'*62... THE AHURIRI BLOCK~,",\O . , " , '.' ,": . \: " " ..-.~ '" .. ~r' " i: . I .. , . : ·r· ," i ! ~'. ~'I • ," ... ", ", " ,: ~,: ;" .. ~~ 'J .:. The tekoteko Tarewai at the entrance to Manahau meeting house, Wharerangi - 1981 MAORI CUSTOMARY INTERESTS Patrick Parsons May 1997, I~ ~I I ! . ~u . , ( .~ . ~. \ . I· ( ( \ ! .1 73 Poraiti Road, R.D.2,- Napier. 3 March, 1998. Waitangi Tribunal, Wellington. Kia Ora Dean, Firstly many thanks for the WAI 400 reports you sent me last month. They have now been added to my growing reference library and while I seldom read them from cover to cover there are often sections containing information I ha,ve never seen before and which shed light on events that have caused me to wonder in the past. Enclosed is the definitive copy of my WAI 400 Maori customary interests in the Ahuriri Block report. Apart from eliminating spelling mistakes I have amended references 2 and 3 which couldn't be cross­ checked until Napier Minute Bk 14 returned from National Archives where it had lain since 1995 or 1996. ( I am currently examining coastal boundaries in this area which have reference to jurisdiction over fishing rights. I have been going through old missionary records which contain some fascinating material and I'm often in danger of being sidetracked as you can imagine. I hope this report reaches you in one piece. I have left it unbound so it can be reproduced. Regards, /y/~. MAORI CUSTOMARY RIGHTS IN THE AHURIRI BLOCK. by PATRICK PARSONS. -.' '~~ ".j'(. .. (I . "\: .. • I. -~••. CONTENTS PAGE Introduction 1 Boundaries of the Purchase 1 Direction commissioning research 2 Statement on Maori customary rights 2 Existing research relating to the block 4 Tangatawhenua of the Ahuriri district 6 Ngati VVhatuEnamoa 6 NgatiAwa 8 Maruiwi 9 Te Koaupari 11 The Ngati Kahungunu invasion 14 The siege of Otatara 19 Placement of Taraia's followers 21 Impact of the invasion on the tangatawhenua 21 Rangituehu's legacy 25 , ... ,\ Ngati Mahu 27 \, Disputes among the progeny of Rakaihikuroa 28 T e VVhatuiapiti asserts his authority 34 Taraia's grandchildren 36 Hikawera II acquires the mana of Heretaunga 38 The sons of Rangitaumaha 40 Taraia II displaces Ngati Ruapirau 41 Ngai Tawhao 45 The emergence ofNgati Hinepare 53 The children of Hikateko and Huakirangi 57 Influence of Hikawera II 57 Tuku's gift 65 Ngati Hinepare contest Tuku's gift 67 Hawea's presence 72 Upokohina pa and the gift of Te Amohia 74 Aftermath of the wounding of Hawea 75 N gati Hinepare occupy Puketapu 78 Ngati Hinepare retain possession 79 Tangi Te Rum's raid on Heretaunga 79 Te Puketapu 85 C Te Tho 0 Te Rei 87 Background to Te Pakake 89 Te Pakake 91 Occupation by outsiders 94 Kiliuku 98 Omakukara 100 Heretaunga immediately prior to the Treaty 102 The Treaty ofWaitangi and the missionaries 104 Te Poraiti and Wharerangi 107 Kapemaihi and Petane 108 Awatoto 110 Land Commissioners in Hawke's Bay 111 Maori population at this period 115 Hapu interests within the Ahuriri Purchase 116 Ngati Hinepare 117 N gati Hinepare areas of influence 119 Ngati Hineuru 120 Ngati Hineuru's areas of influence 121 Ngati Mahu 121 Ngati Matepu 122 Ngati Matepu's areas of influence 124 Ngati Ngarengare 124 Ngati Pahauwera 126 Ngati Parau 132 Interests of N gati Parau 137 Ngai Te Ruruku 138 Interests ofNgai Te Ruruku 139 Ngai Tawhao 139 N gai Tawhao areas of influence 143 Ngati Tu 143 Ngati Tu areas of influence. 145 Maori Leadership in Hawke's Bay 1840-1865 147 , - Distribution of the other hapu of Ahuriri- 1845 149 Degree of accord amongst chiefs in the lead-up to the Ahuriri Purchase 153 Ongoing benefits implicit in the Deed of Sale 155 1 WAI 400: AHURIRI PURCHASE. MAORI CUSTOMARY RIGHTS WITHIN THE AHURIRI PURCHASE BOUNDARIES. INTRODUCTION. The Ahuriri Block, estimated to contain 265,000 acres, was purchased from the Maori of the Ahuriri district by Doanald McLean, Crown Commissioner, on Monday, 17 November, 1851. The WAI 400 Waitangi . Tribunal Claim concerns the land within the boundaries of this purchase and the hapu or sub-tribes who exercised customary rights to it. BOUNDARIES OF THE PURCHASE. The following boundaries are quoted from Turton's Deeds:- 'The boundaries of the land as agreed upon by ourselves at our first meetings for negotiation with Mr. McLean are these: Commencing at the place where the Tutaekuri and Puremu Rivers discharge themselves into the sea, the boundary runs in the Puremu to Tamahinu on reaching which place it runs in the Tutaekuri to Ohakau when it leaves the Tutaekuri and proceeds along the survey line to Tareha's post at Umukiwi and along the survey line of Mr. Park the surveyor and ourselves to Kohurau on reaching which place it proceeds to the confluence of the Waiharakeke and Ngaruroro rivers thence the boundary runs along the ridge ofTe Kaweka to the confluence of the Mangatutu and Mohaka Rivers and on in the course of the Mohaka to Mangowhata and on in the Mangowhata Stream to the Taupo road and along the said road to Titiokura and along the said road to Kaiwhaka and in the course of the Kaiwhaka to Opotamanui thence to Waiohinganga to Whanganui-o-rotu thence to our reserve at Te Niho thence to Te Rere-o-tawaki where our reserve ends, the boundary continues thence to Te Puka and on to the Puremu River.' 1 'At former meetings for negotiation between ourselves and Messrs. McLean and Park at Te Awapuni we agreed to entirely give up all the 1 Turton's Deeds, page 491. 2 stony spit from Ruahoru to Ahuriri, we also agreed entirely to give up Mataruahou, Pukemokimoki being the only portion of Mataruahou reserved for ourselves, together with the small piece of land where the children and family of Tareha are buried during such time as it remains unoccupied by the Europeans.' DIRECTION COMMISSIONING RESEARCH. The Direction Commissioning Research is contained in a communication from the Waitangi Tribunal dated 26 July, 1996. The job description appears under the heading l(c) and reads:- 'A customary overview report of the area covered by the 1851 Ahuriri purchase which includes mana whenua information and identifies all the hapu with interests in the Ahuriri area. This report should also detail any specific hapu or whanau interests in the Ahuriri area.' STATEMENT ON MAORI CUSTOMARY RIGHTS. Maori customary rights may be defined as the code which Maori society observed down through the ages and which existed at the time of European colonisation. Customary rights were inherited at birth and relinquished at death. For the benefit of the reader who may be unfamiliar with Maori custom it is appropriate to record here guidance given by authorities last century which may shed light on some of the events recorded in this report. 1. Grounds of customary rights. Te Meihana Takihi enjoyed a reputation as an authority on Maori custom. He gave evidence in the Omahu Hearing in August, 1889. In his introduction Te Meihana enumerates his grounds of claim. 'My name is Te Meihana Takihi. I live at Pakowhai outside of the block before the Court. I know the block before the Court, Omahu. I have a right to it under the hapus Ngati Hawea, Ngati Hinetahu, Ngati Kautere. Myself and my hapus claim by:- Ancestry Permanent occupation Gift Ringakaha (Bravery) \ ) Conquest , " Mana Bravery (To a) 3 2. Mana and Occupation. Mana refers to the authority possessed by a chief or a hapu over people or land. Occupation is expressed in terms of'ahi ka' or long-burning fires on the land. Of the rights quoted above by Ie Memana, mana and occupation were the most frequently debated in the Native Land Court. The following extract taken from the Porangahau Hearing of 1887 represents the understanding of the chief Henare Matua of Porangahau. 'All the people from Heretaunga to Wairarapa are descendants of Whatuiapiti. That ancestor's mana rests on all his descendants equally, individually, and not on a few only. But so far as bringing up that mana as giving right to land, it is false. There are different descendants at Heretaunga who are in blocks through ancestry and occupation and bring up that mana as to their chieftainship. This mana has never been brought up as giving right to land. None of us, though possessing this mana, but having no occupation, have attempted to be admitted into the blocks at Heretaunga.' 2 Hamana Iiakiwai, a chief of Wairoa, whose mother was raised in Heretaunga but married away explains why he makes no claim on the Porangahau block. 'Never heard that Ie Huki had any mana over this land so as to place N garangiwhakaupoko as he did. This latter had no mana. I admitted yesterday that I had no right to this land. I as a descendant of Whatuiapiti lost my right to this land because I lived at the Wairoa. Others of his descendants are living in the district. If I had occupied the land I should have had a right. It is those who occupy and not merely visit that are entitled.' 3 3. Consequences of abandoning occupation. Customary rights possessed by a woman were affected if she married away from her own territory and joined her husband's people. The following statement occurs in the summary of Judge Wilson and his assessor Karaka Iarawhiti and relates to the Owhaoko Hearing of 1887. 'The claim made by Renata through the woman Punakiao and 2Porangahau Hearing, 1887. Napier Minute Bk 14, page 40. Ev. Henare Matua. 3 Porangahau Hearing, 1886. Napier Minute Bk 11, page 261. Ev. Hamana Tiakiwai. 4 Honomokai, her son, is disallowed because the right, if any, of Punakiao to land at Owhaoko was forfeited by her marriage with Taraia 11.