South Pacific “Uncle Toms"? The Young Māori Party and Assimilation

To what extent did the Young Māori Party perpetuate the colonizing policies of assimilation in New Zealand at the beginning of the twentieth century? Certainly this young men of this movement rejected their fathers' quest for autonomy, and sought to “improve” the Māori race materially, intellectually and spiritually, which has led some academics to brand them as aiding in the cultural assimilation of Māori within mainstream white New Zealand society. Were they misguided idealists, or pragmatic realists? Using Māori-language texts, this presentation seeks to explore their philosophies within the context of their own time.