Matters of the Heart: A History of Interracial Marriage in New Zealand

This book documents the history of interracial marriage in New Zealand from the 1770s to the 1970s and the demographic shifts that occurred. It incorporates temporary marriages common in the maritime world, Maori marriage traditions and rituals of betrothal and pakuwha, and Christian marriage traditions, including common-law marriage, Maori customary marriage, and unions sanctioned by the church and state, and considers how they informed the development of marriage law and practice in the country. The author follows couples through every phase of their married life to show how these relationships evolved and changed and addresses their emotional context along with their temporal, social, and economic contexts, as well as the role of the state and racial policies for amalgamation, assimilation, and integration. She describes aspects like the views and reforms of Christian missionaries, the development of New Zealand's marriage law, the role of class and gender, the variety of cross-cultural couples who married during the nineteenth century and later and how the official tolerance was limited to Maori-European relationships, and the rise and impact of marriage experts from the 1940s through the 1960s. Distributed by Independent Publishers Group. Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)