MAORI REPRESENTATION ACT

original name Native Representation Act (1867), legislation that created four Maori parliamentary seats in New Zealand, bringing the Maori nation into the political system of the self-governing colony. The Native Representation Act was originally intended to be temporary. When Maori landholdings were converted from tribal to individual ownership, the Maoris were to have joined the general electoral rolls. Because of the difficulty of dividing the Maori holdings, however, the act was made permanent in 1876. According to its terms, the Maoris received universal male suffrage 12 years before it was granted to the European colonists.