and the Māori experience in Australia.

Brad travelled around Aotearoa to research the work, talking to urbanised Māori in different cities and building on years of work in the field. Alongside striking profiles of whānau and individuals, he zeroes in on case studies such as Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Porou’s move to Christchurch, the Ngāti Poneke experience in Wellington, and the development of Auckland’s multi-faceted Māori communities across suburbs like Freeman’s Bay, Te Atatū and Ōtara.

As John Tamihere, CEO of Te Whānau o Waipareira, writes in his foreword:
"We have thousands of Māori, now buried in public cemeteries away from their tribal lands, who need to have their story told. We need their grandchildren to know the difficulties and challenges that confronted their ancestors. This book tells the sacrifices made and the obstacles overcome."

Urban Māori tells these stories from those who lived the experience, grounding rigorous academic research in the real-life experience of Māori in the cities.

Publication Date: 1 February 2018 | ISBN: 978-0-947506- | RRP $39.99
Paperback with flaps, 234 x 153 mm, 304 pages b&w

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