The Native Schools system was a system of village primary schools for Maori children operated by the New Zealand state from 1867 to 1969. The official purpose of the system was assimilation. Virtually all previous historical accounts of the Native Schools have been written by Pakeha (non-Maori, usually of European descent) and based on material from official sources. This account is structured around oral testimonies of pupils and teachers, and all aspects of the research were shared by Maori and Pakeha researchers. Chapters 2 and 3 are concerned primarily with Native Schools teachers--Pakeha and Maori--and their relationships with their Maori communities. Chapter 4 examines pupil and teacher perceptions of how the schools operated, teacher-pupil relationships, and the pedagogies employed. Chapter 5 explores the role of the Native School and its Maori community in the decline, and survival, of Maori as a primary language of communication. Chapter 6 explores the place of Maori culture in the curriculum and the reasons behind related policy changes in the 1930s. Chapter 7 discusses the health role of the Native School in the school and the wider Maori community. Chapter 8 considers the place accorded the Native Schools within the New Zealand education system, the politics involved, and the transfer of Native Schools to the public school system. Chapter 9 describes the long-term significance of the Native Schools system for Maori, both in terms of its role in the structuring of Maori-Pakeha relations and the insights it offers for addressing educational problems facing Maori today. Appendices present a Maori glossary, the 1880 Native Schools Code, qualifications of Native School teachers, statistics on Maori health in the 1930s, and research procedures. (Contains 187 references, notes, an index, and photographs.) (TD)