In 1958, the Health Inspector and Trainee Health Inspector of the Kairanga County Council conducted a survey of the housing conditions at the Kai Iwi Pā, a Marae and village of the Ngāti Kauwhata iwi, near Feilding. They reported: “It is obvious conditions generally are bad – housing structures are poor and dilapidated; there is gross over-crowding; plumbing and draining almost entirely absent and water supplies inadequate.” Welfare Officers from the Māori Affairs Department had attempted to improve conditions in the area, but in most instances the houses were still assessed as unsafe or unsanitary.
This collection includes selected documents from a file kept by the Kairanga County Clerk concerning housing at Kai Iwi Pā. Reports were prepared on each of the seventeen dwellings. The names of the owners and occupants have been blanked out in these digital reproductions to protect the privacy of living relatives. During the mid-twentieth century many Māori relocated from regional areas to towns and cities for employment and other opportunities. Some of the families discussed here were in the process of moving to Feilding and were on the waiting list for a state house. These documents are a product of their time and contain language and opinions that may be considered offensive or insensitive. They are reproduced here for the valuable insights they provide into living conditions, government attitudes and race relations in mid-twentieth century New Zealand.