ABSTRACT
We analyse the impact of land loss, through colonisation, on contemporary cultural wellbeing and health outcomes of Maori, the Indigenous population of Aotearoa New Zealand. In 1840, Maori legally owned all land in the country; by 2017, Maori 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 Maori (Maori language) proficiency, importance of involvement in Maori culture, visiting an ancestral marae (meeting place), difficulty in finding support for Maori 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.
