Story: Māori housing – te noho whare

Māori living in the city, 1930s

Māori living in the city, 1930s

After the First World War Māori began to migrate from the country to the cities in search of work and a better life. Many faced discrimination from landlords and had little option other than to settle in the so-called slum districts of cities, where landlords were more open to having Māori as tenants but where the houses were often old and run-down. This shows Māori children outside a dwelling in inner-city Nelson Street, Auckland, in the late 1930s. 

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Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: PA1-o-914-07-5

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Ben Schrader, 'Māori housing – te noho whare - Urbanisation', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/40352/maori-living-in-the-city-1930s (accessed 20 April 2024)

Story by Ben Schrader, published 5 Sep 2013