Washday at the Pa

Washday at the Pa is a New Zealand illustrated children's book by photographer Ans Westra that describes a day in the lives of a rural Māori family. The term pā refers to a type of traditional settlement. The book was first published by the government Department of Education in 1964 and distributed to primary schools as a bulletin.
The bulletin was quickly recalled following criticism that its depictions of the poor, rural family were harmful to Māori, especially as the primary audience was young children. This decision led to public and academic discussion over censorship in the following decades.
Soon after being recalled from schools, the book was reprinted privately, this time for adults, on the artistic merits of Westra's photography. This new edition featured additional images not included in the short children's book, and some text was revised.
A third edition was released in 2011, with new images from Westra's meeting again with the family in 1998.

Publication, withdrawal and republication

Westra visited with and photographed rural Māori throughout the country for five months, and, in 1964, Washday at the Pa was published as a school bulletin by the school publications section of the Department of Education. The bulletin was printed by the government printer, and 38,000 copies were distributed to primary school classrooms throughout New Zealand for use in standards two to five. Editors James K. Baxter and Alistair Campbell of the School Publications had expressed "doubts about the acceptability of the photographs to Māori" prior to publication, but the book was published anyway.

Publications

Washday at the Pa by Ans Westra, in particular the enclosed publisher's note.Washday at the Pa by Ans Westra. by Ans Westra and Mark Amery