Māori Were Once Not Allowed to Consume Alcohol — Now It Consumes Us

Waipiro — the te reo Māori word for alcohol, meaning stinking water. Its introduction was not welcome, but the settlers shoved the stinking water in our face. When we took too many sips, they snatched it away with laws to stop Māori from purchasing alcohol.  

Art / Tara Griz

Alcohol was commonly used to help cope with the high rates of death and loss of land in Māori communities. We were once one of the few known societies not to have manufactured or used psychoactive substances. But that changed when colonisation hit, and a coping mechanism was needed.  

And today, while race specific alcohol laws have been revoked, Māori populated areas are swarmed with liquor stores exploiting off our generational trauma. Research by Otago University last year found Māori are twice as likely to die from an alcohol-related cause compared to non-Māori. This contrast starts young too, with Māori tamariki exposed five times more frequently to alcohol marketing than Pākehā children

When the settlers arrived, alcohol consumption rapidly increased for Māori, and we needed help. As a result, in 1847 the first law passed to try and control alcohol use among Māori, called the Sale of Spirits to Natives Ordinance.  

This prevented Māori from being able to buy spirits, and other forms of liquor were heavily limited. Breaking this law could cause the seller to have their liquor license revoked and earn them a fine of up to 10 pounds — an estimated $30,000 NZD today.  

This law was an undeniable act of racism towards Māori, taking away their autonomy whilst Pākehā were free. Those struggling with alcohol abuse needed help, not to be shunned and isolated.  

Revoking rights to purchase alcohol does not solve the problem, it only invites harmful solutions.  

Soon after the introduction of this law, the Native Land Act 1862 and the Licensing Act worked in tandem to further exploit Māori communities. The Native Land Act focused on the division of land, sectioning Māori land into individually owned plots.  

The Licensing Act meant that local councils could grant liquor licenses in these sectioned communities, inevitably leading to further racial bias. Areas densely populated by Māori struggled to receive liquor licenses, compared to their Pakeha neighbours. 

This resulted in Pākehā exploiting Māori for their lack of freedom to purchase alcohol – settlers manipulating Māori by offering them alcohol in exchange for land and resources.  

The exploitation of racially based disadvantages faced by Māori laid the foundation for the ongoing mistreatment of hapū, leaving us with degrading stereotypes today. 

Fast forward a century to the Sale of Liquor Act 1989, this regulated the number of liquor stores in certain areas. It impacts Māori communities to this day, with disproportionate amounts of liquor stores in densely Māori populated towns. 

Like the small town of Kaingaroa, with a population of 2000 people, 90% of its residents are Māori. In 2021, Murupara community leader Mem Jenner was one of many offended when a third liquor store was proposed in the densely Māori populated town.  

Three liquor stores in one town largely home to a community with a history of struggling with alcohol — that's not a coincidence. That’s exploitation.   

Nowadays, the restrictions on alcohol are not raced based. However, the effects of old laws restricting the Māori community linger.  

The most up to date alcohol restrictions in Aotearoa, the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012, have no reference to Te Tiriti. A 2022 report by the Health Promotion Agency found that Te Tiriti complete absence from alcohol regulations perpetuates the disproportionate harm that Māori experience. It found some Māori organisations have even been actively prevented from presenting their concerns about the impact that a new or renewed licence may have on the local community. 

Drinking has been ingrained into our culture for so long that it’s unclear how we can truly move beyond it. We have reached a point where the Government’s laws lack worth — they do nothing to lower statistics and stand up against stereotypes.  

The Government once excessively regulated Māori alcohol consumption, and now they have no consideration for it at all. They have shaped the story of Māori alcoholism.