Ohu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ohu is a Māori word meaning 'communal work group'. A number of ohu (see intentional community) were set up in rural areas of New Zealand under a government scheme established in the mid-1970s.
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[edit] Background
In the 1970s, the third Labour Government of New Zealand (1972-75) under Prime Minister Norman Kirk was known for its strong social conscience in both international and domestic affairs (Govt Whips Office 1974, Bassett 1978, Hayward 1981). On the international front, it had confronted the global nuclear arms race by strong opposition to French testing in the Pacific, and by the sponsoring of non-proliferation measures such as the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone (later embodied in the Rarotonga Treaty of 1986) and South Pacific Environmental programme. It had also ended national conscription and New Zealand’s contribution to the Vietnam War upon coming to power in 1972, and had cancelled the visas of a visiting Springboks in early 1974 because of its abhorrence of the regime of apartheid in that country. On the domestic front, it demonstrated its commitment to environmental protection by setting up a Royal Commission on Nuclear Power which reported in 1974, and the establishment of the Guardians of the Rotorua Lakes and Lake Manapouri (both 1973).
In October 1974, the Labour Government announced the establishment of the ohu scheme for groups of New Zealand citizens willing to set up alternative communities or settlements in rural areas.
[edit] The purposes of the scheme
- Both spiritual and social.
- To reconnect people to the land.
- To give people a chance to develop alternative social models.
- To provide a kibbutz-type environment as a possible antidote "to the ills of modern society..." (Hayward 1981 p.173.)
- The promotion of the virtues of a simpler life (Hayward 1981, p. 173).
- To be a place of healing for participants as well as for the larger society.
Important views on the place of ohu in Māori development
The Minister for Lands, Matiu Rata, also emphasised the social implications of this alternative land settlement scheme. For Rata, the scheme had a strong Māori spiritual dimension: "For some time now I have been concerned with the needs of that section of society that has worked so hard to gain social, economic and cultural integrity while trying to maintain spiritual and cultural strength and self-respect. I refer of course, to the Māori section of our society". (Matiu Rata to the Ohu Working Party, August 1974).
[edit] Additional points
- Over 30 sites were approved by the government for the establishment of ohu.
- Many of these sites were of poor quality.
- Four groups were originally established, but only one remains to this day. It is seen as an alternative, fringe community.
- When the National government took over in 1975 the scheme was not a priority. Eventually it was done away with altogether (Parr, 2005).
