Taihape: Rangitikei ki Rangipo Inquiry District Technical Research Scoping Report HistoryWorks Bruce Stirling and Evald Subasic August 2010 A Report Commissioned by the Crown Forestry Rental Trust Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1. The Taihape District Claims.......................................................................................... 3 Geographical Spread of Claims........................................................................................ 4 Tribal Grouping of Claims ............................................................................................... 5 Other Iwi Claims ........................................................................................................... 6 Grouping of Claims by Key Issues .................................................................................. 6 2. The Early History of the Taihape Inquiry District ........................................................ 9 The Early Colonial Period.............................................................................................. 22 3. Pre-1900 Land Dealings and Settlement ..................................................................... 28 Early Crown Land Purchases in Hawke’s Bay............................................................ 28 Early Crown Purchases in Rangitikei.......................................................................... 36 The Native Land Court................................................................................................... 40 Crown Purchasing of Native Land Court Blocks to 1900.............................................. 51 Waitapu Boundary Issues............................................................................................... 54 Lands in the South of the Taihape District..................................................................... 56 Otamakapua................................................................................................................. 56 Other blocks in the southern Taihape district.............................................................. 62 Lands in the Centre and North of the Taihape District .................................................. 64 Owhaoko and Oruamatua-Kaimanawa Blocks............................................................ 67 Mangaohane Block Litigation and the Destruction of Pokopoko ............................... 74 The Centre of the Taihape District: Awarua and the Main Trunk Railway Line ........ 82 A Note on Maori Census Data ....................................................................................... 86 4. Twentieth Century Land Issues................................................................................... 93 Utiku/Potaka Native Township, 1903-1977................................................................... 97 Turangarere Native Township, 1907-2002 .................................................................... 98 Otumore ....................................................................................................................... 101 Owhaoko: Gifting and Return...................................................................................... 104 The Taihape Native Land Development ‘Scheme’ ...................................................... 110 Public Works and Other Compulsory Takings ............................................................ 113 Scenery Reserves....................................................................................................... 115 Waiouru Defence Lands............................................................................................ 118 5. Environmental Issues and Management of Natural Resources ................................. 122 Rangitikei River ........................................................................................................... 122 Moawhango Dam......................................................................................................... 123 Kaimanawa Wild Horses.............................................................................................. 128 6. Research Recommendations...................................................................................... 130 Research Project 1: Tribal Landscape – Taihape Inquiry District, c.1800–c.1900...... 130 Research Project 2: Maori Land and Politics, c.1840–1900 ........................................ 132 Research Project 3: Twentieth Century Maori Land Issues......................................... 135 Research Project 4: Public Works and Other Compulsory Takings............................. 139 Research Project 5: Environmental Impacts and Resource Management.................... 142 Research Project 6: Cultural and Economic Impacts, c.1860–2006 ............................ 147 Project 6a – Mana Wahine Claim (Wai 2091) ............................................................. 151 Bibliography........................................................................................................................ 153 Books and Articles ....................................................................................................... 153 Unpublished Research.................................................................................................. 155 Published Primary Sources .......................................................................................... 156 Archives New Zealand................................................................................................. 157 Supplementary List of Awarua Files............................................................................ 166 Manuscripts.................................................................................................................. 178 Appendix 1: Statements of Claim........................................................................................ 180 Appendix 2: Native Land Court Title Investigations .......................................................... 183 List of Maps Map 1: Key Geographic Features of the Taihape Inquiry District .......................................... 23 Map 2: Master Blocks in the Taihape Inquiry District............................................................ 29 Map 3: The Shrinking Maori Land Base in the Taihape Inquiry District ............................... 96 Map 4: Public Works Issues in the Taihape Inquiry District................................................. 114 Introduction The Taihape: Rangitikei ki Rangipo Inquiry District extends from the Kaimanawa ranges in the north to the Taraketi block (near Rata) in the south, being bounded in the west by the Desert Road section of State Highway 1, and the Hautapu, Mangapapa, and Turakina rivers, and in the east by the Ruahine and Kaweka ranges. (See map on page 23) The terms of reference for this project identified three key tasks: • Identify relevant statements of claim for the Taihape: Rangitikei ki Rangipo Inquiry District and conduct a claims analysis; • Identify and review extant research relevant to claims in the district, and; • Make recommendations as to the most effective and efficient way of organising technical research for the district inquiry Related research assistance projects for the district include newspaper research, Crown and private land purchases research, Native/Maori Land Court minute books and block records research, and te reo Maori language sources research. This scoping report has been structured in six sections, but these are not organised to directly reflect the project brief on a step by step basis (where, for instance, one section would deal with the statements of claim, the next would discuss existing research, the next would discuss further research required, and so on). Instead, the focus for Sections 2 to 5, as set out below, is on presenting the key historical issues and themes in a broad narrative, supplemented with any relevant detail that has been gleaned from existing research or readily available sources. This approach is in part because there is not a great deal to discuss in a stand-alone section when it comes to the existing published and unpublished research relating to the Taihape inquiry district, as there is so little relevant existing research. What is instead available is very useful existing research concerning areas adjacent to Taihape, some of which is relevant to Taihape historical issues. The existing research is thus discussed where it specifically relates to the various key historical themes and issues outlined in the broad historical narrative of sections 2 to 5. 1 Section 1 analyses the statements of claim relating to the Taihape inquiry district. These are not numerous and are not unduly detailed, although some contain useful block-specific and issue-specific detail that has proved helpful. Section 2 briefly outlines some key aspects of the early history of the district leading up to the early colonial period. At this stage it should be observed that a major hindrance to the historical aspects of this scoping report (Sections 2 to 5) is the dearth of existing historical writing relating to the district, both in terms of published sources and unpublished research. A few matters have been addressed in research commissioned for adjacent inquiry districts, but not generally in great detail or in a way focused on the district itself. Section 3 looks at early land dealings and settlement