Samoan second wave migration: The Land of Milk and Money

Polynesians have always been travellers they have always migrated which is how they have populated these many islands which of course is what Polynesia means they have never been hesitant to prepare for a Voyage and take off. Now they do of course expect to get something better when they arrive. (Sir Tom Davis 2004, as quoted in Children of the Migration)

During the 1960/1970’s New Zealand saw a large increase in the migration of Samoans into New Zealand. This was caused by a need for ‘extra labourers’, as the New Zealand Government had an influx of jobs with no one to give them to. Samoans were offered the chance to come to New Zealand, the land of ‘milk and honey’ to received greater ‘opportunities’. They came in vision of receiving better education for their children, higher pay and also less labour intensive jobs. This all seemed exciting and full of adventure and opportunity for the Samoan people encouraging them to pack up their belongings and migrate south to Aotearoa (New Zealand). New Zealand in the 1950’s was a very wealthy nation, this was because we came out of the World Wars relatively unscathed. This giving us opportunity to provide necessities such as wool, dairy products and meat to much of the recovering western world. With all this opportunity New Zealand had to find labour fast. ‘’Although Samoans had travelled to New Zealand since the early 1900s, it was not until the 1960s that they migrated in large numbers’’ (Anae 2011, as quoted in Te Ara). As New Zealand’s industry grew so did the need for labourers. This is what drove the New Zealand government to encouraged Samoans to migrate promising great opportunity. The Samoan people had heard the stories of their family members living in New Zealand, being paid 10 pounds a week which compared to their 15 shillings