(1) The Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) was signed in 1840. The terms of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) in English and Māori are set out in Schedule 1 of the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975:
(2) Recitals (3) to (22) of this Preamble present, in summary form, the historical account set out in the deed of settlement entered into by Ngāti Pāhauwera and the Crown:
Background
(3) The Ngāti Pahauwera confederation of hapū descend from ancestors who maintained long occupation (noho tūturu/ahi-kā-roa) and established the take whenua (rights to the land) and exclusive and other customary rights that have formed the basis of the Iwi tino rangatiratanga over the lands. Collectively, Ngāti Pāhauwera exercised customary interests in northern Hawke’s Bay. Their traditional boundary extended inland from the coast north of the Waihua River across to the Waiau River and followed its course to the headwaters in the Huiarau Ranges. From there the boundary extended across to Tātarakina (Te Haroto) and on to Puketītiri and from there across to Te Wai o Hinganga (Esk River) and followed its course to the sea:
Pre-1865 transactions
(4) In 1851, the Crown sought to purchase land in the Hawke’s Bay in response to growing settler interest. A Ngāti Pāhauwera chief, Paora Rerepu, heard Crown assurances about material benefits of land transactions and expressed a willingness to enter negotiations with the Crown:
(5) The Crown acquired a large block of land between the Mohaka and Waikari rivers from Ngāti Pāhauwera in 1851. The Mohaka block included some of the more productive lands in the Ngāti Pāhauwera rohe. The price paid for the block reflected Crown policy to pay low prices for Māori land as a contribution towards the cost of developing the new colony. It also reflected an anticipation that economic opportunities for Māori would soon flow from proximity to European settlement. However, these benefits did not materialise:
(6) Despite the 87 500 acre Mohaka block including pā, kāinga, cultivation sites, and important food gathering areas, the Crown reserved only 100 acres at Te Heru o Tūreia for the future use of Ngāti Pāhauwera. Te Heru o Tūreia was of paramount importance as a kāinga, mahinga kai, and the burial place of high-ranking Ngāti Pāhauwera ancestors, including Te Kahu o Te Rangi. The Crown nonetheless proceeded to acquire the reserve in 1859 from only a few of those involved in the original transaction:
(7) The Mohaka transaction drew numerous petitions and other correspondence from Ngāti Pāhauwera in the late 19th and over the 20th century in relation to the purchase price, the sale of the reserve, and boundary issues:
(8) In 1864, the Crown purchased the 21 000 acre Waihua block in the northern part of the Ngāti Pāhauwera rohe. This transaction confirmed an alliance between the Crown and Ngāti Pāhauwera in the lead up to the outbreak of war. No reserves were made for Ngāti Pāhauwera as a group. The surveyed boundary of the Waihua block was not the same as the boundary agreed in the purchase deed. As a result, an additional 1 152 acres was incorrectly included in the Waihua block. Although Ngāti Pāhauwera complained about this the Crown did not return the 1 152 acres or purchase the additional land from Ngāti Pāhauwera. Instead, the land was sold into private ownership:
War
(9) Ngāti Pāhauwera gave political support and substantial military assistance to the Crown after war broke out on the East Coast in 1865. Following a limited military conflict between Crown forces and Pai Mārire in the Napier area in 1866, the Crown confiscated all Māori land between the Waikari and Esk Rivers. This included lands in which Ngāti Pāhauwera held interests, even though they were not considered by the Crown to have been “rebels”:
(10) Ngāti Pāhauwera were amongst those who took up arms alongside the Crown to pursue Te Kooti and his forces after they escaped from the Chatham Islands in 1868. At that time, the Crown maintained ammunition reserves at Mohaka. The Crown ignored warnings of a possible attack on communities at Mohaka. In April 1869, Ngāti Pāhauwera pā and kāinga were attacked by Te Kooti’s forces resulting in the killing of 56 Ngāti Pāhauwera men, women, and children, the wounding and taking of others as prisoners, and the destruction and looting of crops, property, and supplies. The survivors received little assistance from the Crown to aid their recovery, and like other civilians, received no compensation for their losses. The loss of their men, women, and children has been felt for generations by Ngāti Pāhauwera:
Native Land Court
(11) The Native Land Court was established principally to speed up the alienation of Māori land to open up lands for settlement. The Court was to determine the owners of Māori land “according to native custom” and convert customary title into title derived from the Crown. In 1868, Ngāti Pāhauwera sought to secure title to much of their land to the north of the confiscation area. At this time around 120 000 acres between the valleys of the Mohaka and Waiau Rivers remained in Ngāti Pāhauwera possession:
(12) Land rights under customary tenure were generally communal but the new land laws gave rights to individuals with no provision for title to be held by the tribe as a whole. The Court awarded the blocks to 10 owners each and registered others with interests on the title. For three of these blocks the names of hapū rather than individuals were registered. This did not fully comply with the Native Lands Act 1867. This legal irregularity meant those lands could not be sold immediately, but caused significant problems for Ngāti Pāhauwera. Title for these blocks was litigated throughout the 19th century and resolved only by the early 20th century:
Alienation
(13) During the 1870s, Ngāti Pāhauwera suffered further land loss. By 1883, approximately half the land Ngāti Pāhauwera held at 1868 had been sold to private parties and the Crown. The prices paid were low (between one and two shillings per acre) because the lands had limited value for agricultural or cultivation purposes. Pre-existing debts and charges for the survey of the blocks (which was necessary to acquire title) were deducted from the amount received by the vendors:
Landlessness
(14) In 1907, the Royal Commission on Native Lands and Native-Land Tenure (the Stout-Ngata Commission) concluded that Ngāti Pāhauwera needed all their remaining land for their occupation and support. However, there was no legal barrier to prevent the Crown from continuing to purchase land. The Native Lands Act 1909 made private purchasing of Māori lands easier by providing a streamlined standard sale mechanism managed by Māori Land Boards. Despite the clear warning from the Stout-Ngata Commission, the Crown resumed purchasing land from Ngāti Pāhauwera in 1914, acquiring 18 631 acres by 1920 and another 5 381 acres over the following decade. Between 1911 and 1930, 7 507 acres of Ngāti Pāhauwera land was alienated to private purchasers with the consent of the Tairawhiti Māori Land Board:
(15) A consolidation scheme was introduced for the Mohaka, Waipapa, Waihua and Pūtere blocks in the late 1920s. Crown and individual interests in the blocks were converted into nominal cash values, and then into new subdivisions separating out Crown and Māori lands. The consolidation scheme was meant to increase the economic viability of remaining Māori landholdings, but was limited in its effectiveness. The Crown continued to acquire land while the consolidation scheme was underway. A number of Ngāti Pāhauwera owners were burdened with debts of more than £2,000 to pay for Crown interests incorporated into their new land blocks:
(16) By 1930, approximately 25 000 acres remained in Ngāti Pāhauwera ownership. The Crown promoted a land development scheme on the Mohaka and Waipapa land blocks in 1930, with the aim of providing Ngāti Pāhauwera with the capital and agricultural training required to develop and operate dairy units on their remaining land. The Crown provided substantial loans for land development along with supervision by the Native Department. In return, the land owners were required to surrender the right to exercise any rights of ownership:
(17) The amount of land in Ngāti Pāhauwera ownership was insufficient to accommodate all those who wished to participate in the development scheme and only selected individuals were able to access any benefit. The success of the scheme was also hampered by the lack of suitable land for dairying. The early focus on the creation of subsistence level family based dairy farms did not allow for the exploration of other, possibly more appropriate, forms of land use. This was exacerbated by the sharp decline in dairy farming profits during the depression, and the reduction in the amounts of capital made available by the Crown in the 1940s. By 1950, only 30 dairy units remained in operation, with a few others converting to sheep:
Post-war alienations
(18) The post-war period saw further sales of land and by the end of the 20th century Māori retained approximately 13 400 acres or less within the Ngāti Pāhauwera blocks. Most of those lands were scattered parcels in multiple ownership, with large numbers of people holding small ownership interests. Fractionated ownership, disputes over titles, lack of access to landlocked sections and rising rates greatly restricted the ability of landowners to derive full benefit from their holdings:
(19) During the 20th century many people left the Mohaka district due to the lack of economic opportunities, the failure of many farms and the difficulty of fully utilising the lands remaining. The dispersal of people limited the opportunities for Ngāti Pāhauwera to transfer cultural knowledge from one generation to another through pakiwaitara and pūrākau, mahinga kai activity, whare wānanga, and social occasions:
Environment
(20) The Crown has through legislation assumed regulatory control over resources and the environment. This limited opportunities for Ngāti Pāhauwera to develop and use those resources themselves. Over time, the environment suffered from some degree of degradation and there has been a decline in species of importance to Ngāti Pāhauwera. Mahinga kai and rongoa gathering places of Ngāti Pāhauwera have been polluted or lost. The loss of these resources also led to the loss of knowledge and ritual associated with them, including rongoa and crafts:
Socio-economic consequences
(21) The lack of land and resources and the ensuing lack of an economic base have significantly contributed to the impoverishment of Ngāti Pāhauwera. As a group, Ngāti Pāhauwera who stayed in the rohe have had very limited employment opportunities, lower than average housing stock, educational outcomes and incomes, a reliance on income support, and high rates of unemployment. As compared to the national average, fewer Ngāti Pāhauwera children have gained a high school qualification. Ngāti Pāhauwera suffered severely from newly-introduced European diseases and epidemics. The health of the resident population of Ngāti Pāhauwera remained very poor in contrast to national levels in the 20th century. In 2001, Māori living in the Mohaka/Raupunga area were assessed to be at the most deprived level on the New Zealand Deprivation Index:
(22) The years of petitions and litigation about Crown actions and the inadequacies of the Crown’s response have also taken a toll on Ngāti Pāhauwera, requiring time and resources that could have been directed towards developing Ngāti Pāhauwera. Ngāti Pāhauwera characterise their socio-economic experience as one of bleakness, but assert the need for a fresh relationship with the Crown and hope for their future development: