OFFICIAL Wai 898 #A71 Aspects of Rohe Potae Political Engagement, 1886 to 1913 Dr Helen Robinson and Dr Paul Christoffel A report commissioned by the Waitangi Tribunal for the Te Rohe Potae (Wai 898) district inquiry August 2011 RECEIVED Waitangi Tribunal 31 Aug 2011 Ministry of Justice WELLINGTON Authors Dr Paul John Christoffel has been a Research Analyst/Inquiry Facilitator at the Waitangi Tribunal Unit since December 2006. He has a PhD in New Zealand history from Victoria University of Wellington and 18 years experience in policy and research in various government departments. His previous report for the Tribunal was entitled ‘The Provision of Education Services to Maori in Te Rohe Potae, 1840 – 2010’ (Wai 898, document A27). Dr Helen Robinson has been a Research Analyst/Inquiry Facilitator at the Waitangi Tribunal Unit since April 2009 and has a PhD in history from the University of Auckland. She has published articles in academic journals in New Zealand and overseas, the most recent being ‘Simple Nullity or Birth of Law and Order? The Treaty of Waitangi in Legal and Historiographical Discourse from 1877 to 1970’ in the December 2010 issue of the New Zealand Universities Law Review. Her previous report for the Tribunal was ‘Te Taha Tinana: Maori Health and the Crown in Te Rohe Potae Inquiry District, 1840 to 1990’ (Wai 898, document A31). i Contents Authors i Contents ii List of maps v List of graphs v List of figures v Introduction 1 The approach taken 2 Chapter structure 3 Claims and sources 4 A note on geographical terminology 5 Chapter 1: Background: 1882 to 1885 7 A thawing in the Crown-Kingitanga relationship 8 A new approach to negotiations 10 The Land Court agreement of late 1883 14 The events of 1884 17 Ballance visits the Rohe Potae in 1885 21 The railway is agreed to 26 Summary 29 Chapter 2: Nineteenth Century Land Loss 31 Objectives of Rohe Potae leaders and the government by 1886 32 The Tauponuiatia Native Land Court application 35 Crown pre-emption in the Rohe Potae 39 Crown purchase of Rohe Potae Lands to 1900 43 A temporary slowdown in purchasing 49 Conclusions 50 Chapter 3: Prophets and Political Movements in the Rohe Potae 53 The Kingitanga 55 Te Mahuki 62 Te Kere 68 Te Kooti 71 Pao Miere 72 The Kotahitanga 72 ii Conclusions 75 Chapter 4: Maori Representation in Parliament from 1885 77 Background 77 Ballance’s undertaking to Te Rohe Potae Maori 81 Developments after Ballance’s 1885 tour 82 Maori get fairer representation 85 The effects of the 1887 reforms 88 Electoral changes 1887 to 1913 91 Other electoral issues 93 Conclusions 95 Chapter 5: The Kawhia Committee 97 Background to the Native Committees Act 1883 98 The Native Committees Act 1883 100 The Kawhia Committee in operation 104 Gold prospecting 112 The Kawhia Committee, the Government, and the Kingitanga 115 Conclusions 117 Chapter 6: Maori Land Councils and Boards 119 Maori Land Councils and Boards in statements of claim 121 Background to the Maori Lands Administration Act 1900 121 The Maori Lands Administration Act 128 Maori Land Council districts and membership 133 Maori Land Councils in operation 143 Maori Land Councils and Native Townships 149 Legislative change and the demise of the Land Councils 152 Maori Land Boards in the Rohe Potae 162 Conclusions 168 Chapter 7: Maori Councils 171 The Maori Councils Act 172 Council apparatus and membership 177 The Maori Council system in action 187 Council funding 193 The councils fade out 198 Conclusions 200 iii Chapter 8: Rohe Potae Maori and the Liquor Laws 201 Background 202 The Wanganui Proclamation 207 Policing prohibition 208 The 1891 license application 212 Seddon enters the picture 218 The Pakeha influx 220 The ‘sacred compact’ is born 224 Seddon backs down 233 The ‘compact’ ascendant 239 The elusive royal commission 242 Maori opposition to prohibition declines 247 A new version of the ‘compact’ 249 A final attempt 255 Conclusions 259 Chapter 9: Rates 264 Rating in statements of claim 264 Agreements about rating before 1886 265 Rating and Maori land in the Rohe Potae to 1900 267 Rating and Maori land in the Rohe Potae, 1900-1913 273 Conclusions 279 Conclusions 281 General summary 288 Appendix - Direction Commissioning Research 291 Bibliography 294 iv List of maps Map 1: Te Rohe Potae Inquiry District 6 Map 2: Maori Council Districts 181 Map 3: The areas in which liquor sales were prohibited through proclamations issued in 1884 (as amended in 1894) and in 1887 209 Map 4: Local government boundaries in Te Rohe Potae, 1876 and 1910 268 List of graphs Graph 1: Average population per seat (000s), General Elections 1890 - 1943 89 Graph 2: ‘European’ Members of the House of Representatives, elections 1868 – 1925 89 Graph 3: Maori census population as percentage of total population, 1874 – 1926 90 List of figures Figure 1: Designs for the seals of Waikato and Taranaki Maori Councils, the latter of which was adapted to be used by all Maori Councils. The resulting stamp is shown at bottom. 178 Figure 2: The July 1900 leaflet prepared by Alliance secretary Frank Isitt, the first known publication to claim a link between the railway negotiations and the Rohe Potae liquor ban. 227 v Introduction This project is part of the political engagement research theme in the casebook research programme for the Waitangi Tribunal’s Te Rohe Potae (Wai 898) district inquiry. At this inquiry’s third judicial conference in October 2007, it was agreed that political engagement would be a priority project.1 The period covered by this report was originally part of project six, which was to cover political engagement and the Rohe Potae negotiations from the mid 1860s until 1913.2 The project outline, which appears in the Agreed Casebook Research Programme, stated that the report would cover: ...political engagement/autonomy issues between hapu and iwi to the Te Rohe Potae inquiry district and the Crown. This project will provide an overview of high-level political engagement in the immediate post-war period of the 1860s to approximately 1913 and the decline of the Maori Councils.3 The commission was originally assigned to Cathy Marr and Dr Kelly Barclay. However other urgent demands on Ms Marr’s time, and the departure of Dr Barclay from the Tribunal staff, meant that work on the report was delayed, and reconfiguration of the commission became necessary.4 The period from 1886 to 1913 was separated out from the original commission and reassigned to Dr Helen Robinson and Dr Paul Christoffel.5 A copy of this later commission, which commenced on 7 March 2011, is appended to this report.6 Other commissionees have prepared political engagement reports for this inquiry covering the period 1914 onwards.7 Five of the 13 topics covered by the Marr commission were transferred to this report, these being: a) The extent of continuing understandings of Te Rohe Potae pact during this period and what this might mean for continuing political relations with the Crown in its administration of the district. 1 Waitangi Tribunal, Agreed Casebook Research Programme for the Te Rohe Potae District Inquiry, January 2008, Wai 898, doc 6.2.7, p3 2 ibid., p9 3 ibid. 4 Cathy Marr, ‘Te Rohe Potae Political Engagement 1864-1886, Part 1: 1864-1882’, Draft circulated to Te Rohe Potae (Wai 898) district inquiry parties for comment, June 2011, p ix 5 Waitangi Tribunal, Direction Extending Commissioned Research, 20 April 2011, Wai 898, doc 2.3.69 6 Waitangi Tribunal, Direction Commissioning Research, 20 April 2011, Wai 898, doc 2.3.71 7 See Wai 898, docs 2.3.42 and 2.3.70. Also see Jonathan Sarich, ‘An Overview of Political Engagement between Hapu and Iwi of the Te Rohe Potae inquiry district and the Crown, 1914 – c.1939’, A report commissioned by the Waitangi Tribunal for the Te Rohe Potae district inquiry, March 2011, Wai 898, doc A29. 1 b) The operation of Maori committees from the 1870s such as the Kawhia committee. c) District participation in, and support for, 1890s developments in relations with the government, including the nature of support for the Kingitanga, various prophetic movements and the Kotahitanga, and the relationships between these movements in the district. d) The Maori Councils established under the Maori Land Administration Act 1900 as a form of political engagement, the extent to which these provided for forms of local political authority and the fate of the Maori Councils system and Annual General Conferences by 1911. e) The nature of the relationship between the Crown and any hapu and iwi of the district who were not part of the Rohe Potae alliance.8 This commission commenced on 7 March 2011 and will end on 31 August 2011. Because of the brief time available, and the range of subjects to be covered, this report can provide only an overview of the key political engagement issues between Rohe Potae Maori and the Crown in the 1886 to 1913 period. The approach taken Topics b), c), and d) above are covered by specific chapters in this report, while aspects of topics a) and e) are addressed across several individual chapters. The subject matter of the remaining chapters has been determined primarily by the apparent objectives of Rohe Potae leaders in agreeing to lift the aukati in the mid 1880s. These objectives are outlined in chapter 1, which covers events leading up to the start of our period. Discussions between Rohe Potae representatives and the Crown between 1883 and 1885 are particularly relevant in this regard, especially those with Native Minister John Ballance in February 1885.