SETTING

Te Ao Hou, June 1959, Page 20

SETTING There are roughly 12,000 Maori people of diverse origins from the major tribal groups in the country in the city of Auckland, among a total population of over 400,000. The Maori people are engaged in clothing factories, on the wharves, in the freezing works, in the transport services, the city municipal works and the building trades. They are found in the teaching services and in the Government departments, particularly the Department of Maori Affairs. They live in the slum areas of Airedale Street, Freeman's Bay, Hobson Street, etc., as well as in the newer housing areas of Orakei, Onehunga, Owairaka and Mangere. Many Maori people own their houses but the majority utilise the housing programme of the State. An old traditional marae, Orakei was situated not far from the heart of the city, belonging to the local Ngatiwhatua tribe, but this has now been eliminated except for the cemetery and the people are now established in the new housing area not far away. They still have a certain sentimental regard for the old marae. Other concentrations of Maori people from Waikato live further out at Onehunga, Pukaki and Mangere, which at one time were quite large marae, but today remain largely as Maori settlements. The recent influx of Maori people to the city created social problems that were intensified by the unstable war conditions, and brought the existence of the new Maori communities to the notice of the city. As a result, various programmes for Maori rehabilitation were organised with the aid of Maori leaders. These included the erection of houses under various loan schemes and the construction of a building as a social centre for the Maori community as a whole with money contributed by the State from Maori sources and also by Maori tribes.