1. Ihimaera, Witi, ed. Growing Up Maori. Auckland: Tandem Press, 1998.
   This collection of 37 personal accounts covers a wide spectrum of experiences and provides the best single introduction to Maori childhoods, rural and urban, throughout the 20th century.
2. Gifkins, Michael, ed. Through the Looking Glass: Recollections of Childhood from 20 Prominent New Zealanders. Auckland: Century Hutchinson, 1988.
   In seeking a common theme from the variety of childhood experience reflected in this collection, Gifkins concludes (p. viii) that "the anarchy of childhood" predominates. Each of the contributors attained prominence in his or her chosen field; the majority are writers or poets. Most of the childhoods outlined are set in the 1940s and 1950s.
3. O'Regan, Pauline. Aunts & Windmills: Stories from My Past. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 1991.
   A Catholic nun and social activist, O'Regan recounts childhood episodes of the 1920s and 1930s, set in the small West Coast farming community of Cronadun. School, church, and community activities are complemented by evocative memories of sounds, smells, and tastes.
4. Langkilde Christie, Poula. Candles and Canvas; A Danish Family in New Zealand. Auckland: New Women's Press, 1987.
   Emigrating as a child to New Zealand in 1907, Poula Christie and her sister encountered intolerance, hostility, and suspicion as "foreigners" in a British-dominated society. Her autobiography highlights the cultural difficulties of young "aliens" who sought to be accepted by their peers despite parental anxieties that they should not ignore their cultural heritage.
5. Archie, Carol. Skin to Skin: Intimate True Stories of Maori-Pakeha Relationships. Auckland: Penguin Books, 2005.
   A highly respected Pakeha journalist, Archie has had extensive experience covering Maori/Pakeha issues. This book is based upon her interviews with the members of ten New Zealand families of mixed ethnicity. Particular emphasis is given to the recollections of the (now adult) children. Some 70,000 New Zealand couples were in Maori/non-Maori relationships at the beginning of the 21st century.

by Ryba L. Epstein
(Suggested writing time: 50 minutes)

Societies try to pass on their basic beliefs and values to their children through both official and unofficial channels. The ideals about what children should be taught, how they should be raised, and how they should behave vary greatly from one group to another and over time.

Analyze the documents below and determine the changing attitudes toward children in 19th- and 20th-century New Zealand, as well as the official and unofficial ways those values are shaped.

Your essay should:

• have a clear thesis,
• use all of the documents to support your thesis,
• show analysis by grouping the documents into at least two groups,
• analyze the point of view of the documents, and
• recognize the limitation of the documents before you by suggesting an additional type of document or source to make your discussion more complete or valid.

Documents

1. S. Locke, Annual Report on Native Affairs [Government Document], 1874.
   
   The Maoris in this part of the country are in that position where they find the balance of power turned in favour of the European. They feel the old mana and customs and power of their chiefs are gone: at the same time they have only acquired that amount of knowledge that makes them jealous of the change going on around them, without having, for the altered position in which they are placed, learnt those habits of steady industry and application of general principles for their guidance, to allow their participating freely in the general progress. . . . [There] is a party of industrious Natives in the district who cultivate extensively, paying attention to improving their properties and educating the rising generation. . . . There are two schools established in the district, under the provisions of the Native Schools Act, . . . both of which are conducted in a most satisfactory manner, and the children show a great deal of progress in their knowledge of the English language, considering the short time they have been learning; so much so that it is time to consider some way of providing for some of them by apprenticing them to useful trades. . . .
2. "Shocking Disaster at Cambridge: Three Children Burn to Death." Newspaper article. 1884.
   
   Mrs. Osborne, having some shopping to do in the town, put her infant child to be, and locked it up by itself in the bedroom, so that it would not be disturbed by the other two children [aged 2 and 4 years]. Seeing that everything was safe, there being no fire in the house since breakfast time, she shut up the boy and the girl in the kitchen, and then proceeded to town on her business. I was the usual thing for Mrs. Osborne to shut up her children, believing that did she not do so they would find their way to the river, only a few chains distant. . . . The Coroner . . . referred to the boys’ habit of using matches as described by the mother, and he had no doubt but that the fire originated by the boy getting hold of the matches on this occasion, and in some way setting fire to their clothes or some paper that may have been lying about. . . . He though that the children might have been left with some neighbor.
   
   A juryman informed the coroner that there were no neighbors in the vicinity, and the unfortunate people were not in a position to employ a girl to look after the house in their absence.
   
   A verdict of accidental death by burning was returned.
3. Parliamentary debate over the "Juvenile Depravity Suppression Bill." 1896.
   
   "Mr. W. Hutchinson: There were a number of young children amongst us painfully demoralised – so young, some of them, that the policeman could not think of interfering with them – children suffering from a so-called liberty run unto utter license and lawlessness; and all this arising largely from parental carelessness or positive neglect. . . . These mere children got together at the street-corner or under a dark verandah; they talked, or they listened to talk, not the sweet babble of childhood, mixed with its laugh of innocence, but talk that need not be described; they got into temptations of all kinds before they understood the disastrous results which certainly followed. He ventured to suggest that these young children should be dealt with before they come to those of more advanced age. The Bill before them took no note of this incipiency in vice, yet it was here the mischief began. The Bill was a police Bill, pure and simple; but they needed more. It was an out-worn but still perfectly true axiom that prevention was better than cure."
4. W. E. Spencer, Inspector of Schools, Taranaki Education Office, 1898.
   
   "The causes of bad attendance, exclusive of bad roads and inclement weather, may be classed under two heads - (1) The home circumstances of the pupils, and (2) the school and its authorities. Under the first head I may mention parental indifference or neglect and excessive work required from children of very tender years. I know that during the milking season some children have to milk as many as ten cows every morning, and, if they come to school at all, arrive late, and are so fatigued as to be unfit for the work of the day. . . . Under the second of the above heads there is ample scope for attraction. When a school building is ill-lighted, gloomy, and depressing one cannot wonder at children preferring to stay away more than at their preferring sunshine to dulness [sic]. Then by all means let our schools be cheerful, bright, and attractive, and let the walls be covered with interesting and instructive charts and pictures such as will arouse and sustain curiosity. . . . Let the first impressions of the school-day be pleasant ones. Let us have means by which the children may amuse themselves during the recesses and before school opens, and they will, if possible, come early and regularly for a brief interval of companionship and amusement. . . . Again, the personality of the teacher is a well-known factor in producing good or bad attendance. Lack of sympathy, harshness, carelessness, and incompetency will inevitably lower the attendance. . . ."
5. Female Interviewee (born 1897). Interview by Colonial Childhoods Oral History Project.
   
   "When my brother was born I was just on 12 and the night before he was born, my mother said: "Would you like to go round and stay with Mrs Andrews?" So I stayed the night and I came home in the morning. Mrs Andrews said "Oh, you can go home now." So I went home. It wasn't far from where we were living in Petone. And when I got into the side I saw a most beautiful baby in a basket, on a chair, in the dining room and then I saw somebody rushing round in a starched apron with a cap on her head and I thought, "Well, who are you?" And I said to her, "Who's this in the basket?" She said, "That's your little brother." "Oh," I said, "Well then, I'll go and tell my mother." She said, "Don't you dare open that door. Your mother is very ill." Well, I was nearly 12 and I had no idea in the wild world where my brother had come from or how he got there or anything else – and I think that was quite wrong. I should have been told but I must have been very naïve or an idiot or something, I don't know what, but I never noticed that my mother was any different or having a baby."
6. Code of Honour from The New Zealand Boys' Diary. 1936.
   
   QUALITIES OF A REAL MAN OR WOMAN
   Are you one or only an overgrown baby? Are you faithful in your duties to God? Are you pure in thought, word and action? Do you study to imitate the greatest men or women of the world? Have you the strength of will to eat, drink and play in moderation and such forms of each as will make you better morally, intellectually and physically? Are you determined to work for the betterment of your fellow men?
   
   As a New Zealander, proud of the privilege, yet humble in the enjoyment of it:
   
   You will scorn all dishonesty, of whatsoever form or degree, as petty and mean and altogether unworthy of your family and the high traditions of your school and your Empire.
   
   In all things you will be temperate – in eating, in play, in rest, in work, exercising always the one true discipline – discipline of self. . . .
   
   You will regard coarseness in thought, language, or action, as belittling and degrading, and always and altogether beneath the dignity of a future citizen of this fair Dominion.
   
   You will cheerfully yield reasonable and prompt obedience to your elders, particularly your parents; and you will show a like respect for the rules of your school, the by-laws of your town, and the laws of your country, since you know that rules and laws are not needlessly made. . . .
   
   You will be punctual and orderly and cheerful. You will keep your promises. You will grudge no effort, no matter how small or how great the task, remembering that only your best is good enough.
   
   . . .
   
   You will ever be pure and true, for there are those who daily trust you. You will remember that in the hands of the Children of To-day is the World of To-morrow and you will strive to be not unworthy of the sacred trust.
7. New Zealand School Photographs 1950 and 1964.
8. Sanitarium Weet-Bix Packet [Advertisement], 1990s.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following institutions for primary sources:

• Australasian Conference Association Ltd.
• Colonial Childhoods Oral History Project (CCOHP),
• Statistics New Zealand, and
• Whitcombe and Tombs.

About the Author

Jeanine Graham recently retired from teaching history at the University of Waikato (New Zealand). Her investigations into New Zealand childhood history have combined extensive use of oral history as well as documentary, material and visual sources. She also brings to her research the insights gained from some three decades of teaching at Waikato University, where papers on the history of Aotearoa/New Zealand are delivered jointly with colleagues from the School of Maori and Pacific Development. In addition to working in the fields of social history, cultural encounters and childhood history, Graham maintains an active interest in the scholarship of teaching and learning in History.

About the Lesson Plan Author

Ryba Epstein teaches World History, Advanced Placement World History, Advanced Placement European History, Humanities, and Advanced Placement English Literature at Rich East High School in Park Forest, Illinois. She is a consultant and table leader for AP World History and has also read for AP European History. Her M.A. and Ph.D. are from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, and she received her A.B. from UCLA. Her dissertation was on African oral epic poetry.

The impact of colonization on childhood experiences in New Zealand was diverse and enduring. Although there was never any formal apartheid system, biculturalism continues to be more commonly a characteristic of Maori (of indigenous ancestry) than Pakeha (non-Maori, generally of European descent). Until very recently most Pakeha children grew up with little knowledge of, or familiarity with, Maori language or custom.

Conversely, most of the children who identified as Maori had little option but to engage with the language, practices, and values of the colonial regime. Many of the urban-raised lost access to their own cultural heritage in the process. Only in the late 20th century, under the combined influences of a Maori cultural renaissance and debates over the nature of a post-colonial New Zealand identity, have Anglo-Saxon assumptions of an inherent cultural superiority been challenged.

Culture and circumstance, location, time period, and family support structures all shaped the nature of antipodean childhoods. Formal colonization began in 1840, when Great Britain declared sovereignty over the islands and their inhabitants. The involvement of some 500 tribal leaders in discussions over the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi that year reflected several decades of encounters. In the preceding half-century, coastal tribes had interacted with seamen, sealers, whalers, traders, or missionaries who introduced their language, food, material culture, values, and diseases. European men who had sexual relations with indigenous women also contributed their gene pool.

The children of these liaisons were normally brought up within their mother's community. Apart from the occasional trader or shore-based whaler who lived long-term with a local woman, European fathers were generally unknown to their progeny. Their offspring were not necessarily disadvantaged. Tribal identification, traced through whakapapa (family trees), incorporated the ancestry of both parents, providing indigenous children with an extensive network of relations, allegiances, and obligations. Few immigrant children grew up with comparable family support. Theirs had to be created over two or three generations of living here.

Traditional lifestyles had evolved over the seven or so centuries during which descendants of Eastern Polynesian voyagers adapted to New Zealand's temperate climate. The changes caused by European values, policies, and diseases were abrupt. By the end of the 1850s, the settler and indigenous populations were roughly equal, at some 59,000 and 56,000 respectively. A rapid influx of Europeans over the next two decades, largely in response to gold discoveries, public works schemes, and assisted immigration policies changed the demographic balance. At the same time, rapid land alienation in both islands and conflict in the North over land sales and sovereignty issues destroyed the economic independence and potential prosperity of many tribes.

Children of both cultures were affected by the upheavals of this era. Some measure of charitable or government aid was normally available to the "deserving"—Victorian distinctions between worthy and unworthy recipients of assistance were well-entrenched in colonial thinking. Maori communities adversely affected by the confiscation or sale of productive land were much less likely to receive assistance in the event of crop failure, poverty, or disease. Even the Native School system, established in 1867, required village communities to contribute land and a portion of the costs for each institution. State-funded secular elementary schools, open to all children between 7 and 13 years of age, with compulsory attendance enforced for both Maori and Pakeha at the turn of the century, concentrated on numeracy, literacy, and physical fitness. These schools also served as powerful agencies of socialization through which contemporary values of citizenship, imperialism, and loyalty to the British Crown were imparted.

Childhoods in New Zealand have long reflected the consequences of external as well as internal events. Lacking immunity against introduced infections, the indigenous population declined steadily, reaching its lowest number (42,000 out of a total New Zealand population of 743,000) in the mid-1890s. An eventual demise was widely predicted. Yet a gradual recovery occurred, despite a disproportionately high Maori death rate during the 1918 influenza epidemic. The children of both cultures lost relatives and friends in the carnage of World War I – and lived with those who returned physically or emotionally impaired.

Many youngsters also experienced economic hardship during the years of the Great Depression. State welfare, social security, and education policies of the late 1930s and following World War II sought to establish equal access to services for all children, although government agencies were initially slow to recognize, and respond to, the major population shift that was occurring, as young adults and Maori families moved en masse from rural to urban areas in search of better employment, lifestyles, and living conditions. A demand for unskilled labor also encouraged many Polynesian people to leave their Pacific Island homes for work opportunities in New Zealand.

Schools in the main cities, Auckland and Wellington especially, soon reflected the greater cultural diversity brought to urban communities by Maori and Pasifika families (Tongan, Samoan, Nuiean and Cook Islanders, for instance), a trend that would accelerate in the latter decades of the 20th century as Asian migrants became a significant minority group in the total population. While the insidious inequalities of colonialism are yet to be fully redressed, a more inclusive educational curriculum now provides New Zealand's children with a much richer understanding of its influence than was available to earlier generations of the colonial-born.

Source 1: The Ancient History of the Maori

Although an aged Horeta Te Taniwha recounted his boyhood experience several times for different Pakeha researchers, there was little inconsistency in his accounts. This excerpt can therefore be explored for the ways in which a child responded to a people whose arrival was completely unexpected and whose appearance was different from anything in his life experience so far. The story unfolds as a narrative of the event, with the commentary on each phase reflecting the means by which god-like figures were revealed to be human.

The points of comparison provide evidence of what was "normal" in an indigenous context. Maori used waka (canoes) constantly: the paddlers always looked to the front. All manner of rituals surrounded the partaking of food, which would not be touched personally by a person of high rank. The response of the "strange beings" when offered kumara, fish, and shellfish was not consistent with tribal notions of how an atua (god) would behave. The physical features of the strangers, with their skin and eye color, indicates that brown was the norm in Te Taniwha's world. His was also a society in which there were clear differences of rank, such as rangatira (chief) and tohunga (skilled person, often in spiritual matters). Hence Te Taniwha recognised Captain Cook's standing amongst his men and found it remarkable that Cook should pay attention to youngsters. His gentle touch was significant, given the tapu (sacred) nature of the adult male head in Maori custom, that of a chief or tribal leader especially. Children could be so caressed without causing offence: Te Taniwha and his companions may well have felt honoured by the gesture of this leader of strange men. Sensory perceptions, sound particularly, feature in this account. (In a section not included here but available electronically, Te Taniwha also refers to a dislike of the salted meat which he was given to taste.) The strangers' curiosity about objects of material culture as well as local flora and rocks also made a lasting impression on the indigenous youngster.

Discussion Questions

• What understanding of the lifestyle of an indigenous child can be gleaned from this extract?
  
  A discussion could note the roles played by various groups—elders, warriors, women and children—within this extended family community (hapu). The sequence by which the strangers were deemed to be human, not supernatural, also reflects traditional beliefs. Thirdly, there is information concerning food, adornment and clothing.
• What questions might arise concerning the authenticity of this account, and how might those issues be addressed?
  
  Questions raised might involve discussion of the reliability of memory, amongst older informants especially, and particularly when the stories are repeated frequently. Cross referencing with the published journal entries and artist images from the Endeavour voyage would provide a European perspective on the same encounter, and verify some of the recollections. Comparisons can also be made between the various printed versions of Te Taniwha's account: these show remarkable consistency. It would be important to emphasise the lack of literacy within Maori society at that time. Knowledge was transmitted through song, chant and oratory. Accuracy was essential and mistakes would be challenged in public.

Source 2: Adventure in New Zealand, from 1839 to 1844

Early cultural encounters in New Zealand's history are a story of active engagement by coastal tribes with the practices, foods, belief structures, and material culture of Europeans. Disease excepted, the interaction was selective, with muskets proving to be one of the more disruptive of the new acquisitions, and literacy, disseminated mostly by missionaries, a more beneficial adaptation.

Imbued as they were with their own sense of superiority, European arrivals did not always recognize their dependence upon Maori goodwill, generosity, and assistance. Shore-based whalers, however, were generally aware of the importance of developing good relationships with local iwi (sub-tribes). Moreover, to have a "resident" European was also a status symbol in a highly competitive tribal society. Hence a settlement such as Te Awaiti represented a situation of mutual advantage, and, with the presence of the children, the beginnings of mixed-race founding families.

Discussion of this extract might develop beyond exploring the social attitudes expressed here concerning the "improved" lifestyle of the Maori women and their children. The references to Barrett and Love indicate a ready acceptance of their progeny by Maori relatives: what difficulties might arise later if such children sought a future in a Pakeha-dominated world? Such youngsters could be cultural intermediaries if they were fluent in both languages, yet not all fathers encouraged this, as was the case with trader John Lees Faulkner who objected to his children observing their mother's customs and speaking her language. Essays in the freely accessible online Dictionary of New Zealand Biography provide additional case studies. Students might also consider what particular blend of circumstances ensured that there has never been legislative discrimination against mixed-race relationships (though the personal case studies cited in Carol Archie's work certainly show episodes of intolerance and hostility expressed towards children).

Discussion Questions

• Did children serve as the vanguard of biculturalism?
  
  This question encourages students to think of the ways in which children are often the intermediaries in situations of cultural adjustment (as in cases of migration, for instance). New Zealand's compulsory schooling system taught Maori children English but it did not provide an opportunity for Pakeha children to learn Maori. Colonial assumptions and policies therefore tended to inhibit the development of biculturalism among both populations. Students may wish to clarify what they mean by the terms, vanguard and biculturalism, and to consider whether there are particular "windows of opportunity" in a colony's history when such a concept might apply.
• How might issues of identity have affected 'half-caste' children throughout the colonial era?
  
  This question is prompted in part by the recollections of Mihi Edwards, whose autobiography, Mihipeka: Early Years (Auckland, Penguin, 1990) relates the extent to which she endeavored to disguise and deny her Maori ancestry when she moved, as a young woman, to seek employment in a Pakeha-dominated environment – at a time when eminent Maori politician and scholar, Sir Apirana Ngata (whose mother had a Scottish father), was widely respected in both societies. Students might like to consider the range of circumstances that can influence a sense of identity. The American civil rights movements of the 1960s, for example, had a profound impact in New Zealand, coinciding as it did with the advent of television, the massive migration of Maori to the cities, and the emergence of a significant group of university-educated young urban Maori leaders.

Source 3: Annual report on Native Affairs, 1874

This regional overview formed part of the annual Department of Native Affairs reporting to Parliament. The various Officers in Native Districts (of whom Locke was one) addressed their reports to the Native Minister since he was the politician who had responsibility for that Department. All government department annual reports were tabled in the Lower House of Parliament and "ordered to be printed," which is how they end up in the Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives each year. The overall heading for the collected entries under G-2 would be "Reports from Officers in Native Districts."

This extract could be used for emphasizing the importance of historical context when considering the situation of indigenous children in a colonial environment. There might also be discussion of the extent to which children have agency.

In this particular East Coast region, one well suited to the sheep-rearing which was already a mainstay of the colonial economy, there were also intra- and inter-tribal divisions as a consequence of some involvement alongside government troops during the armed conflicts of the 1860s. The comments by Samuel Locke, a Crown Land Purchase Officer on the East Coast of the North Island, suggest a clear distinction in his mind between those who are proving to be cooperative and those who are not: the future prospects for the children of the two groups are similarly distinguished. According to Locke, Maori youth will not play a dominant role in the developing economy, though. Just as the first group of adults must "turn again to labour," so the best-educated of the younger generation will be encouraged to take up trades. There is no suggestion that young Maori might aspire to academic careers or to be the employers of Pakeha labourers. Yet, as the outstanding achievements of a local boy, the later Sir Apirana Ngata 1 would demonstrate, such a future was possible.

In compiling his regional overview for the annual report on "Native Affairs," subsequently tabled in the lower house of the colonial parliament, Locke identifies some negative consequences of colonial legislation to change the nature of tribal land tenure, but never questions the validity of the measures. Yet, notwithstanding the impact of conflict and confiscation on tribes affected by the events of the previous decade, government land policies were already proving to be the single most disruptive and divisive influence on indigenous communities. Children growing up in these environments lost an entire cultural heritage, not just a pecuniary asset, when their tribal lands were sold into European ownership. A tribe's history was known and named in relation to territory. Why were colonial authorities so oblivious to this?

Discussion Questions

• Although formal schooling provided indigenous children with access to the values and language of the colonial regime, what factors might affect their educational prowess?
  
  This question aims to encourage students to think about the home environment of Maori pupils, not just what was happening in the classroom and school playground. Circumstances could vary from one village to another, even within the same tribal rohe (territory). Maori as a language was not to be used at school: this prohibition, and the corporal punishment usually associated with flouting it, could make adjustment to the classroom very difficult. Loss of land also meant loss of traditional food resources. In the later decades of the 19th century, for instance, many tribal communities were affected by the mobility of those whanau (family) groups. Seasonal employment in the sheep-shearing or gum-digging industries, for example, generally affected the school attendance pattern of the children who moved with their whanau. There could also be intergenerational tensions as elders feared a loss of contact with their mokopuna (grandchildren) who became reluctant to speak Maori at home, given the harsh strictures against doing so when at school.
• How did government policies to promote the individualization of Maori land tenure reflect Colonialism?
  
  Discussion might also draw on comparisons with other colonial regimes run by other European powers. The Treaty of Waitangi accorded Maori the status of British subjects. With the passing of the New Zealand Constitution Act in 1852, male suffrage was linked with property ownership. (Universal suffrage by 1893 was not.) Viewpoints vary as to whether the individualization of Maori land tenure represented a genuine effort to expand eligibility for the franchise amongst Maori men; or a desire to overturn the land purchase policies that prevailed prior to the 1860s, in which the right of the chief to speak on behalf of his people was widely recognized. Individualization of title led to increased fragmentation of land, which in turn came to mean multiple ownership of small blocks that were uneconomic to farm and almost impossible to administer productively. (See the online Treaty of Waitangi booklets).

Source 4: "Shocking Disaster at Cambridge" [1884]

The report highlights a key difference between Maori and Pakeha childhoods, in the nineteenth century especially: the availability of whanau (family) support. "No other family members and no neighbours"—the difficulties confronting Mrs. Osborne were not ones that a Maori mother would have shared. Ironically, Maori parents would experience a similar isolation in the middle of the 20th century, when urban migration caused many indigenous children to grow up in nuclear families, away from their traditional extended networks of relatives.

The 1880s was a decade of widespread depression in the colonial economy. Falling prices for export staples, such as wool and wheat, had serious consequences for those who had bought land on capital borrowed during the speculative boom of the 1870s. For small-scale farmers, endeavoring to establish a viable unit with very limited financial resources, older children could be advantageous as a labor force. A young family was quite the reverse. The relative isolation noted by the juryman could be set alongside Mrs. Osborne's comment that she was normally absent for one to two hours when she went to town. Students could estimate average walking speed to ascertain the likely distances involved.

Some indication of the living space and conditions in the house can also be gleaned from the report. Only one bedroom is mentioned, along with the kitchen. Washing facilities were usually in a lean-to at the back of such dwellings; the toilet would be a long-drop at some distance from the house. The house would have been built of timber, with the paper lining on the interior walls adding to the flammable nature of the dwelling. An analysis of settler housing images available through the Alexander Turnbull Library Timeframes website would enable students to gain an impression of the range of living conditions at this time. Comparable investigations could be undertaken for other regions and years, using the online newspapers collection.

Discussion Questions

• How can reports of accidents provide insight into the nature of late-19th-century colonial children's lives?
  
  Discussion might focus on the close relationship between children and their physical environment, since playing outdoors was the norm. Such play was often supervised by older siblings, particularly when child-bearing spread over two decades and mothers had little paid assistance with domestic tasks. Although the New Zealand environment contained no snakes or poisonous insects, trees, rivers, creeks, and horses were generally present in country children's lives, while urban youngsters had street traffic to contend with, usually in the form of tramcars and horse-drawn drays and carts. Comparisons between the activities of children in New Zealand with the lifestyles of youngsters in other colonies or "frontier" communities might also be pursued.
• How do the types of accidents reported here differ from the risks confronting children throughout the 20th century?
  
  This invites consideration of changing technology – from carts to cars, bicycles rather than horses, household bleach or dishwasher chemicals instead of phosphorus heads on matches, for instance. There is also the wider context of the increased supervision of children's lives and the reduction in family size that affects the influence of siblings. Household tasks have also changed. Youngsters used to chop wood and kindling for the kitchen stove or the weekday boiling of water in the copper: few 21st-century children would have occasion to use a tomahawk or axe. The advent of electricity has reduced the risks associated with fire, but introduced the risk of electrocution. The likelihood of drowning in a well has diminished only to be replaced by the incidence of childhood deaths in domestic swimming pools. Safety measures have increased, as with artificial surfaces at public playgrounds, for example, yet obesity is now a major lifestyle risk for children and youth, suggesting that a lack of physical activity may be a greater problem than sports-related injuries. Ipod users face hearing loss; constant text messaging and computer use can result in tendonitis. The relationship between child lifestyles and risks can be explored in a variety of contexts.

Source 5: Juvenile Depravity Suppression Bill [1896]

Using this 1896 statement as the starting point, students could explore the changing relationship between children and the state through use of resources on the Ministry of Youth Development website and that of the Commissioner for Children. The emphasis on children's rights that has characterized policy and discussion in recent decades reflects support for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which New Zealand ratified in 1993.

Students might also seek to define anti-social behavior and aim to set their definition within the wider context of social changes in the 20th century. Youths loitering on street corners in the 1890s were unlikely to be armed (the ubiquitous pocket knife and shanghai were not normally viewed as weapons for use against other people). Late 20th-century youth, "hanging out" on the streets, are more likely to possess a knife or other weapon, and have their outlook impaired by alcohol, drug use, peer pressure, or gang membership, actual or in prospect. Students could explore the two websites above for analyses of the social changes that have contributed to a significant level of gang affiliation amongst Maori and Pacific Islanders. Comparisons between the New Zealand situation and that of "delinquent" youth in other western societies could highlight similarities, for indigenous people especially.

Underpinning the ongoing concerns about child and youth well-being has been a gradual shift in the relationship between families and the state. In the founding decades of the colony, only criminal, neglected, and destitute children were committed to government care, mostly in industrial schools and orphanages. Such interventions were very unlikely to affect Maori children, whose extended family networks provided support and sustenance. The geographical distribution of the two populations, predominantly rural Maori and urban Pakeha, meant that relatively few politicians were aware of the difficult socio-economic circumstances of many Maori communities. By the late 19th century, however, government policies in New Zealand began to reflect trends elsewhere, in Britain and the United States, for instance, concerning the need for state investment in children. As the future income-earners of the country, youth represented a substantial social capital. The Infant Life Protection Act (1896), the Juvenile Smoking Suppression Act (1903), and the 1925 Child Welfare Act all reflect this increased level of state intervention. Late 20th-century interventions are more explicit in acknowledging the citizenship rights of young New Zealanders – as epitomized with the establishment of the Office of the Commissioner for Children in 1989.

Discussion Questions

• How does the work of the New Zealand Commissioner for Children and the Ministry for Youth Development reflect a serious official commitment to the principle of children's rights?
  
  The answer will involve exploration of the Commission and Ministry websites, including the many links to similar agencies elsewhere. The UN Convention is available through the Ministry website. A recent publication by John Barrington, A Voice for Children: The Office of the Commissioner for Children in New Zealand, 1989 -2003 (Dunmore Press, Palmerston North, 2004) contains a useful summary overview of achievements during that period (pp. 117-20).
• What arguments can be advanced for and against the proposition that a sense of social alienation is the principal cause of youth offending?
  
  This question aims to encourage students to take an international perspective, rather than a narrowly local or national one. Just as the issue of street larrikins was being debated in Britain, the United States, the Australian colonies and New Zealand in the 1890s, so the problems associated with youth offending, criminal and petty, may well be found in much of the developed world. Students should be able to contest the basic proposition by reference to all the other contributory factors that they can identify. They might also consider what influences or encourages the majority of young people to stay out of trouble with the law.

Source 6: Taranaki Education Office Report [1898]

Some students may find themselves surprised by the child-friendly nature of this official report. It could therefore be used in a context of exploring the assumptions that readers can bring to a document, and how preconceptions can affect the reading of text or image.

The connection between child experience and family circumstance is obvious here. In new farming areas (and there are ready parallels with North American examples), younger siblings had a very different educational path than their older brothers and sisters whose labor was often crucial in the establishment years. Parents could find this situation difficult because they also wanted the best for their children. There might be significant parental differences, with (usually) mothers endeavoring to find a balance between the demands of education and income. Older children, too, might have mixed feelings about the divergent home/school workloads. A sense of pride or achievement could be greater out of the classroom than within it.

Regional and cultural differences might be explored. The national curriculum was mandatory: access to resources varied enormously. A universal school system could not guarantee a universal standard of education, no matter how diligent the teachers or the inspectors. Students might expand on Spencer's analysis to consider a wider range of factors that could affect student attendance and learning – such as urban and rural differences, religion, housing, and gender. The importance placed upon compulsory schooling at this time also merits close analysis. By the late 1930s, all New Zealand children were required to have at least two years of secondary education and the leaving age was raised to 15. Yet the numbers of teachers in training had been reduced during major periods of economic recessions (1880s and 1930s) and men were lost to the profession during and after World War I. Adult recollections of schooling in the first half of the 20th century frequently refer to corporal punishment, authoritarianism, and feelings of fear. Spencer's vision emphasizes enjoyment. How might the different perspectives been reconciled? And can children's voices be heard?

Discussion Questions

• Why did formal schooling become such an integral part of New Zealand (and other Western European) children's lives by the end of the 19th century?
  
  Discussion should encourage students to think about international trends in the spread of elementary education. Within the British Empire, for example, similar curricula and resources could be found throughout all the settler colonies. There are also parallels between North American and British systems at this time. Industrialization and child labor form part of the background, while notions of children as "social capital" are also influential. The broad trends can be sketched from essays in the three-volume Children and Childhood in History and Society. 2
• What perspectives need consideration when trying to ascertain the nature of childhood experiences of schooling?
  
  Much of the published material on childhood experience draws upon adult recollections, written or oral. Students might be invited to write and then analyze their own memories of elementary school before being challenged to identify a range of other factors which may have affected the nature of their school experience. (Examples might include the physical environment of the school; its financial resources; the age, ethnicity, and gender range of the staff; prevailing philosophies of education and of the particular school itself; levels of parental and community support; levels of student representation in school affairs.) Comparisons across culture and time could be developed.

Source 7: Children's letters, Otago Witness [1918]

Children's own voices might be described as an elusive and problematic resource in childhood history. Taking these letters as an example, do the sentences and ideas reflect childhood priorities or can adult influence be detected? Most letters are likely to have been written at the family table, with some degree of supervision or checking of spelling and grammar. Both "Dot" and "Uncle Ned" insisted on high levels of presentation. Formulaic aspects can also observed, particularly in the endings of all three letters given here. (Additional examples from the Otago Witness up to 1909 available here.)

Age, gender, and language differences can be explored in some detail if students access full pages from the digitized collection. Generally, correspondents were under the age of 18, with the majority under 14. A regular Older Writers Week was always well subscribed and younger writers would sometimes refer to the style or content of those letters or try to emulate them. Occasionally, "Dot" would set a topic for correspondence but the general guidelines can be discerned since children were encouraged to write about animals, events of interest in their local area, holidays, school, and home life. The DLF motto was always printed: "We write for the benefit of others, not ourselves."

Analysis of the pseudonyms as well as the letter content gives some insight into the impact of World War I on these children's lives.

Discussion Questions

• How useful are these letters as a source for accessing children's own voices?
  
  This invites consideration of the various filters that may affect the content and style of these letters. The 350-word limit was rarely a problem (save for some of the older writers). Knowing that parents and peers would be reading the published letter could be a constraint on spontaneity. Social conventions, such as not discussing family affairs outside of the home, would also have been observed. There could also have been some apprehension about editorial feedback. Noted children's author, Ruth Park, for example, long remembered a critical response by the editor of the New Zealand Herald's children's page. 3
• What do Children's Pages reveal about the daily lives of youthful correspondents?
  
  Students might consider the extent to which children wrote about normal routines or focused on exceptional happenings. Since approximately 50 DLF letters on average were reproduced with each issue of the Otago Witness, general impressions concerning school, modes of transport, health issues, and contemporary events can usually be discerned - and consistencies or inconsistencies noted.

Source 8: Oral history, Colonial Childhoods Oral History Project

Changing contexts could be explored, using sexuality as the focus. Contemporary students might consider the range of ways in which knowledge of human reproduction, puberty, and homosexuality is disseminated before contrasting the present-day position with the dearth of printed or visual information suitable for children at the beginning of the 20th century. Social conventions also need investigation. Many of the interviewees in the CCOHP gleaned a basic understanding from an older sibling; others gathered a great deal of misinformation from the school playground. What were the dominant constraints affecting public school education on the subject; or parent/child frankness? Was ignorance regarded as a form of protection or were there underlying moral codes that emphasized innocence? Some basic assumptions might also be discussed. Was sexuality a topic that aroused childhood curiosity to any great extent at this time? Analysis of all of the CCOHP comments suggests that, for those under 15, it was not important – yet could this impression result from interviewees making instinctive comparisons with the present as they commented on the past?

The use of oral histories as a source in childhood history might also be investigated, with particular reference to any issues (such as deafness, fatigue, memory loss) associated with interviewing the elderly (defined as over 80 years). How much reliance can be placed upon such recollections? Without necessarily delving into debates over the nature of memory, students could be encouraged to reflect on their own childhoods. Are their memories predominantly of factual detail or of episodes to which they had some degree of emotional reaction, be that fear, curiosity, anger, pleasure, or pain? Questions about the "construction of the past" in an oral interview could also be raised, especially when comparing the relatively unstructured "life narrative" approach with that of the more structured questionnaire style of interviewing.

Discussion Questions

• Why might parents choose not to tell their children about a mother's pregnancy?
  
  Discussion could include some reference to the incidence of maternal mortality, since the risks associated with child-bearing and childbirth, among working class families particularly, were considerable. The registration of midwives (1904) and the establishment of free maternity care for women (1905) made a significant impact in lowering those rates. Concealment was also a way of avoiding awkward questions about reproduction and sex. Moreover, pregnancy was a private, not a public, matter which might be mentioned in a school playground, for example. Women's dress styles assisted with the strategy, as did the usual convention that children did not enter their parents' bedroom spontaneously. Maori children were less likely to be in ignorance than Pakeha, since sleeping and living arrangements were generally more communal.
• Evidence gathered during the CCOHP suggested that there was relatively little openness in dealing with other facets of Pakeha children's lives, especially where alcoholism, violence, or death were concerned. Does such adult reticence reflect contemporary views on child-rearing?
  
  Several of the CCOHP interviewees lost a sibling, friend, or parent during childhood. Generally, though, Pakeha youngsters did not attend funerals, whereas Maori children were present, and older ones involved with food preparation, during any tangihanga (a farewell that was held over several days) in their community. Cultural experiences also differed in terms of remembrance of the dead, with Pakeha generally choosing silence. Maori did not. Alcoholism was a source of shame within a family, quite apart from its disruptive and damaging effects on relationships and children's well-being. Concealment tended to be the preferred option. Essentially, child rearing was seen as a domestic and private matter, and the family was not a realm in which the state should interfere. Gradually, schools became agencies whereby some level of protection for children could be initiated, if necessary.

Source 9: Code of Honour [1936]

After some initial—probably adverse—reactions to the language and content of the Code, students might be encouraged to work in groups, to analyze a selection of the objectives much more closely. Culture and context could be stressed. The Dominion was slowly beginning to emerge from the Great Depression, the impact of which had been severe on a people who had lost so many young men during World War I. The notion of service for Empire had been well instilled prior to 1914, and a heavy price had been paid. It is noticeable that the emphasis within the Code is much more on a sense of identity as a New Zealand citizen, rather than as the citizen of Empire that had been so prominent a theme in School Journal poems, stories, and articles earlier in previous decades. Yet fundamental values persist - of fair play, honesty, integrity, respect for authority, for instance. Students may benefit from some discussion about English public schools, the class background from which pupils were generally drawn, and the ethos that imbued such institutions. They might also be prompted to consider how and why these values became disseminated so widely during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Responses to these questions could include reference to some of the Empire-wide organizations for young people, the Boy Scout and the Girl Guide movements, for instance.

Further analysis of the Code suggests that its focus was on encouraging youth to develop a sense of civic and community responsibility. Improvement of self is vital, but the individual's growth in principle and awareness is intended to enhance social interaction, not individualism.

Lively debates should develop if students are challenged to consider whether there is anything inherently wrong with such a set of personal values. Do these ideals pertain to any one social class or culture? Within the New Zealand context, Maori children growing up in closely-knit rural communities would have had an additional set of guiding principles, those pertaining to their own cultural beliefs and practices (tikanga).

Discussion Questions

• How do these behavioral objectives for young New Zealanders, Maori and Pakeha, reflect social values of the 1930s?
  
  Discussion would draw on student analysis of the key values identified in the Code. They might also note the order in which points are made. The reference to care of property, for instance, comes some way down the list and alludes more to public, than private, property. Students could be invited to consider other "Codes" that would have been well known at the time, such as the Ten Commandments.
• Develop a 21st-century "Code of Honour" that would be relevant for children growing up in contemporary society.
  
  This would involve some preliminary discussions about relating the Code to any particular group of children. Group work would be valuable here, particularly if students were encouraged to identify specific clubs or societies which aim to instill some common principles amongst their members. New Codes could be analyzed to see if they reflect any contemporary attitudes concerning child rearing.

Source 10: School photographs [1950, 1964]

Class photographs are so common in personal collections that they merit analysis to see how useful they may be as a source for childhood history. At one level, they can be explored for evidence of material culture, in terms of clothing, footwear, and hairstyles, for example. There is no sign of "brand" or "label" clothing in the 1950 image, save for the six gymslips that provide some impression of uniformity. Fabric, style, pattern, and color vary considerably. Cardigans and jerseys are hand-knitted; and the varying shapes of the girls' collars reflect the prevalence of home-sewn garments. In both photographs, the girls are all wearing skirts or dresses: only the boys wore shorts. It was still not "proper" for females to wear trousers (though wartime exigencies had made it acceptable then for women in the workforce to do so).

The ethnic composition of both classroom groups reflect population movements of the post-war period and suggest something of the relative isolation which young Maori – and their parents – could feel within the urban school environment. From a roughly equal mix of Maori and Pakeha in the small rural town environment of Kaitaia (15 Pakeha/13 Maori), Maori children in the suburban Auckland classroom were in the minority (29 Pakeha/5 Maori). Discussion could focus on the impact of likely disparities. New urban migrants who came as family units tended to experience difficulties in meeting the costs of city living, so very different from the communal and subsistence patterns of the country. Overcrowded housing and low wages from unskilled work meant that children in these environments had little access to resources or space when doing homework, for instance. Students might also consider how school could also be the principal means by which young Maori could begin to develop networks in their new communities. Church and voluntary organizations, such as clubs for urban Maori, also helped. 4

Discussion Questions

• How would the lives of urban migrant Maori children have differed from those of their peers growing up in rural areas?
  
  Discussion will be aided by a reading of the essays on Maori New Zealanders on the Te Ara website. While the urban-raised had better access to education and employment, many lost contact with their language and culture and were embarrassed to show their ignorance of customary practices. Rural youngsters generally retained much closer links with elders and took part in activities on the marae (meeting place). There was also far more opportunity for rural youngsters to develop traditional subsistence lifestyle skills (hunting, fishing, gardening). Yet these skills could not always be applied in the cities. Underpinning discussion of this question would be an awareness that urban migration was a necessity, given the steady growth of the Maori population and their very limited resource base in country areas.
• How influential was technology in changing children's educational experience in the second half of the 20th century?
  
  Exploration of this question invites students to consider the importance of technology in their own education (within and outside of the classroom) as a preliminary to exploring such changes over the previous half century. Within the New Zealand context, public radio was widely used after WWII, with broadcasts to schools supplementing the universally distributed School Journal. Within vocational courses particular equipment would be used, such as manual typewriters and electric ovens for typing and home economics classes respectively. Going to the Saturday matinee was a popular leisure pastime: newsreels, played before the main feature, normally covered world events. Most families would also listen to the BBC World News, broadcast every evening through the national radio network. The educational impact of television from the 1960s was undermined by commercialization and largely surpassed by access to computers and the Internet.

Source 11: Advertisement

Outdoor activities have long been seen as an integral part of a Kiwi upbringing. The official website of SPARC, Sport and Recreation New Zealand, for instance, describes a (somewhat idyllic) pattern of being on the beach in the morning, the (sports) field after lunch, and on the hills in the evening. In terms of topography, such a routine would certainly be possible throughout much of the country. "Going bush," camping, tramping, mountain bike riding, kayaking: the notion of being close to nature in the "Great Outdoors" is an important element in discussions of national identity. Yet the demonstrable late 20th-century onset of child obesity and related health issues have prompted major government initiatives to encourage more Kiwis, of all ages and ethnicities, to live up to that vision and "get active." (See New Zealand Sport and Physical Activity Surveys and examples of the range of programmes.)

Organized sport in the New Zealand school curriculum stemmed mostly from Britain, as with cricket, rugby football, tennis and hockey. Athletics and swimming also involved large numbers of children, particularly on school sports days. During the 1960s and 1970s, for instance, thousands of children participated weekly in Saturday sporting fixtures, able to do so because of the commitment of teachers, parents, or caregivers, and volunteers. Family financial difficulties, changing workplace patterns, the advent of weekend shopping (and working), and increased workloads on teachers as a consequence of changes within school administration and curricula, are some of the factors affecting children's participation in organized sport outside of normal school hours. Students could be encouraged to consider the influences on their own youthful participation in sport and to consider how these may reflect social or economic patterns.

Discussion Questions

• Food and activity are normally two dominant preoccupations of childhood. What have been the major influences contributing to a reduction in the amount of physical activity undertaken by late 20th-century children and youth?
  
  Discussion could involve modes of transport to and from school and much greater reliance on cars generally; the reduction in childhood autonomy at play as a consequence of urbanization, for instance, more indoor living; and the influence of television and personal computers and other popular pursuits that involve hours of sitting rather than movement. Smaller families mean fewer siblings or relatives to play with, though Maori and Pacific Island youth are frequently active in team sports, such as rugby league, netball, and softball. Students might also consider the costs involved with purchasing equipment.
• Myth or reality? Does sport really contribute to a sense of national identity?
  
  Students could be encouraged to distinguish between amateur and professional sport. The inclusiveness normally associated with the concept of national identity seems to be contrary to the exclusiveness of the professional player. In debating the cultural role of sport, students would need to be mindful of socio-economic differences, gender, and religious or other cultural constraints affecting participation or support. And what might the negative aspects be if sport and identity are closely aligned? What happens to the national psyche when a national team loses?
  
  The SPARC website could be helpful when answering either question.

Source 12: Statistical tables

Risk-taking behavior is a major factor affecting the health and well-being of young New Zealanders. Drug-taking, smoking, alcohol abuse, and unprotected sex are four obvious contributors to low self-esteem, and significant resources have been channeled into remedial and preventative programs for young people. Some focus specifically on Maori for, as the Ministry of Youth Development's 2003 survey, 12 -24: Young People in New Zealand notes, young Maori are more prone to smoke and drink heavily than non-Maori. Students could explore the reports available through this Ministry website and that of Statistics New Zealand with a view to comparing results from the 1996 and 2001 census data. The rate of youth suicide, for example, declined in that period.

Since motor vehicle accidents have consistently been the biggest cause of youth fatalities, students might compare the New Zealand rates with those in other western societies. The particular situation in New Zealand might also be discussed in the context of the age at which youth can drive; the nature of the existing fleet (since air bags are not found in the older cars that young people are more likely to be using); the rapid growth in the number of cars per head of population; the limited public transport systems which contribute to greater personal dependency on cars; the nature of most New Zealand roads (two-lane with barriers only on some motorways and expressways); and the high number of fatal accidents in which both speed and alcohol are factors despite major road safety campaigns against drunk driving. The wearing of seatbelts is compulsory as is using approved child restraints for children travelling in cars. The law is not always observed. The teaching objective would be one of setting the statistical evidence within a wider context to emphasize how external conditions can affect the consequences of personal choices.

Discussion Questions:

• How have the hazards of life changed for young New Zealanders throughout the 20th century?
  
  Discussion would involve some definition and categorization, both of the types of hazards and the age groups involved. Since an earlier source focused on dangers for children earlier in the century, the intention here would be to concentrate on the 15+ group. The influence of consumer advertising, peer group pressure, and transport preferences (cars not bicycles) would be relevant. Socio-economic and family circumstances are important, given the prevalence of alcoholism and domestic violence in affecting young people's lives, with Maori over-represented in those statistics.
• What are the major impediments affecting the employment of 15-19 year-olds and how might these be best addressed by young job seekers?
  
  This question might enable students to draw on their own experiences while also considering the situation facing young people in other countries. Different perspectives to consider include those of employers as well as prospective employees. Minimum wage rates, literacy levels, an increasingly casual youth workforce that encourages part-time employment as a cheaper option, lack of mentoring by older or experienced staff might all be relevant, as are questions of adequate guidance in the preparation of resumes, letters of application, or how to respond in an interview. The issues raised are unlikely to be peculiar to the New Zealand context.

Lesson Plan: Constructing an Author’s Attitude from Tone Words

by Ryba L. Epstein

Time Estimated: one 50-minute class

Grade Level: 10th through 12th grades

Objectives

Students will learn to:

1. Identify tone words and connotations;
2. Detect speaker's/author's attitude using tone and connotation.

Materials

• Projection of online images, if possible (if not available, make transparencies of two photos listed below in Hook activity)
• Copies of primary source documents for each student in the class:
  
  1. Adventure in New Zealand from 1839 to 1844 (document 72)
  2. Annual Report on Native Affairs, 1874 (document 91)
• Paper, pencils/pens

Strategies

Hook
Project image of Apache children as they arrived at Carlisle Indian Industrial School and image after they had become acculturated.

Ask students to quickly brainstorm descriptive words for the first picture and then the second picture.

Ask students to categorize their impressions, looking for the specific words they have used that describe positive or negative attributes, and attempt to determine what factors might underlie their perceptions.

Discuss the meaning of "tone," "connotation," and "attitude."

Group Activity
Next, divide class into small groups (three to five students) and pass out copies of the two primary sources from New Zealand. Each group should choose a recorder to write down the group's responses.

Students should go through the documents, underlining all words that reflect tone or connotation.

Next, students should make two lists from the words they have underlined: one of positive and one of negative tone words.

Then students should analyze their lists to determine what factors generally determined what the authors of the sources considered as positive or negative. (Usually, students will decide that behavior that indicated increased acceptance of Western culture and life-styles was seen as positive by the authors.)

Finally, each group should write one or two sentences explaining the attitude of each author, supporting their opinion by reference to their lists of tone words. Students should also try to identify underlying assumptions that led each author to his attitude.

• Example: Wakefield implies that Maoris who were married to or children of Westerners were superior to those who were not—as supported by his use of words such as "very superior," "strikingly comely," and "remarkable . . . cleanliness and order." His word choice indicates an attitude that assumes the superiority of Western standards of beauty and cleanliness over those of indigenous people.

The recorders for each group should write their group's final statements on the board.

Have the class discuss the similarities and differences between the statements, checking for validity and for appropriate support for each statement's opinion from the tone words cited.

Homework:
Students will write a paragraph trying to identify underlying reasons for the attitudes expressed by the authors by relating those attitudes to broader 19th-century European social and cultural beliefs.

Differentiation

Advanced Students
For more able students, direct them to the website of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School at http://home.epix.net/~landis/histry.html.

List examples of tone words from the primary source documents embedded in the site. How are these similar to the words used in the primary sources from New Zealand?

What similarities can be inferred between the two educational systems' attitudes toward indigenous children and their future roles in "modern" society?

Ask students to write a letter from Mr. Locke (document 91) describing the Carlisle School's successes to the New Zealand Minister for Native Affairs.

LONG LIVE THE ARGENTINE FEDERATION! DEATH TO THE SAVAGE UNITARIANS!

Buenos Aires on 21 December 1847
Most Excellent Señor:

I take the liberty of addressing Your Excellency by means of this letter, to raise to your Superior understanding the most atrocious act ever heard of in this country; and convinced of Your Excellency's rectitude, I find a consolation in sharing with you the desolation in which all the family is submerged.

Most Excellent Señor, Monday the sixteenth of the current month I was advised at La Matanza (where I reside) that my youngest daughter had disappeared; I instantly returned and have learned that a clergyman from Tucumán named Ladislao Gutiérrez had seduced her under the guise of religion, and stole her away abandoning the parish on the twelfth of this month, letting it be understood that in the evening he needed to go to Quilmes.

Most Excellent Señor, the preparations he has made indicate that he is heading inland, and I have no doubt he will cross into Bolivia, if possible, since the wound that this act has caused is mortal for my unfortunate family, and the clergy in general; consequently he will not feel secure in the Argentine Republic. Thus, Señor, I beg Your Excellency to send orders in every direction to prevent this poor wretch finds herself reduced to despair, and, understanding that she is lost, she may rush headlong into infamy.

Most Excellent Señor, that my presumptuous letter may find you at Lujan, and the state of affliction in which I find myself, both compel me to bring to the attention of Your Excellency these descriptions of the fugitives. The male individual is of average height, thin of body, moreno in color, large brown eyes that bulge somewhat, curly black hair, a full but short beard of twelve to fifteen days; he has two woven ponchos, one black and the other dark with red stripes, he has used them to cover pistols in his saddlebags. The girl is very tall, black eyes, white skin, chestnut hair, thin of body, and has a front tooth that sticks out a bit.

Most Excellent Señor, deign to overlook the style of this letter. Your Excellency is a father and the only one capable of remediating a case of transcendental importance for all of my family, if this becomes public knowledge. All of them add their pleas to mine, to implore the protection of Your Excellency whose humble servant is Adolfo O'Gorman.

LONG LIVE THE FEDERATION!

Córdoba, April 16th, 1841

Most Excellent Señor Governor Don Manuel López,

I just found out at this moment that Roca addressed a little letter to Your Excellency, and I have anticipated that it will be his business to communicate to Your Excellency a disagreement that he has had with his stepchildren: Your Excellency cannot imagine the grief that it has caused me to have to tell you [about] the annoyance of a man that should close his mouth in a matter in which he is precisely at fault. . . only a man like him can have the audacity to address Your Excellency. But I hope that Your Excellency will not take one step without being well informed; I hope that you will acquaint the authorities with "my sons" because that is also what I call them. . . and all of [the local authorities] have known that…[Roca] does not have the authority because only he has wanted to commit the most atrocious slander, and hoping to find protection in Your Excellency that everyone here denies. . . But as Providence does not forsake justice, I have been able to be afforded counsel, and as such, I feel obligated to say in favor of justice that whatever Roca says against them is a grave lie; because I know the irreprehensible behavior of the children, their honor, and all the qualities that can rest in a man that has the title of honest and honorable man.

Not having time to make a report of what has happened, I will be content with saying to Your Excellency that Roca has wanted to accuse the children of being Unitarians because he had no other more noble weapons to attack them; but he has deceived himself into believing that he could prove anything because he cannot provide more proof than hearsay that one of them composed a song against the Federalists. . . and above all, they are children who still do not have the ability to think things over, and [even if the accusations were true] it is not so strange that they were blinded, and [even] cautious men have been surprised by the craftiness of the Savages [Unitarians].

I hope that Your Excellency will not make the case [only] from all that Roca says, and that you will not take action against them until you are well informed, and in order not to have the slightest misgivings, Teresita and I will guarantee their conduct. . .

Ignacia Funes
Teresa Bulnes de Aldao

1. Lynch, John. Argentine Caudillo: Juan Manuel de Rosas. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 2001.
   This classic work is the most accessible English-language biography on Juan Manuel de Rosas; it provides a cogent explanation of how the rosista state employed state terror within Argentina.
2. Shumway, Jeffrey M. The Case of the Ugly Suitor and Other Histories of Love, Gender, and Nation in Buenos Aires, 1776-1870. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005.
   This important book documents the rich variety of legal challenges that young people of Buenos Aires brought against parental and state authorities.
3. Stevens, Donald F. "Passion and Patriarchy in Nineteenth-Century Argentina: María Luisa Bemberg's Camila." In Based on a True Story: Latin American History at the Movies, edited by Donald F. Stevens, 85-102. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, Inc., 1997.
   Stevens's superb article compares the real life story of Camila O'Gorman with María Luisa Bemberg's film Camila (1984), which, as he argues, is a feminist critique of patriarchy and state authority. Author includes a solid bibliography of Spanish-language primary sources on O'Gorman's life.
4. Szuchman, Mark D. "A Challenge to the Patriarchs: Love Among the Youth in Nineteenth-Century Argentina." In The Middle Period in Latin America: Values and Attitudes in the 17th-19th Centuries, edited by Mark D. Szuchman, 141-65. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1989.
   The author deftly traces how children challenged parental authority by filing lawsuits in provincial courts over spousal choices.
5. Szuchman, Mark D. Order, Family, and Community in Buenos Aires, 1810-1860. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1988.
   Szuchman discusses the impact of authoritarianism on household structure and families. He also includes seminal chapters on parental conflicts with children during the Rosas era and the Argentine state's attempts to use the educational system to socialize children.

by Janelle Collett
(Suggested writing time: 50 minutes)

The following question is based on the documents included in this module. This question is designed to test your ability to work with and understand historical documents.

Drawing on specific examples from the sources in the module, write a well- organized essay of at least five paragraphs in which you answer the following question:

• What ideals did the Rosas regime promote for the youth of Argentina? How did the regime enforce those ideals and how did the youth combat them?

Your essay should:

• have a relevant, clear thesis that answers the question,
• use at least six of the documents,
• analyze the documents by grouping them in as many appropriate ways as possible, not simply summarize the documents individually, and
• take into account both the sources of the documents and the creators' points of view.

Be sure to analyze point of view in at least three documents or images.

What additional sources, types of documents, or information would you need to have a more complete view of this topic?

You may refer to relevant historical information not mentioned in the documents.

Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following institutions for primary sources:

• Archivo General de la Nación,
• Archivo Histórico de la Provincia de Buenos Aires,
• Archivo Histórico de la Provincia de Córdoba,
• Planeta Publishing,
• Scholarly Resources,
• Stanford University Press, and
• Taurus Publishing.

About the Author

Jessie Hingson is an Assistant Professor of History at Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida. He received his Doctorate from Florida International University and is the author of several articles on the history of race and family in post-independence Argentina. His work has been supported by grants from Fulbright, Rotary International, and the Department of Education.

About the Lesson Plan Author

Janelle Collett is the chair of the History Department at Springside School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she teaches seventh grade World History, ninth grade World History, and electives on the history of violence and nonviolence. In January of 2006, she was a member of an American History Association Conference panel, "Teaching the Nation as Imagined Community: Strategies for Understanding Nationalisms in the Classroom," and she has presented in a variety of settings on effective uses of technology in the classroom.

Between 1810 and 1860, Argentina emerged as a deeply divided nation. One of the main problems that remained unresolved throughout the 19th century was how power would be shared between Buenos Aires, the capital, and the rest of the provinces. Juan Manuel de Rosas, who ruled the country between 1829 and 1852, provided some semblance of order. However, he failed to share power with other groups, and the nation was not able to establish a lasting peace until the early 1860s. Studying this period is significant because it allows us to better understand the reasons for underdevelopment, authoritarianism, and political instability in Argentina's not so distant past and why these problems continue to exist in many parts of Latin America today.

A New and Divided Nation

After Argentina formally declared its independence from Spain in 1816, partisan wars broke out between two elite factions, Federalists and Unitarians. These groups had vastly different visions for how Argentina should be governed, but these views were based mostly on self-interest rather than ideology. Unitarians promoted the idea of centralizing power into Buenos Aires. They sought to reduce the power of the Catholic Church, which they saw as a symbol of the "colonial past." and they wanted to establish freer domestic and foreign trade. Unitarians also imagined a nation that promoted European-style "progress" and "civilization." This vision of modernization favored European immigrants over Argentina's poorer gaucho (rural itinerant workers) population and caudillos (regional strongmen). During the 1820s, Unitarian governments in control of Buenos Aires attempted to implement their reforms throughout the nation.

Opposing these efforts, Federalists emerged as a broad-based group, including ranchers and local merchants, who saw free trade and foreign competition as threats to their economic interests. Federalists tended to favor local political control and viewed Unitarians' political reforms as violations of their sovereignty. Federalists also wanted to maintain the power of the Church as an institution of social control. The Unitarians rejected what they called the "barbarism" of Federalist supporters, including Argentina's poorer gaucho (rural itinerant workers) population and their caudillo (regional strongman) leaders.

Throughout the 1820s, Unitarian governments implemented their reforms in Buenos Aires while the rest of the country fiercely resisted these efforts. Political tensions mounted when, in 1826, Unitarians tried to impose a Unitarian constitution over the rest of the country. However, in the following year, the Unitarian government in Buenos Aires resigned under pressure from powerful interests within the interior provinces. Manuel Dorrego, a Federalist, became governor. One of his first acts was to invalidate the Unitarian constitution, but he especially angered Unitarians by establishing peace with Brazil, which had been at war with Argentina since 1825. Both countries had been fighting for control of the eastern bank of the River Plate. Unitarians wanted to continue the war in order to add another province to Argentina and to prevent the loss of lands held by wealthy ranchers from Buenos Aires. However, the war was costly, and in late 1828, Dorrego accepted a British-brokered deal, which recognized the creation of a new "Uruguay" as a buffer state between the two countries. Returning from their military campaigns, Unitarian forces overthrew the Federalist government and assassinated Dorrego. The provinces did not accept the Unitarian constitution, and civil war broke out.

"The Restorer of the Laws"

In response to the discord, different regions of the country experienced the rise of brutally repressive regimes ruled by caudillos, who re-established order. Beginning in 1829, Juan Manuel de Rosas, a wealthy rancher and Federalist, asserted his control over Buenos Aires and the rest of the nation. Supported by a powerful, large land-holding class, Rosas governed through a combination of patronage and state violence. Seen by his supporters as "The Restorer of the Laws," he sanctioned property confiscation, execution, torture, and forced exile against Unitarian suspects and other political enemies.

Historians often underscore Rosas's brutality against his foes by pointing to the headings on most official documents: "Long Live the Federation! Death to the Savage Unitarians!" By 1835, Rosas dominated the other provinces, expanded the Indian frontier, awarded land to influential people and loyalists, and exported wool and hides to meet the demands of Western Europe. In 1852, the dictator's reign ended when other Federalists, tired of his meddling in provincial affairs, defeated him at the Battle of Caseros.

Youth and the Rosas State

The political violence, civil strife, and authoritarianism of the early 19th century deeply affected the daily lives of young people. One consequence was the weakening of powers that fathers, as patriarchs, had within the household. Colonial authorities long recognized the traditional legal concept of patria potestad, whereby absolute authority within families was given to male heads. This meant that patriarchs would have, in theory at least, the last word over their children's life decisions, particularly relating to education, work, and marriage. After independence, however, patriarchal authority began a slow decline. Hundreds of male heads of families were imprisoned, killed, drafted into Unitarian or Federalist armies, or took extended leaves for business or seasonal labor.

For middle class and elite families, Argentina's political leaders viewed schools as one of the most important institutions of civil life and social control. The idea was that teachers would aid in the state's efforts to incorporate children into the political system. Indeed, scholars have shown that primary and secondary schools were crucial in educating an entire generation of new Argentine citizens. Thousands of boys and girls were not only taught grammar and arithmetic, but also a deep respect for authority and patriotic values.

The Rosas state moved aggressively to employ lower-class youngsters when the wars and civil strife of the early 19th century caused labor shortages, especially in rural areas. Social critics also saw lower-class children as a potential source of social disorder and sought to harness their energies as laborers. Law enforcement officials restricted youngsters' mobility by strictly enforcing passport and anti-vagrancy laws.

In towns across Argentina, the conchabo system gave local police broad authority to draft children to work in public works projects, private homes, factories, or wherever laborers were needed. The office typically in charge of placing young workers was called the defensor de menores, a public institution dating back to the colonial period. The defensor drew up labor agreements that tied young people to particular jobs, but these contracts had the unintended effect of giving young people some degree of freedom from parental authority.

Argentina's laws also allowed children to be entrusted with decisions related to marriage and property. Girls could marry and hold a dowry at the age of 12. Boys could not marry until they turned 14. This is not to say that parents or their children sought marriage contracts at these early ages. By law, girls and boys had to wait until they were 23 and 25 years old, respectively, before they could marry without permission from their parents. After 1810, however, young people were marrying at younger ages and had more input into selecting spouses. This included choosing mates who were closer to their own ages and sometimes outside their familial socio-economic and racial boundaries.

Parents lamented with growing frequency and alarm the rebelliousness of their children and attempted to control their behavior through legal means. Many of these disputes appeared in lawsuits, or disensos, filed by parents asserting their parental rights and obligations in order to guide the behaviors of their children. Sons and daughters also sued their parents, seeking the right to marry freely partners of their own choosing.

While these individual actions played out in the courts, authorities under Rosas dealt harshly with youngsters who violated legal and social conventions. In 1847, Camila O'Gorman, the daughter of a prominent merchant, and Ladislao Gutiérrez, a Catholic priest, caused a huge public scandal when they ran away together. The following year, the couple was captured. Rosas personally ordered their execution for violating the social order. According to the dictator, their actions were a direct attack on his authority and that he wanted to make an example out of them.

Camila's story is often seen as an example of the extreme measures the Rosas state took to control the behaviors of Argentina's younger population. Indeed, Rosas wanted to make an example out of the young couple. However, this story of forbidden love is also representative of how young people challenged authority as ideas of republicanism, equality, and individualism swept through the Americas. The execution of the young couple (along with the fact that Camila was eight months pregnant at the time of her death!) undermined support for the Rosas regime. Moreover, Camila's story resonates even today as a reminder of the legacy of authoritarianism in Argentina's history. María Luísa Bemberg wrote and directed the feature film, Camila (1984), as a harsh critique of patriarchy and military rule.

This teaching module incorporates a variety of primary sources that shed light on the shifting boundaries of parental roles and expectations, young people's behaviors, and social status in early to mid-19th century Argentina.

One strategy is to divide the sources into two sets. The first set might include evidence on the expectations that both parents and political leaders had for children. Parents, especially fathers, in early 19th century Argentina wanted their children to marry for particular strategic reasons (e.g., to maintain wealth across generations) rather than for romantic love. In addition, Argentina's leaders sought to socialize children by closely regulating dress, public behavior, and education. Young people today should have little difficulty understanding the weight of parents' expectations on their lives and the rules that authorities create to govern their conduct. Thus, it might be a good exercise to relate these ideas to the students' lives.

A second set of documents would be organized around the variety of ways in which Argentina's youth responded to the rules and regulations that governed their lives. The evidence from the era shows that young people adopted a variety of political viewpoints. Manuelita Rosas's portrait, for example, represents one way in which young people supported the regime. However, legal documents reveal the willingness and capability of young people to use the court system to advance their interests, which were often at odds with those of their parents. Camila's story demonstrates one young person's challenge to both parental and state authority. This evidence not only demonstrates sharp generational differences but also how legal institutions became increasingly involved in family matters as parental authority began to wane.

Examining official records, however, presents special challenges. For example, legal language may be confusing, and biases may be difficult to detect. Nevertheless, it is possible to make sense of these documents by following some general advice.

First, it is necessary to understand that the primary role of civil courts in any adversarial system is to satisfy demands. Typically, this involved two parties, who were recognized as legitimate groups before the courts. Children or their legal guardians had the right to sue, especially when property or transfer of wealth was involved.

Second, gather basic information from the document about what happened. The "facts" of a case might be incongruous with our own understanding of prevailing norms and practices. For example, students today might have a hard time reconciling the fact that people in their early 20s were still considered minors.

Discussion Questions

• What areas of young people's lives did parental and state authorities try to control in Argentina during the early 19th century?
• What strategies did young people in early 19th-century Argentina use to resist parental control?

Lesson Plan: Love and Rebellion in Argentina

by Janelle Collett

Time Estimated: four 50-minute classes

Objectives

1. Synthesize understanding of primary sources with understanding of secondary sources.
2. Understand why the Rosas regime asserted its authority in this case and the larger implications for how an unstable state responds to threats to their power.
3. Debate how a state can best maintain order.

Materials

• "To the Spirits of Camila O'Gorman" [Poem]
• "Camila O'Gorman" [Painting]
• Adolfo O'Gorman to Juan Manuel de Rosas [Letter]

Day One

Hook
Read out loud "To the Spirits of Camila O'Gorman." Make sure students are not given the introduction.

Ask students to write a short story imagining who she was and what happened to her.

Have students volunteer to share their stories.

As a class, identify patterns in the stories. What were they able to infer about Camila O'Gorman from the poem?

Homework
Students must read the introduction to "To the Spirits of Camila O'Gorman" in order to find out the story of what actually happened to her AND the introduction to the Teaching Module, "Youth, Love, & Authority in Argentina" (19th c).

Day Two

Background
Discuss "Youth, Love, & Authority in Argentina."

Create a timeline as a class, including the most significant events that occurred in Argentina between 1810 and 1860.

Who was Camila O'Gorman? Why is her fate significant to understanding this period in Argentina?

Examine "Camila O'Gorman" Painting

• How has the artist portrayed Camila? Does she look like a criminal? Like an innocent victim?
• How do you believe the artist felt about her execution?

Read the letter from Adolfo O'Gorman to Juan Manuel de Rosas out loud.

• Why did Adolfo O'Gorman write this letter? (What was his purpose?)
• What arguments does he use to try to persuade Juan Manuel de Rosas to agree with him?

Day Three

Four Corners Debate!

• Write the following statement on the board: "A government has the right to use violence to enforce the law."
• In each of the four corners of the room, hang a poster with one of the following statements: "Strongly Agree," "Agree," "Disagree," and "Strongly Disagree."
• Instruct students to stand in the corner of the room with the poster that states the position they want to argue.
• Once students are in the corner of their choice, instruct them to discuss with their group why they all chose that position. As a group, they must construct an argument and evidence to support that argument. Then, they must choose a group leader.
• Group leaders present their argument and evidence to the class.
• When group leaders are finished presenting, students may change corners if they have been persuaded to another point of view.

Homework
Students will each write a paragraph defending the point of view written on the poster they chose at the end of class yesterday.

Day Four

Debrief

• Which group was most persuasive in their arguments? What did they do differently that made them so persuasive?
• Which group would Juan Manuel de Rosas have agreed with? Adolfo O'Gorman? Camila O'Gorman? Juan Leon Palliére?
• What drives a government to be so extreme in its enforcement of the law?
• What drives individuals to disobey a government that is all-powerful and willing to use violence to punish disobedience?
• Is there any way for a government to maintain order if individuals disobey the law other than violence?

Differentiation

Advanced Students
After the debate, instead of a paragraph, students will write an essay for homework answering the question, "What are the strengths and weaknesses of an authoritarian regime?"

Less Advanced Students
Allow one more day for activity. As a class, fill out a SCARABS sheet for each of the three primary sources.

• Subject of the primary source
• Context: what was happening when it was created?
• Author or creator
• Reason the source was created
• Audience: for whom was this source created?
• Bias of creator of source
• Significance of the source (why is it important?)

[referring to previous reports of a disturbance at Rotian on June 25th ]

2. The evidence and finding at the inquest 1 as well as the judgment in the trial of 43 Masai for riot show that an attack was made on me and my family by some Masai of the Kishun age. 2

. . .

5. The rioters were all between the ages of 16 and 19 years with the exception of two of the Salash age who were accused by all the Kishun of having caused the trouble. This accusation was brought against the Salash by the Kishun at the [meeting] I held just after the incident and again at the [meeting] held by you the following morning and yet again that evening when I asked for the names of the ring leaders.

6. The manner in which the Salash are alleged to have caused the riot is as follows: Two Salash on seeing a cedar which they erroneously supposed had to be removed set up a shout calling the Kishun to fight with the Europeans. There is uncertainty about the words used in calling to arms, but it is quite beyond doubt that all the Kishun without more ado or a word of discussion threw their [hoes] away and rushed to the manyatta to arm for war. 3 They were joined by other Kishun in the manyatta and by some who had never been to work and were not going to work on the road.

7. The only explanation given by the Masai themselves of this conduct is that it arose from 'folly' or 'sin.' It is attributed to Satan. 4 They are particularly impressed at the suddenness of it. Those who were present of other [age sets] were too paralysed by astonishment to give any warning or take any active steps to prevent it.

8. The events of the previous day have been examined. . . in the hope that some light might be thrown on the origin of this ebullition. There has been nothing except the reference to the cedar to suggest that there was any discontent in regard to the road work which they had agreed to do for wages.

9. The conditions of the work (feeding, pay, and organisation) had been fully explained at a [meeting] attended by at least 300 on the afternoon of the 24th [June] for the benefit of some newcomers. No one said anything to indicate that there was the slightest disagreement or discontent. Nearly all returned. . . to the [camp] where there was dancing and general enjoyment. . . .

11. There is not only ample evidence to show that there had been no sign of discontent during the night but no one of the many whom I have questioned has suggested that any of the 300 who went to work that morning had shown the slightest reluctance to do so. No one seems to have taken arms. . . .

14. The most significant feature of the whole affair is that it was not preceded by any discussion and was strenuously opposed by the Olburuogeni [OloburuNkeene], two of the l'aigwenak [ilaiguanak] 5 and three influential leaders of the Kishun who had been selected by themselves as assistants to Headman Oimeru Ole Masikonde who was in charge of the work on the road. These six. . . were the only people present at the road work or in the manyatta who did not either remain flabbergasted or join in the riot.

15. There is only one explanation for this incident, which completely surprised everyone concerned even the rioters themselves. It is that in some way the shout raised by the two Salash amounted to a challenge to the Kishun to prove their virility by defying authority. The response was an immediate decision to attack Europeans and those who wear [western] clothes. There was no other motive - nothing in the nature of a protest against the work to which they had all agreed and do still agree, or of personal antipathy to myself.

16. The only thought was death or glory. . . . When I looked into their faces. . ., I saw no. . . light of sense or reason. Each had an expression of demoniacal insensate savagery. The mysterious and interesting point to be considered is how it can happen that a lad - for they were all under nineteen - who starts the day in a reasonably happy frame of mind can, in a flash, without premeditation be plunged into an ecstasy of ferocity, and behave without considered purpose or regard for consequences. . . .

18. The Masai moran are undoubtedly very emotional and even, as moran, glory in the uncontrolability of their emotions. The epileptic fits 6 which they throw as moran are never repeated after they cease to be moran. They are in certain moods utterly illogical unbalanced savages capable of committing any act of violence for they do not regard human life with any sense of awe.

19. A survey of the events preceding this outburst will not in point of fact explain it but will show how it came about that these Kishun were collected together.

20. When I took over the District in March I read the following extract from Mr. Jennings Annual Report:

"The position with the moran is far from satisfactory. Experienced officers are divided upon the question as to the advisability of allowing the moran to follow the Tribal Custom of having manyattas. From my short experience with the Masai, I am of the opinion that the recognition of the 'Moran System' is tantamount to recognising organised crime which includes murder, assaults, theft, disobedience of orders of administration and elders and general indiscipline. As instances I quote the following:

Murder:

Five Masai of Kenya were implicated in a stock raid in [Tanganyika] when 89 head of cattle were stolen, and one native killed. In this case the Masai were arrested. . ., only 8 head of cattle were recovered but there is every reason to believe that a large proportion of the stolen cattle were brought to Kenya but it is impossible to get further evidence.

Assaults:

[A] considerable number of assaults by marauding gangs of moran have been made on old men and small boys herding stock. The former are usually stoned when coming out of their [camps] to investigate noises made by the thieves, owing to darkness identification of the assailants is impossible.

Disobedience of Orders:

The elders wished to hold a [meeting] with the moran, who flatly refused to attend. It took two months to arrest the ring leaders who were eventually sentenced to 2 months imprisonment.

The other school of thought on the 'Moran System' holds the view that by allowing manyattas you have the moran under control. I entirely disagree with this theory. The position as I see it is purely "bluff" and once the moran 'call that bluff' . . . one cannot deal with the situation. In this connection if one is successful in getting sufficient evidence, which is extremely doubtful, to warrant the imposition of a fine on the manyatta, it simply amounts to the relatives paying the fine as by Custom the moran do not hold property until. . . [they have] settled down as elders.

The whole position is more complicated by the fact that individually the elders are getting tired of the behaviour of the moran but collectively they are too frightened to take any firm action."

. . .

22. . . .The Kishun moran would, in the normal course of events, be passing through their Eunoto Ceremony in the near future. 7 . . . It then occurred to me that a remarkable opportunity presented itself of combining a piece of development work with the concentration of moran which would take place for the Eunoto. . . .

23. The Kishun represent the left hand circumcision age and are therefore the younger and somewhat despised brothers of the Salash with whom they will form one age [set] after passing through the Eunoto. . .

24. The decision as to time and place for the Eunoto would lie with the elders, particularly the Olotuno of the Ol Piron age, in this case the Il Twati [age set]. 8 I held a [meeting] with them and had a long conversation with the Olotuno who promised to consider the matter and move the moran manyattas. . . to [near Rotian] if the circumstances were propitious. Shortly after this he informed me that the manyattas would be so moved by the end of April. . . .

25. A large gathering of moran then came to Narok, probably 200 of them and said that their laibon Kimoruai had decided to postpone the Eunoto to the end of the year when it would be held in the Mau forest. . .where the [army] attacked the Laitteti [murran] in 1922 and where the previous age, the Meruturut, had collected to defy authority. 9

26. Kimoruai lives mostly in the Kajiado district though he also has a village in this district. He is the Purko laibon and his prestige with the Purko moran is immense. . .

27. While it is not normally the business of the laibon to fix the time and place of the Eunoto, his presence at it as a high priest dispensing charms and blessings is essential and I decided to send for him so as to discuss the proposals with him, realizing of course that he cannot be whole heartedly on the side of Government and that he would be more concerned with his prestige and emoluments in cattle than with any hopes or fears which Government can inspire. . . . I fully realized that in sending for Kimoruai I ran certain risks as there is always the danger of being double-crossed by him. . . .

29. When Kimoruai arrived, the manyattas had already assembled at Rotian. . . . At that time there was no doubt that the Ol Piron elders had decided to hold the Eunoto at Rotian and that it only remained to decide on the date. Kimoruai was in favour of holding the Eunoto early, while Chief Masikonde was inclined to postpone the date. The ultimate decision seemed to rest with. . . [the spokesman of the Ol Piron age].

30. [Kimoruai then became ill. He believed that he had been bewitched, but was diagnosed with pleurisy. He was sent home to recover.]

31. On his recovery I brought him back to the manyatta as he wished to finish certain ceremonies which could be completed in a day. The following day I went in to the manyatta and found about 200 moran gathered round Kimoruai in a squatting attitude surrounding a small pile of cattle dung in which a faded darkish blue flag had been stuck. There was something distinctly sinister about the chanting accompaniment and the expression on the faces of those taking part. . . . I was with headman Oimeru Ole Masikonde who told me that the ntalingoi Orrkirembe 10 was being administered and that it had been responsible for all the trouble in the past as it keeps alive the defiant spirit and perverted racial pride and acted like a trumpet on the minds of the moran. . . .

32. I decided to. . . [return Kimoruai] immediately to Kajiado as I was certain that his influence, which had been helpful up till that day, had turned to the old appeal which had made for trouble in the past.

33. Kimuruai did not wish to leave and asked to be allowed to stay another month. He had just begun to collect cattle off the moran, 12 head having been sent that day as his fees for Ntalingoi. . . .

34. [Kimoruai eventually leaves]

35. It will now be appropriate to say something about Ntalingoi in general and about the uses of Ntalingoi at the Eunoto. . . .

36. The name Ntalingoi is used by Masai to refer to "charms" and medicines which have their origin with a [laibon] and can be dispensed only by him. When a ceremony is to be held such as the Eunoto or a charm to bring good fortune, or to prevent sickness, or to ensure the success of a raid, or to prevent a murderer from being hanged, is sought, either the person most concerned or, more commonly, a deputation of those concerned visits the [laibon]. The instructions he gives them and the charge he makes depends upon the importance of the charms sought. In some cases, he first instructs the deputation to bring him certain ingredients for the preparation of the charm. In connection with this Eunoto, 8 of the Kishum age who had been working on the road were given leave several days before the Eunoto to collect certain ingredients. . . .

38. [There are many different charms] Some charms may be prescribed once only for a special occasion, others may be used time and time again for a special purpose. It is probable that certain ceremonies are not complete unless the prescribed charm or charms for that ceremony are used. If for instance the Orrkirembe or Nanga Narok ["black cloth"] Ntalingoi or charms have been used in previous Purko Eunoto ceremonies then they are probably essential to the ceremony which would not be binding in their absence. . . . If the use of the charm is believed to be contrary to the interests of the tribe, the [laibon] might be made to vouch for its safety or he could be held responsible for its effects. He might even be advised by the Ol Piron age to prescribe something less potent.

39. The foregoing general remarks are necessary in considering two aspects of this affair namely the attitude of the Masai elders and authorities to Kimuruai and the reactions of the moran to the incident. . .

40. There is no doubt that Kimoruai though respected, feared, and revered by many Purko is not [popular] with the [chiefs]. Oimeru Ole Masikonde has been very outspoken in censuring the unwisdom of inviting him to the district or even allowing him to attend the Eunoto in view of his load of past guilt in every disturbance for the last twenty years. This jealously, for that is partly responsible for this consideration, has made it difficult to sift the truth. It is not certain who will succeed Kimoruai as the Purko laibon but during his lifetime I doubt very much if ceremonies such as the Eunoto could be held without his "charms."

41. Since the disturbance I have informed [the chiefs] and [the leaders] of the Kishun age that if the disturbance arose as a result of Kimoruai's charms, it is their duty to inform me of the actual facts. [The chiefs]. . . accuse Kimoruai of having initiated the moran in such away as to make them susceptible to war mania. . . . It is impossible to know what Kimoruai does teach the moran as he takes the moran by themselves when no elders are there. The moran are not prepared to divulge anything which throws any light. . . .

42. There was one particularly curious incident on the night after the disturbance. The Olotuno came to my hut at Rotian just before dark and just after the [meeting] at which there had been a flat refusal to give the names of ringleaders. It was the first occasion on which we had met since the disturbance and in view of his position as chief councillor to the Kishun [age] I was most anxious to secure his cooperation. He was in a very agitated state. . . . Five minutes later I called for him as I intended to. . . discuss the situation with him, as a report had just been received of a concentration of moran ready to attack the camp. . . . To my astonishment he had disappeared. . . . No one had seen him leave. . . . He was there when I returned but neither that night nor the following morning would he tell me anything though he must by virtue of his position have known what was going on. The following morning. . . I had him remanded to gaol on a charge of inciting a riot and showed him a similar warrant which would be executed in the case of Kimoruai. That afternoon after his flight it seemed to me that he realized the futility of resistance to the tremendous power of Government and during the night he convinced me that he would cooperate and that I could safely entrust myself to his keeping in dealing with the moran even if they had collected for battle.

43. Subsequently events have shown that this confidence in the Olotuno's good intentions and power was not misplaced but it is still too early to expect him to explain what happened after the disturbance and whether in fact the moran were collected in the bush awaiting his instructions or even prepared to act without them. His sudden appearance in camp may have been to warn me. . . . His equally sudden disappearance may have been due to natural causes of no significance. He is a pivotal man and though he has only been in office for a month he has shown that he possesses real authority. . . .

44. In considering the reactions of the moran to Kimuruai's instructions and initiating charms it will be worth commenting on the general relationship between laibons and moran. The system is not peculiar to the Masai but is found in all tribes where the training of a warrior class is the central feature of tribal organization. . . .

45. . . . A great deal has been written on this subject in connection with the Masai in 1918 and 1922. . . . It is not my intention at this stage to do more than observe that a vacillating attitude has probably encouraged both the laibons and moran in their disregard of the Pax Britanica, and a contempt for constituted authority whether European or tribal. . . .

47. The mental background of the Purko moran is extraordinarily narrow. . . . [While] his knowledge of modern affairs even of developments in the areas adjoining his own reserve is so limited as to amount to nothing, his mind is steeped in stories of the prowess of his ancestors as warriors. . . .

48. If in administering the Nanga Narok and Orrkirembe Kimoruai prepared the minds of the Kishun to respond to a call to arms as a proof that they were worthy sons of their fathers he did them a disservice. He knows well enough that the glories of the Masai race which began a hundred years ago and lasted till the middle of last century cannot return.Their name cannot again inspire terror as in the days when they barred the way between the Coast and [Lake Victoria]. . . .

50. This mental condition must in some way explain the red hot response to some insult which was contained in the words used by the two Salash.

51. I had foreseen the possibility of some such insult which would be particularly galling and therefore dangerous if the Kishun were in the neighbourhood of their manyatta. Each age of moran tries to prove its superiority to the preceding one and as it were wrests its laurels and prestige from the elder brothers. Their emotional nature is intensely sensitised at the time of the Eunoto. . . . It occurred to me that it would be preferable to divide the Kishun and Salash, keeping the Kishun at the north end of the road, while the Salash worked on the necessary diversions between Rotian and Narok. . . .

53. I therefore visited Chief Masikonde and. . . discussed this point. He was emphatic in saying that the Salash would have a steadying influence on the Kishun and that he would prefer them to work together for that very reason. . . .

54. It now remains to give some account of the work on the road from Narok to Njoro. . . .

[report concludes with details of the organisation of the work and the purpose of the road]

[signed] C.E.V Buxton

District Commissioner