This graph shows the changes in the Māori child–woman ratio between 1874 and 1901, by tribe. While overall the Māori population was decreasing at the time, the decline was not evenly spread. Over this period Ngāpuhi, which had not suffered land confiscation, saw a continued steady rise in the child–woman ratio, which was much higher overall than that of other iwi. For Taranaki, the ratio rose between 1881 and 1891, but remained very low overall compared to other iwi. Taranaki had suffered greatly from the land wars and land confiscation – which has been described as 'creeping confiscation' because the paper confiscations of the 1860s only became reality over the next couple of decades. Ngāti Maniapoto's child–woman ratio dropped in the 1890s, which is probably related to the opening up of the Rohe Pōtae (King Country) from the 1880s.
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Source: Ian Pool, Te iwi Maori: a New Zealand population, past, present & projected. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1991, p. 96
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