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On 22 October 1849, the first formal statement of Ngāi Tahu grievances against the Crown regarding the South Island land purchases was made by the Ngāi Tahu rangatira, Matiaha Tiramōrehu. Just five years had passed since the first major purchase of Ngāi Tahu land at Otago, and only one since the signing of Kemp’s Deed…
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The passage of the Ngai Tahu Claim Settlement into law on 29 September 1998, was an historic and significant point in the long history of Ngai Tahu. As I stood there in Parliament while our people sang I thought of Tūhawaiki’s famous speech at the Ōtākou purchase in 1844 when he spoke of being surrounded by the memories of his own generation rather than those of ancient times.
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On this day in 1986 the Ngaitahu Maori Trust Board, in the name of Henare Rakiihia Tau, lodged the Ngāi Tahu Claim with the Waitangi Tribunal. Although the Waitangi Tribunal was established in 1975 the Tribunal were only able to investigate breaches made by the Crown in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi that occurred…
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Today marks the 30th anniversary of the first Waitangi Tribunal Hearing into the Ngāi Tahu Claim. On 17 August 1987, the Waitangi Tribunal commenced its first hearing into the Ngāi Tahu Claim. The hearing began with a pōwhiri at Tuahiwi Marae, before moving the next day to Rangiora High School for the remainder of the…
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The Banks Peninsula claims consisted of three ‘purchases’ by the Crown (Port Cooper 1849, Port Levy 1849, and Akaroa 1856). The background against which these three Deeds were signed is complicated. The French claimed to have purchased the land from Ngāi Tahu by way of two deeds of sale in 1838 and 1840. At the…
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The Otago Deed of Purchase, 31 July 1844, is the oldest of the official Ngāi Tahu land purchase deeds. It conveyed land to the New Zealand Company for the Scottish settlement of New Edinburgh, later renamed Otago. The Deed was signed by 23 Māori signatories and two ‘proxies’ and saw Ngāi Tahu sell over 400,000…
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The Rakiura (Stewart Island) Deed of Purchase was signed at Awarua (Bluff) on 29 June, 1864 by 34 Ngāi Tahu signatories. It gave ownership of Rakiura to the Queen, together with “all the large islands and all the small islands adjacent.” This was the last of the major land purchases in Te Waipounamu. The price…
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