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The Dawn Raids

The dawn raids were a series of raids carried out at random by the New Zealand police during the mid-1970s against Pacific immigrants. In New Zealand, intolerance towards Pacific migrants increased during the 1970s, particularly after a decline in the economy and the oil crisis of 1973. SCIS no: 1961716

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Group of young Maori on steps of Parliament

Group of young Maori on steps of Parliament

The Māori student activist group, Nga Tamatoa (the young warriors), worked alongside the Polynesian Panthers in Auckland to highlight the plight of Māori and Pasifika peoples, and the realities of ...

Photographs of a protest for the repeal of the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act of 1982, Parliament Grounds, Wellington

Protest for the repeal of the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act of 1982

Falema’i Lesa, a Samoan woman living in New Zealand, petitioned the Privy Council in England to be granted citizenship here. In 1982 this resulted in the Council not only granting her citizenship b...

I said WOGS not dogs

I said WOGS not dogs!

This cartoon appeared in the National Business Review in 1976 during the height of the dawn raids and the racist slanders towards Pasifika peoples. It depicts the New Zealand Minister of Immigratio...

Winston Churchill taking the salute from D Company of 28 (Maori) Battalion, England

Winston Churchill taking the salute from D Company of 28 (Maori) Battalion

This photograph is of the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill taking the salute from D Company of the 28th New Zealand Maori Battalion during a military parade in England, circa 1940. Pasifika...

Tongan overstayers deported

Ana Likio at her home in Waitangirua, surrounded by luggage

The original Evening Post caption for this photograph reads: "Anna Likio at the family's Waitangirua home surrounded by the luggage they had to leave behind. A family of Tongan overstayers deported...

Dawn Raids (New Zealand)

Dawn Raids (New Zealand)

In the 1970s the New Zealand police went to the homes of Pacific Islanders who they believed had overstayed their visas or work permits. Many people were sent back to the Pacific Islands. The polic...

Dawn raids remembered in exhibit 40 years on

More than 40 years after the infamous dawn raids on Pacific islanders, those who were there are being asked to tell their story for a new generation hungry to know about the raids.

Migration from 1950s The first significant wave of migrants from the Pacific Islands began in the late 1950s. As the New Zealand manufacturing sector expanded, employers turned to the Pacific for u...

How the Polynesian Panthers gave rise to Pasifika activism

The Polynesian Panthers, credited with fighting racism against Pacific people in New Zealand and putting them on the map politically, is celebrating 45 years this week.

Melani Anae:'We said we weren't going to take it anymore'

When the police started cracking down on Pasifika overstayers, a group of young people called the Polynesian Panthers started pushing back. Produced by Jamie Tahana.

Live Session: Emily Muli and band

Emily Muli is a young Tongan RnB singer who's rubbed shoulders with the British royal family, gone viral on YouTube, and wants to clear up some misunderstandings about young Pasifika people.

Manase Lua — a son of the Dawn Raids

Manase Lua — a son of the Dawn Raids

With the red bus we’ve never been more than just passengers. And with the blue bus, all we get to do is clean it.

Will ‘Ilolahia: Once a Panther, always a Panther

Will ‘Ilolahia: Once a Panther, always a Panther

To get better rights for Pacific Islanders, we needed to first get rights for tangata whenua.

Racism was all around us

Racism was all around us

It’s tough being a revolutionary when you need parental permission to leave the house. That’s how it was for many of those who, 45 years ago in Ponsonby,

RACE AGAINST TIME

RACE AGAINST TIME

A documentary on the effects of racism in New Zealand. Features interviews with Māori and Pacific Islanders examining New Zealand’s image as a multiracial society, and articulating the need for New...

Pacific Islanders arrive in New Zealand

In 1973, when this television clip was shot, the New Zealand economy was still booming and migrants from the Pacific Islands were coming to New Zealand in large numbers to fill the available jobs. ...

A raid on Pacific Islanders

From 1974, as the economic situation in New Zealand worsened and unemployment grew, there were raids on the homes of Pacific Islanders in an attempt to find overstayers (people whose permits to sta...

The Gravy - Series Two, Episode Four

The Gravy - Series Two, Episode Four

This episode of Sticky Pictures' show "about creative people, made by creative people" is hosted by TrinityRoots singer Warren Maxwell. Dominic Hoey (aka MC Tourettes) charts his journey from drumm...

Tigilau Ness

The story of Niuean musician and anti-apartheid activist Tigilau (Tigi) Ness.

Children of the migration

Children of the migration

The stories of the Pacific Island immigrants who came to New Zealand from the 1950s-1980s.

Dawn Raids

This documentary chronicles a shameful passage in New Zealand race relations: the controversial mid-70s raids on the homes and workplaces of alleged Pacific Island overstayers. Director Damon Fepul...

Polynesian Panthers

Polynesian Panthers

In the 1950s thousands of Pacific Islanders came to Aotearoa to meet a labour shortage. They faced racism, and in the 1970s, notorious dawn raids by police. In 1971 a group of young gang members an...

The Mixtape: Tigilau Ness

The Mixtape: Tigilau Ness

Tigilau Ness is an activist and reggae icon, whose band Unity Pacific won Best Roots Album at the Tuis last year. In 2009 he was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Pacific Music Awar...

Oscar Kightley - Dawn Raids revisited

Oscar Kightley - Dawn Raids revisited

Oscar Kightley is a Samoan-born, New Zealand-raised writer/actor and director. Some of the most popular work he has been involved in include the movie series Sione's Wedding and the TV series bro'T...

Tongan overstayers

In the 1960s and 1970s many Tongans stayed on beyond their three-month work permit. In 1974 the New Zealand government announced an amnesty: they were to return to Tonga by a set time or be arreste...

"Immigration - Important Notice"

"Immigration - Important Notice"

This government notice documents the controversial "Dawn Raids" period when Pacific migration to Aotearoa New Zealand had come under strict Government scrutiny. This notice was displayed in Post Of...

Dawn Raid clothing / Te Aue Davis weaving a feather cloak, Auckland

Dawn Raid clothing / Te Aue Davis weaving a feather cloak, Auckland

T-shirt (Cook Island original overstayers since 1960)

T-shirt (Cook Island original overstayers since 1960)

This t-shirt is part of a collection of t-shirts which were displayed in the exhibition Respect - Hip Hop Aotearoa (2003) at TheNewDowse in the Hutt Valley, Wellington. It eventually toured for two...

Polynesian Panther Party

Polynesian Panther Party

Asset ID: 25434 Copy negative number: c/nF425/2 Filename: 2336_01_015A

Polynesian Panthers and Old House

Polynesian Panthers and Old House

Black and white photograph depicting trio seated on steps at the front of wooden home. 'Polynesian Panther Party' is painted on the front of the house and signs propped up reading 'We demand adequa...

t-shirt

t-shirt, 'Dawn Raid Entertainment'

Prosecution is Persecution

Prosecution is Persecution

Flyer entitled 'Prosecution is Persecution' regarding the 'Dawn Raids' of the 1970s. Distributed by the Citizens' Association for Racial Equality, the Polynesian Panther Party and the People's Uni...

Dawn Raid: Making hip hop history

Sam Wicks sits with Brotha D and Andy from the Dawn Raid entertainment record label to discuss 15 years, some tough, others victorious.

Mua Strickson-Pua and his granddaughter

Mua Strickson-Pua and his granddaughter

Many Samoans began to arrive in New Zealand in the 1960s on short-term visas. They came primarily to work in Auckland factories, but during the economic downturn from 1973, the tolerant approach to...

Action against racism, 1976

Action against racism, 1976

During the early 1970s there was a growing movement within New Zealand that was critical of past racist attitudes. This led to a review of immigration policy in 1974, and the introduction of a non-...

King Kapisi

At the end of the 20th century a younger generation of Samoan musicians drew on their urban experience to communicate what it meant to be Samoan in New Zealand. The Wellington-raised Samoan King Ka...

This pamphlet was prepared by ACORD (the Auckland Committee on Racism and Discrimination) and published by Amnesty Aroha. It tells the story of a dawn raid on a family of Tongans for allegedly over...

The 1970s New Zealand Dawn Raids

1970's Dawn Raids in New Zealand were a series of events that exemplified racism against Polynesians.

After troubled beginnings, including early conflict in Samoa and the infamous dawn raids of the mid-1970s, the New Zealand–Samoa story is one of proud achievement.

Te Puna Wai Kōrero

One of the leaders of the Polynesian Panthers, Wayne Toleafoa, speaks about the origins of the movement and their work in the community, including a food programme and a free bus programme to Parem...

Remembering Mele Saiatua Lavulo (1916-2013) – a leader in the Tongan community

Saiatua talks about her experiences working with the Tongan community during the infamous ‘dawn raids’ of the 1970s.

Rise Up: The Story of the Dawn Raids and the Polynesian Panthers School Journal Curriculum level 4; Nov: 2018

The first dawn raid took place in March 1974. This article looks at what happened, why and the role of the Polynesian Panthers in supporting their communities.

With two multi-platinum albums and two that went gold, Che Fu is one of the best-selling hip hop acts to ever come out of New Zealand.

Blackbirding: Australia's history of luring, tricking and kidnapping Pacific Islanders

Recent debate in the United States over the legacy of slavery has reignited discussions about Australia's dark past.

Overstayers could have information used against them

In 1988, Pacific Islands Affairs Minister, Richard Prebble, said there will be no "dawn raids" for overstayers, but that information given to the Immigration Division by people who registered under...

Pacific collection

NZ On Screen's Pacific Collection celebrates many things — many islands, many cultures, and the many Pasifika creatives who have enriched Aotearoa.

Explore the dark history of the Dawn Raids in 1970s Aotearoa

The Dawn Raids: Educate to Liberate is currently on show at the Pātaka Art + Museum’s Gallery in Porirua. We spoke with Community Exhibitions Curator Emma Kitson on the significance of the exhibition.

An insight into a dark time in NZ history

The Dawn Raids – Educate and Liberate exhibition tour kicks off today at the Fresh Gallery Otara.

The Dawn Raids: Educate to Liberate exhibition

Powerful, insightful, the Dawn Raids – Educate to Liberate exhibition seeks to inform people about a little-known event in New Zealand history.

Fascination and Fear: Covering the Black Panthers

The Black Panther Party in America was founded in 1966. Fifty years later, images from the Black Panther Party’s heyday still flicker in our national memory.

Māori Programmes 1975-07-02

The programme looks at a public meeting called by the Minister of Māori Affairs, Matiu Rata, for Auckland Māori and Pacific island leaders to discuss a new Police Task Force and the social conditio...

Talanoa: Polynesian Panthers on the Dawn Raids

Polynesian Panthers Will 'Ilolahia and Tigilau Ness speak about a new exhibition on the Dawn Raids - a horrendous time in New Zealand's history when Pacific people were singled out for their race.

Pauline Vaeluaga Smith: Dawn Raid (2019)

Author Pauline Vaeluaga Smith shares some of the true stories she gathered up whilst bringing this piece of history to life as a novel and discusses why the story matters.

Smart Talk: Pacific Sound

The 1970s dawn raids on overstaying Pacific Island workers were a pivotal moment in the development of Pacific consciousness in New Zealand.

Bill Urale & The Overstayer Clothing Company

Slotting in between the release of his first and second King Kapisi albums, Bill Urale launched a clothing label, The Overstayer Clothing Company.

Brave Flower School Journal Curriculum level: 4; Nov: 2018

A poem describing the experience of those who went through the dawn raids.

Blackbirding – Slavery practice

Blackbirding is the 19th- and early 20th-century practice of enslaving (often by force and deception) South Pacific islanders on the cotton and sugar plantations of Queensland, Australia, as well a...

The wood planks that hid Polynesian students from the police

At Seddon High School (now Western Springs College Ngā Puna O Waiōrea) random immigration checks were a common occurrence even up until the early 1980s.

Dawn Raid wins best first book

Southland author Pauline Smith’s first novel, My New Zealand Story: Dawn Raid has been awarded the accolade of Best First Book at the 2018 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

Once a Panther School Journal Curriculum level: 4; Mar: 2019

This fictional comic is based on the true story of the Polynesian Panthers in 1970s New Zealand.

Pacific Islands and New Zealand

As an island nation in the South Pacific, New Zealand has long had strong cultural, economic and political links with other Pacific Islands.

Shedding new light on the (real) Black Panthers

Most people watching the new Black Panther movie know little about the radical political party with the same name as the film's hero, beyond its reputation for militancy.

Australian South Sea Islanders: A century of race discrimination under Australian law (2003)

The Australian South Sea Islander community played a significant role in the development of Australia’s sugar and cotton industries.

My New Zealand Story: Dawn Raid

Teacher toolkit for the book ‘Dawn Raid’ by Pauline Vaeluaga Smith.

Polynesian Panthers reflect on 45 years

This year marks the 45th anniversary of Auckland-based rights group the Polynesian Panther Party.

New Zealand's shame

New Zealand’s role in the Pacific slave trade is "a dark piece of our history."

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Dawn Raids (New Zealand)

Dawn Raids (New Zealand)

In the 1970s the New Zealand police went to the homes of Pacific Islanders who they believed had overstayed their...

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