Her supervisor insisted that she use only English greetings, Glavish refused and was demoted. During the early to mid nineteenth century there were significant political and legal differences between the worlds of Māori and European women. Married European women were considered to be subsumed under their husbands’ legal status and could not own land. The restricted position of women under English laws and customs constrained the actions of Māori and European women.

Early European settlers generally thought that Māori women did not have power and only negotiated with men. Although Māori people are largely discriminated against as a whole, Maori women are the most heavily impacted by the gendered aspects of racial discrimination. Māori women are greatly impacted by their lack of access to employment and health and fear the violence that is inflicted upon many Māori women. There is an international Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women that New Zealand is part of. Pacific Islanders living in New Zealand include Cook Islanders, Samoans, Tongans, Tokelauans, Fijians, and Nieueans. Basically, they see themselves as being in New Zealand temporarily to earn money to send their children to school, but many remain permanently. Pacific Islanders tend to be concentrated in and around Auckland and Wellington.

The treaty has been a great source of disharmony between Maori and Pakeha. It was drawn up by a European whose Maori was not fluent and read to chiefs who were unfamiliar with instruments of diplomacy. The greatest ambiguities turned on ideas of sovereignty and ownership alien to the Maori. The British understood themselves to be offering protection in return for sovereignty and the right to use or buy land at nominal cost. In 1975, the Waitangi Tribunal was established to hear claims of abuse of the treaty. Many claims have resulted in return of land, cash compensation, restoration of rights to natural resources, and the handing over of businesses to Maori.

European opera and classical music are the staple fare at one end, with New Zealand composers receiving regular performances, while pop music is locally generated. European drama and ballet prevail, at this source https://countrywaybridalboutique.com/oceania-women-features/new-zealand-women-features/ but New Zealand producers and choreographers produce their own versions, and there are many dramatists. Traditional Maori dancing and singing are presented widely. Most television programming is imported, but New Zealand produces a soap opera and nature documentaries.

Upon the swearing in of list MP Soraya Peke-Mason on 25 October 2022, parliament was for the first time in history represented 50% by women. In 1893, New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world to allow women to vote. Elizabeth Yates became the first female mayor in the British Empire in 1893. After the New Zealand Wars around the late 1860s and early 1870s, iwi throughout New Zealand forged links to work together to have autonomy and a say through political means.