WAI 45 THE MURIWHENUA SOUTH AND AHIPARA PURCHASES A Report to the Waitangi Tribunal by R.P. Boast MURIWHENUA SOUTH AND AHIPARA PURCHASES Introductory letter to Waitangi Tribunal i l. INTRODUCTION 1 2. OLD LAND CLAIMS BLOCKS 3 3 . THE SALE OF MURIWHENUA SOUTH 7 4. THE BOUNDARIES OF THE MURIWHENUA SOUTH PURCHASE 16 A. Introduction 16 B. The Northern Boundary 17 C. The Western Boundary 26 D. The Southern Boundary 27 E. The East~rn Boundary 28 5. THE PURCHASE OF THE AHIPARA BLOCK 30 6 . LAKE TANGONGE 34 10 March 1992 Waitangi Tribunal Division Department of Justice WELLINGTON YOUR REF.: Mr Rigby Dear Sir REPORT ON MURIWHENUAjAHIPARA PURCHASES When this report was filed with the Waitangi Tribunal in July last year, I had not had an opportunity to proofread it or to make a number of alterations and corrections I had intended to make. This meant that the report was embarrassingly full of typographical errors, and the text of a number of paragraphs had to be departed from when the report was read out in evidence at the Muriwhenua Lands July hearing. I have now re-typed the entire report myself, and wish this to be formally entered on the record of documents as the final text of my report. Mostly it has been a correction of the original draft, but a number of sections have been re-written. I draw particular attention to paras. 4.17 and 5.4, which deal with the indications of the coastal boundaries on the Muriwhenua South and Ahipara block plans. Here the text conforms with my comments on the plans when I gave my oral evidence. At the time when the first draft was prepared, the copies of the plans I had to work with did not describe the coastal boundaries very clearly; clearer copies of the plans became available to me later. I have not altered the text in any other significant respect, and I have not attempted to modify it as a response to questions asked of me by counselor the Tribunal members during the course of the hearing. The text is essentially what I would have wished to file in the first place. R P Boast IN THE WAITANGI TRIBUNAL WAI 45 IN THE HATTER of the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 IN THE HATTER of claims by THE HON. HATIU RATA and others RBPORTOHMURIIHBIUASOUTH,NfD MIPMA PURCHMIS 1 . INTRODUCTION 1.1 THIS report was commissioned after the March 1991 hearing of this Tribunal. That hearing was concerned with Ninety Hile Beach (Te Wharo Oneroa a Tohe). In the evidence I gave at that hearing I pointed out that although the Court of Appeal in In re Ninety Mile Beach (1963] NZLR 461 placed primary weight on the supposition that investigation of title by the Native Land Court would extinguish title to the foreshore, this - even supposing that it was correct - had little relevance to the legal history of Ninety Hile Beach. Only two of the principal blocks of the abutting on the beach, the Parengarenga and Ahipara Papatipu blocks, were ever investigated by the Native Land Court (the MB references are (1896) 17 Northern HB 67-215, 192-3 (Ooc 05, doc 16, 385-531), and (1909) 43 Northern HB 185, [Ooc 05, doc 19, 637-700). These two blocks are at the northern and southern ends of Ninety Hile-Beach/Te Wharo Oneroa a Tohe. In between lie the Huriwhenua South and Ahipara blocks as well as two Old Lands claims purchases, Otaki and Oklore. 1.2. One purpose of this report being commissioned was simply to clarify the position regarding the history and boundaries of these blocks as much as possible. The other purpose was to discover what, if any, light this material might throw on the question of the parties' intentions concerning the foreshore. A few points should be made about the latter aspiration. The surviving documentary evidence is actually quite sparse. Even if it were comprehensive, it still would not account for the whole story. Just as relevant would be the historical evidence about the behaviour of the parties after the transactions. Oral evidence as to Maori cultural aspects is important too. The second preliminary point I would emphasise is that the underlying issues are quite fundamental and are the cause of much disagreement. The principal underlying issue is the mana moana/manawhenua question. In Maori eyes, were property interests in the sea and its resources connected with ownership of coastal land or was the foreshore simply perceived as a separate resource? What assumptions could have governed a "sale" of a coastal block in the eyes of Maori vendors in the 1850s? Although I can raise the issue I do not feel qualified or able to fully resolve it - to do so requires expertise in the disciplines of Maori stUdies and anthropology as much as law and history. -2- 1.3. Since commencing research on this report I have learned that there al has been a sustained enquiry into an aspect of the boundaries of the Muriwhenua South block. This was concerned not with the problematic southwest corner of the block but with its ~~~~~ corner, bounding on the Parengarenga block and t shore of Great Exhibition at a point known as Wairahi (named after the Wairahi stream which drains the Wairahi swamp and Lake Taeore, and into which the Ngataenga or Ngatahinga Stream flows). On this boundary the documentation happens to be quite full and we are fortunate to have a detailed report by Judge ck dated 27 October 1933 [Annexure 4(c»). This report has some useful information relative to the sale of the Muriwhenua South Block; but although interesting in itself the Wairahi investigation does not assist with foreshore questions. 1.4. The remainder of this report is divided into the following sections: 2.0 Old Land Claims blocks; 3.0 The sa of the Muriwhenua South block; 4.0 The boundaries of the Muriwhenua South purchase: A. Introduction B. The northern boundary C. The western boundary D. The southern boundary E. The eastern boundary; 5.0 The purchase of the Ahipara block; 6.0 Lake Tangonge; 7.0 Te Wharo Oneroa a Tohe - a supplementary note. 2.1. The two OLC blocks which have a frontage on the West Coast are the Okiore and Otaki blocks. The Okiore transaction of 12 October 1839 involved Nopera Panakareao and Samuel H Ford. The Otaki transaction involved Henry Southee and was concluded between Southee and Panakareao on 17 December 1839. [For location, see Annexure 1. The two deeds are reprinted in Turton1s Purchases, vol i, 39 and 54-55, in Wai-45 Document Bank B20, Okiore 234-5; Otaki 245-6. The OLC references are 159, 300E; 875-7, 364- B.l 2.2. boundaries of the Okiore transaction are described (using the text printed in Turton) as follows:- Lo! the boundaries these. That of the East commences on the -3- the boundary of Mr Matthews, this in keeping with the Pa Tututarakihi beginning at the Water of Okiore, otherwise Wangatane, along the side of which it goes on till it joins the boundary of Richard Matthews at Te Awanui, to the landing place also of the Church Missionaries. Lo! Te Kokopu is not gone; let that place be reserved for its people. The projecting point of land beyond the village in size ten acres is enclosed within. Lo! thence proceed onward to Te Waiakainga, crossing over proceed even to Te Karamu on the Western Coast at Te Tupehau the endi Lo! this is the boundary to the South. Lol proceed onwards by Te Tupehau unto Te Taupururua. Lo! this is that of the Western boundary. Breaking off there proceed hitherwards unto the inner water Te Tangonge, arriving at (or by) Waihou until you join the water of Kaitaia thence running on one side of Ohotu even unto Waiokai to that part of the boundary of Mr Matthews, proceeding thence straight on the bearing of Tututarakihi the beginning the boundary. This is the boundary of the South. Lo! for the Church missionaries and these others the cart road to Te Awanui according to its breadth; so also fifty yards square as a landing place for the things of the Church missionaries. Lo! the Natives are to be permitted to cultivate along the banks of the Awanui river from one generation to another. [text in Wai-45 Document Bank, B32, 235] The Maori xt reads: Na, ko nga kaha enei. Ko to te Ita ka timata i te kaha 0 to te Matiu ko ia ia kei te tikanga 0 te Pa 0 Tututarakihi e timata ana i te Wai 0 Okiore ara Wangatane, ka rere tahatahi tonu a ka tutaki ki to Reihana Matiu kaha i te Awanui, ko to te Hahi Mihanere taurangi hoki. Na, ko te Kokopu kihai riro, Kia tapu taua wahi mo ono tangata. Engari ko te pito 0 te kokorutanga i waho atu 0 te Pa kotahi tekau Ekara te nui i kohia ki roto. Na ka rere tonu ano i konei tae noa ki Waikainga. Ka witi atu ka rere a te Karamu ra ano i te tuaauru kei te Tupehau te mutunga maio Na , ko te kaha ki te Hauta tenei. Na , ka ahu tonu atu ano ra te Tupehau tae noa ki te Taupururua. Na , ko to te Weta kaha tenei. Ka wawati i reira, ka ahu mai ki te Wai wakaroto 0 te Tangonge. Ka puta ki te Waihou , hono noa ki te wai nui 0 Kaitaia rere tonu atu tahatahi 0 Ohotu tae noa ki Waiokai ki te kaha 0 te Matiu ka ahu atu tika tonu ki te ritenga 0 Tututaraklhl te timatanga 0 kaha.