Pool, I.
Demography
The Journal of the Polynesian Society, 70(1), 43-66
1961
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Pool presents a detailed population study focusing on Māori in Auckland.
The author employs rigorous research methods to investigate various demographic aspects, shedding light on the social and cultural dynamics of the Māori population in an urban setting. As he notes in the introduction, it is “imperative for a detailed study of an urban area to be undertaken in view of the increasing movement of Māoris to urban areas and the possibility either that new “emergent” characteristics will evolve in an urban environment or that the Māori urban population will become ‘mature’. ” Pool’s work contributes significantly to the understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by Māori in an urban context during the early 1960s. The article not only provides statistical insights but also offers a nuanced exploration of the socio-cultural implications of Māori urbanisation. The article provides information on Māori demographics, urbanisation, and social dynamics. Pool has two substantial conclusions. The first is that Auckland’s Māori population “is neither a typical urban population, when compared with the European majority group, nor a typical Māori population when compared with other Māori populations. Its character could change in two quite different directions — it could follow the ‘mature’ form of the non-Māori urban population, or else it could take on the ‘pyramid-like’ structure of the ’emergent’ Māori rural population.” The other is that while the measures are crude, Auckland’s Māori population is more ‘urbanised’ than it was a decade earlier and in comparison with other Polynesians but not in comparison to Europeans.
