Te arataki-ki-ngā-mahi mō ngā taiohi Māori.

Ko tētahi o ngā āhuatanga o te wā pakanga o Aotearoa te tokomaha o ngā rangatahi Māori, tāne mai, wāhine mai, me te tino nui haere o taua tokomaha. E ai ki te kāwanatanga he “raruraru” tēnei kia whakaeatia, kia kaua aua rangatahi e noho mahi-kore ina mutu te kuranga, kia riro kē he tūranga “tika” mā rātou.  Mā te nui o te pūtea i whakaratohia mō te arataki-ki-ngā-mahi (vocational guidance) e kitea nei te hirahira o te “raruraru” nei ki te kāwanatanga.

Ka āta tirohia tēnei wāhanga o tō tatou hītori, arā, te arataki-ki-ngā-mahi, i roto i ētahi kōrero; koinei te tuatahi.  Kei tēnei kōrero he whakamārama i te hiahia ki tēnei mahi arataki, kātahi.  Ka rua, ka torohēngia te whakawhirinaki o te kāwanatanga ki ngā rangahau ā-hapori, ā-mātauranga hoki hei whakaea i te take nei, arā, ko ngā pūtake o te raruraru i tohua e ngā kairangahau, me te whakaaro Pākeha i kitea ai te rangatahi Māori hei “raruraru”. Hei mutunga, ka tirohia ngā whakautu a ngā kairangahau hei whakapai i te “raruraru” nei.   Hei ngā ātikara e whai ana, ka kōrerohia hōhonuitia ngā hua i puta mai i aua whakautu.

Nā te aha i puta mai ai te arataki-ki-ngā-mahi mō te iwi Māori?

Tērā ētahi horopaki i puta mai ai te rangahau, me te pūtea, mō te arataki-ki-ngā-mahi.

Tuatahi, kīhai te iwi Pākehā i tatari ki te kaha tipu o te rangatahi Māori me te mātūtū o te iwi Māori i ngā mate i mauria mai i tāwāhi i te rautau o mua.  Engari, ka hauora kē te iwi, ā, ka ngotongoto te tipu.  Ki te kaituhi o Vocational Guidance for Maori Youth (1945), ki a H.C. McQueen, “the Maori is increasingly with us”, ā, “the amazing recovery of the Maori population figures since 1896 is well known”.

Tuarua, nā te tangohanga o ō rātou whenua, he ārikarika ngā rauemi e toe ana mō te iwi Māori.  Kei roto i tā McQueen pukapuka o 1945, ka kitea ngā whakaaro o te Pākehā o taua wā mō te “raruraru” nei: “The native population of New Zealand is steadily increasing, but there remains a limited amount of land available for it. This is one of the reasons why numbers of young Maoris leaving school at the ages of 14 or 15 have no prospect of work on the land”.

Tua atu i te nui haeretanga o te iwi, tērā tētahi atu take e kitea ana, arā, ko te heke mai i ngā rohe taiwhenua ki ngā tāone i te wā o te pakanga, i muri hoki.   I te tau 1936, 11% noa iho ngā Māori e noho ana ki ngā tāone.  I te tau 1951 kua piki te whika ki te 23%.  Ka haere tonu, ā, ka tae ki te tau 1959, e 62%, arā te rahinga, e noho ana ki reira. 

I ahatia?

 Hei whakaea i te “raruraru” nei, i aro te kāwanatanga ki te kimi kaupapa e ākina ai ngā rangatahi kia uru ki roto i ētahi mahi i muri i tō rātou kuranga.  He “vocational guidance” te mahi nei, arā, ko te ārataki-ki-ngā-mahi.

Ko te Māori tuatahi hei Āpiha Arataki-ki-te-Mahi ko Kahi Takimoana Harawira nō Te Aupōuri.  I kī mai ia i te tau 1954, “the purpose of vocational guidance is to guide that individual to their vocation.”

Mā ngā pūrongo a te New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) e kitea nei te āhua o ngā rangahau e pā ana ki te ārataki-ki-ngā-mahi mō ngā taiohi Māori.

Tae ki te tau 1940, i te whakamōhiotia te “Maori problem” i roto i aua rīpoata.  I te tau 1941 ka tuhia e te tumuaki o te NZCER, kāore te iwi Pākehā e tino mōhio ana ki “the urgency and complexity of the problems that face the Maori people.”  Ko tōna tūmanako, mā ngā rangahau i raro i te maru o NZCER ka mārama ngā raruraru me ngā whakautu tika ki te iwi Pākehā.  He ahakoa, kīhai ia i whakamārama he aha aua raruraru.  Engari i taua tau hoki, ka kōrerohia e te Kaunihera tērā tētahi rangahau mō “the vocational problems of Maori youth and the possibility of solving them, if only in part, through some scheme of guidance, training and placement. The urgency of these problems is obvious to anyone in touch with Maori affairs”.

Ko H.C. McQueen te āpiha rangahau o NZCER. E tinga ana, ko taua rangahau kei runga ake ko ngā mahi e meatia ana i muri, i roto i Vocational Guidance for Maori Youth.  Ka whakaputaina mai tēnei pukapuka āna i te tau 1945, ā, i kaha whakanuitia hoki e te NZ Vocational Guidance Association. 

I nui atu tā McQueen kaupapa i ngā rangahau o mua, ā, nāna hoki i tuku he tino whakautu.  Nā tāna pukapuka, ka whakakitea te kaupapa o te ārataki-ki-ngā-mahi ki te marea o te motu.

I te tau 1945 ka whakarāpopototia pēneitia te pukapuka a McQueen e te pūrongo o NZCER: “the Maori population of NZ is increasing rapidly, and much of it is landless. What is the vocational future of the Maori boys and girls of today? This book, which is based in part on extensive field work, examines the complicated situation in which Maori youth is placed and proposes, among other things, the appointment of special vocational guidance officers for Maoris.”

E ai ki te kōrero nei, e rua ngā hua o te pukapuka a McQueen: i whakamāramatia ngā pūtake o te “raruraru”; ā, ka tukuna he whakautu hei whakaea i taua “raruraru”.

Ko ngā pūtake o te “raruraru”

Tua atu i te kore-whenua, i whakamārama a McQueen, e kore-mahi ana ngā taiohi Māori, ka kore-mahi pea, nā te mea kāore ngā hua katoa o te kuranga i te riro i a rātou.

I tuhi ia, “the number of Maori boys and girls receiving post primary education is low”, ā, he ruarua ngā kura tuarua ki ngā rohe Māori.

Nā te kaikiri hoki, ka pāngia te whiwhi mahi o te iwi Māori.  E ai ki tētahi ātikara o te NZ Herald i te tau 1945, ko te whakatakētanga kē te “raruraru”.  Heoi, i tāna arotakenga o tā McQueen pukapuka, e kīa ana, “[it] admits squarely a widespread prejudice against employing Maoris”.  Engari, e kīa hoki ana, ka tohu a McQueen ki “the prevalence among the Maori population of what he describes as a ‘gimme’ attitude. He admits that the high incidence of tuberculosis among them is a limiting factor in employment. He admits the ‘unreliability’ alleged against the Maori worker, but insists that it is both possible to understand the psychological origins and deal with it satisfactorily.” Koia, e kitea ana e te kōrero nei, i taua wā he rite tonu te whakapae o ēnei momo kōrero katoa i te iwi Māori.

Me pēhea tēnei “raruraru”?

Ehara a McQueen te tangata e hāpai ana i te kaupapa arataki-ki-ngā-mahi mō te rangatahi Māori.  I te tau 1944 hoki, ka tohea e te NZ Herald, “more vocational guidance officers should be appointed in order to help the Maoris”.

Ki a McQueen, ko tētahi o ngā painga o ngā āpiha arataki, mā tā rātou mahi-tahi me ngā rōpū ā-rohe, ā takiwā, ka tāoroa te ngākau kōroiroi o te iwi Pākeha ki te tuku mahi ki ngā taiohi Māori.

Tuarua, ka matea kia oti i ngā rangatahi Māori te kuranga tuarua, ā, kia whakaurua te arataki-ki-ngā-mahi ki roto i ngā kura.  I mea mai a McQueen, “if Maori children are to have the same opportunities as pakeha to obtain employment, they must be able to show the same educational qualifications as the pakehas”.

Tuatoru, ka hiahiatia he kura, he marautanga hoki, e orite nei te tū o ngā tauira katoa, ahakoa Pākehā, ahakoa Māori. E ai ki te ātikara o te Herald (1945), “[there are] no differences in intellectual ability and academic attainment of Maori and Pakeha that share the same educational experience.” Mā te arataki-ki-ngā-mahi, ka whakareria ngā taiohi Māori mō ngā momo mahi o te ao hurihuri nei.

Engari, tērā tētahi kaupapa tautohetohe, arā, ko te whakapeau i ngā taiohi Māori ki ētahi tūmomo mahi.  Ko te whakangungu ahuwhenua tētahi.  E kīa ana, “one deficiency in the present schemes under the native department is that very little providing is made for the training of boys in agriculture and the complete lack in the training which is given of any direct relation to the actual taking up of farming by the boys.” Ko te whakaaro, me tīmata he whakangungu motuhake, ā, kia rangahaua, me whakatū pea he kura ahuwhenua mō te iwi Māori, kia ākina hoki he mahi ngahere, he mahi ahumāra, me ngā ahumahi paku ki ngā rohe Māori.

Kua mārama nei, ahakoa he iti ngā whenua Māori e toe ana, i whakaaro ngā kairangahau, he pai noa te Māori hei kaimahi mō te ahuwhenua; kīhai rātou i matekite i te hekenga nui ki ngā tāone i muri i te pakanga.  Engari, ki a Harawira, me uru kē hoki ngā wāhine ki roto i ngā mahi whakaako, tari, nēhi hoki, me ngā tāne ki roto i ngā mahi kāmura, kaiaka-mīhini, rerewē, me ētahi atu mahi.

He kupu whakatepe

I te nui haere o te tokomaha o ngā taiohi Māori i te wā pakanga, ka puta ohorere te kaupapa o te arataki-ki-ngā-mahi.  He whakaarotau tēnei nō te kāwanatanga, ā, he nui te pūtea i tukuna, kia kaua ngā rangatahi Māori e noho kore-mahi i muri i tā rātou kuranga, kia uru kē rātou ki ētahi momo mahi.

I tahuri ngā kairangahau ā-hapori, ā-mātauranga hoki ki te kimi i ngā take o te “raruraru” o ngā taiohi Māori, me ngā whakautu hei whakaea i taua raruraru.  Engari, he raruraru anō hoki kia kīa he “raruraru” te rōpū nei.  Ko ētahi o ā rātou whakautu: he whakatū i ngā Māori hei āpiha arataki-ki-ngā-mahi; he akiaki kia oti te kuranga tuarua i ngā rangatahi Māori; kia whakaurua hoki rātou ki ētahi momo mahi.  He āhua whīwhiwhi tēnei wānanga o te hītori o Aotearoa, ā, ka āta tirohia i roto i ngā kōrero e whai iho ana.

Whakaahua: Nā John Pascoe, kei roto i H.C. McQueen, Vocational Guidance for Maori Youth, Wellington: NZCER, 1945.