Culture shock in N.Z.

Press, 15 August 1980, Page 11

Culture shock in N.Z.

Maori women have suffered the greatest culture shock of any New Zealand group in the last 40 years, according to Mrs Elizabeth Murchie, immediate past president of the Maori Women’s Welfare League. A switch of life-style from a predominantly rural locale to an urban existence has brought profound changes to the Maori family, she recently told the National Seminar for Plunket Nurses a.t Palmerston North. In the social upheaval following this new migration the role of the Maori woman had changed. From being a wife, mother and tribal custodian in a largely protected society, a Maori woman became a wife, mother and assistant provider in a nuclear family “where economic security is uncertain and the laws of the land are resented by many.” The. movement to the cities — started by women in search of work when their menfolk were at war — had seen families struggling in a monex economy. “In early days, a low income was offset by the kumara patch, the eeling party or the family cow. In the city, however, a large family and a belowaverage income make sad music at the supermarket,” said Mrs Murchie.

Isolated frorii her former extended family network and cultural ties, the Maori woman was increasingly having to find permanent employment — and at the bottom of the earnings table because of her lack of marketable skills.

“Many/ are working through the years of a child’s prime dependency. A child’s call for comfort may fall into space — Mum’ is not there or too tired, to respond, and the ‘mother substitute’, of yesteryear (sister, cousin, aunty or grandma) is 300 kilometres away.

“Perhaps it is too soon to assess the social cost of economic pressure on this generation of Maori family — but I fear the detrimental effects will be felt by many generations.” Since 1962 there had been a marked drop in Maori fertility because of the financial strain of a large family in town. But Maori families were still larger than the New Zealand average and the race was young with about half under 20 years of age. Urbanisation had taken its toll and Maori women were transferring to their children feelings of insecurity, instability and unhappiness. A unifying force was needed — the philosophy of tu tangata (an injection of pride) — to re-establish cultural supports and controls and promote a growth of self-esteem and confidence.

“There are encouraging signs. Maori women are beginning to emerge as better educated and. better adjusted to urban living. A higher proportion of women than men are entering occupations requiring skills of an extended education.

“Leadership qualities are emerging in Maori women who were starting to answer the call of new responsibilities,” concluded Mrs Murchie. ■