Manawatū iwi argue 130,000 hectares of land was stolen by the Crown

Thursday, 12 March 2020

Manawatū iwi argue dodgy deals and deceitful officials are to blame for one of New Zealand's biggest land claims.

Three iwi are presenting claims at a Waitangi Tribunal hearing at Hato Pāora College near Feilding this week over the historical purchase of 130,000 hectares of land stretching from Kāpiti Coast to northern Manawatū.

Represented by former High Court judge Sir Taikākurei Durie, the affected iwi are Ngāti Raukawa, Te Reureu and Ngāti Kauwhata. They represent 30,000 descendants affiliated to 23 marae.

They dispute the sale of two blocks of land and allege the Crown later influenced a Native Land Court ruling that supported the deals in 1869.

* Rangitīkei iwi buys former Turakina Māori Girls' College

* Waitangi Tribunal hears Crown influenced Native Land Court**

Ngāti Kauwhata representative Areti Metuamate said iwi were calling the land loss pene raupatu – confiscation by the pen.

The sale deeds looked legitimate, but they were not signed by hapū leaders, who governed the land and were opposed to selling.

Most of the 1700 signatures were linked to Māori people from other regions without any affiliation to the land. It's understood these were gathered at general meetings where the Government had control and could publish outcomes according to its own interpretation.

'The Government knew this, but they didn't care,' Metuamate said.

Sir Eddie Taihakurei Durie, from Te Hono Ki Raukawa, says iwi were defrauded of large blocks of land.

'Instead of land taken by armed conflict, it was through the power of the pen.'

The proportion of iwi land acquired by the Crown spanned from Ōtaki to Kimbolton and was 'probably the highest' anywhere in the North Island.

The sale price was 'grossly unfair' and not paid to the right people.

'The effect of having our land taken by deceit has left us one of the the most landless iwi in New Zealand.'

Financial compensation is sought, along with the restoration of original Māori names for streets, lakes and reserves. Crown land is also expected to be returned to iwi.

In his opening address, Durie told the tribunal the iwi were defrauded, defeated and driven from their land when deals began in 1840.

Dr Monty Soutar is a member of the Waitangi Tribunal and an old boy of Hato Pāora College. During the pōwhiri ceremony he talked about his time at the college.

The Government failed to get consent of each hapū through its senior representatives.

The Native Land Court then backed the Government's purchase in a ruling Durie described as 'contrived and dishonest'.

'The tribunal should expose the decision for what it was, an imposition by the Government on a court that the Government itself had created and appointed,' Durie said.

Hemi Te Peeti welcomes the Waitangi Tribunal to a hearing held at Hato Pāora College, near Feilding.

'For the first time in my 80 years, it is only now that [iwi] have the chance to confront the case that blighted our people's chances of economic success in the new economy. I believe it was one of the greatest injustices inflicted on Māori people.'

It has been 150 years since the court decision, 45 years since the tribunal was founded and 30 years since the iwi claim was filed.

Durie said he had witnessed the 'parlous state' of iwi and the pain elders felt that their land, language, marae and identity was on the verge of being lost forever.

The hearing, before Judge Caren Fox, is the first of several across Manawatū and Horowhenua over the next three years.