The historical grievances of our iwi and hapu relate to:
- · The operation of the Native Land Court
- · 19th Century land purchases by the Crown
- · Maori land administration in the 20th Century
- · Public works and scenery preservation.
Hundreds of thousands of hectares of Maori land was taken through Crown processes. The impact of the Crown’s land takings caused severe economic, social and cultural deprivation for our people and severely affected potential economic growth that could have reflected in more positive statistics today.
Our affiliate Te Arawa iwi/hapu traditionally operated as independent entities, coming together when prompted by common interests. From the 1830s we were trading with Pakeha and had missionaries in our rohe. By the late 1860s, few Pakeha had settled in the area, and we still held almost all of our land in customary title.
Native Land Court
The Crown introduced the Native Land Court (the Court) into the central North Island in 1867. Its purpose was to extinguish native title to land and turn it into title derived from the Crown.
Some of our people engaged with the Court to gain secure titles to assist with the leasing of land and to secure their lands against claims from other groups. Others objected to the Court. The Government received complaints about the cost of hearings, survey charges and applications initiated without the consent of other owners.
Alienation of Land
From 1873 the Crown wanted to encourage Pakeha settlement in the central North Island and focused on the purchase of Maori land to achieve this. The Crown knew that some Maori resisted the sale of land and initially proposed to lease land. In most cases however, it opened negotiations before the Court had determined owners. The Crown tried to secure land by making preliminary agreements with, and paying deposits to, sections of “recognised owners”. In some cases this bound the recipients into negotiations before the purchase price had been agreed. The Crown generally did not pay rent on land it negotiated to lease until title had been determined.
By August 1874 the Crown had opened, but not completed, lease negotiations for almost 650,000 acres and purchase negotiations for almost 400,000 acres of land within the Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa rohe.
Between 1873 and 1877 the Crown suspended the operation of the Court over much of the land in which our people had interests, delaying the finalising of most negotiations. The Crown’s attempts to lease or purchase land brought a variety of responses. Some entered negotiations because they wanted to derive an income from their land. Others expressed unhappiness at the Crown’s approach and opposed negotiations. Some sought to maintain tribal control over land through tribal komiti (committees).
In the 1880s the Court adjudicated over much land in the area, including many of the blocks the Crown had brought under negotiation in the 1870s. Land was generally awarded to individual interests and the Crown could partition out the interests it had purchased from owners without gaining the agreement of other owners of the land. Many of our people were unable to attend Court hearings as these were often held a long way from their kainga (homes) and it was simply too costly.
For most of the period from the 1870s to the 1890s the Crown gained a monopoly by using legislative provisions and proclamations to stop private parties from negotiating for land over which it was negotiating.
The combined effect of these actions meant that the Crown failed to actively protect the interests of the iwi and hapu of Te Arawa in the land they wished to retain.
Development Schemes
By the late 1920s many Maori owned small, fragmented and uneconomic interests in a number of blocks throughout their rohe as a result of individualisation and partition of land interests. The Crown attempted to resolve this by introducing consolidation schemes and providing funds for development schemes to utilise land. Landowners’ rights were significantly affected while their land was tied up in development schemes. In a bid to survive, many of our people placed land into development schemes between 1929 and the mid-1980s. By the early 1990s most scheme lands in the Rotorua area had been released from Crown control. Some schemes were successful while others struggled to fulfil expectations.
Public Works Legislation
The Crown continued to acquire our land through public works and scenery preservation legislation. In the 19th Century land was compulsorily acquired for public works purposes including roading and railways. In the 20th Century land was taken for internal communications, electricity generation, scenic reserves, forest plantation and for an aerodrome.
Compensation was generally paid for the taking of lands; however, some lands were used for roading purposes without compensation. Over time, through purchases and public works takings, we lost ownership of some important geothermal lands and wahi tapu.
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