This is not to say colonisation isn't the place to start. Data from other colonised countries such as Australia and Canada show disproportionate incarceration of their indigenous people. The clear implication is that this isn't a Māori problem, but a problem of colonisation.
But the overrepresentation of Māori only came to the levels we have become familiar with following what is known as the urban drift in the 1950s and 60s, in which Māori moved in enormous numbers from rural areas into New Zealand's cities. Far from a "drift", the Māori population moved from being 83 per cent rural to 83 per cent urban in only half a century – a mass migration virtually unheard of elsewhere. The moves from rural to city living upended Māori culture and traditions. Work was plentiful and, even in the semi and unskilled positions Māori largely held, comparatively well paid. But a job did not fill the vast void of dislocation of cultural norms that opened up.
Facing racism, a loss of identity and the breakdown of whānau connections that operated well in rural environs but could not function in the city, the negative outcomes for Māori were predictable. And they were predicted at the time, notably in The Report on Department of Māori Affairs – known as the Hunn Report. Housing shortages, a "statistical blackout" of Māori in post-primary and university education, and clustering work in jobs susceptible to economic shocks were identified in the early 1960s. The report predicted this could lead to significant future issues. And this proved true.
One outcome was gangs. In the late 1950s, the incipient youth gangs that were forming were overwhelmingly Pākehā. By 1970, they were overwhelmingly Māori. Māori children began to enter borstals and state homes, and the bleak consequences of this are being painted by the current inquiry into state care.
As a result, by the 1980s, Māori represented around half of the prison population, a statistic that has remained largely consistent ever since. The economic turmoil of the 1980s and early 1990s greatly exacerbated the issues in so much as the problems became deeply rooted in certain parts of Māori society – not all parts. Tremendous advancements have been made in a number of areas around Treaty settlements and Māori political representation, but certain pockets remain untouched and the consequences of these negative historical issues still directly shape many whānau and communities.
And this is where the issue of answers becomes extremely easy to identify but seemingly difficult to address.
Our prisons are not filled with a cross-section of society, they are overwhelmingly filled with people who have faced severe hardship and disadvantage. This is true of Māori and non-Māori. It just so happens that more Māori are in these situations. And that right there is the crux of the issue.
Prisons have an important role in punishing people, but they will never be the solution to these complex social and economic problems. Unless the issues that feed the prison pipeline are addressed, the intergenerational issues will endure.
Just as the Hunn Report identified many of the issues at play decades ago, we know the issues now, too. The key question is then this: do we have the commitment to act?
• Dr Jarrod Gilbert is a sociologist at the University of Canterbury and the Director of Independent Research Solutions.
