Our History

WAR AND CONFISCATION: EASTERN BAY OF PLENTY 1865 - 1867

Was Tūhoe land confiscated because they fought at Waikato in 1864?

No – The Crown confiscated land at Waikato, Taranaki, and Tauranga after the war of 1863–1864 was over but did not punish any other districts for that fight. 50 of our warriors were sent to Ōrakau in April 1864 to support the Kīngitanga in the defence of their lands. This honoured a connection between Tūhoe and the Ngāti Maniapoto leadership. Many Tūhoe opposed joining that fight, saying “kia tawharautia a Mataatua,” so only a small tauā went and it suffered heavy losses (3 dead) in the Kingitanga’s last stand at Ōrakau.

Was Tūhoe land confiscated because they fought at Te Tapiri in 1865?

No – We were not challenging the Crown when we fought at Te Tapiri in May 1865. We were defending our lands after they were confronted by Ngāti Manawa kāwanatanga at Te Tapiri. It occurred when we were escorting Kereopa and other Pai Marire teachers out of the district, ing them back to Taranaki after Pai Marire followers were involved in the killing of Reverend Volkner at Opōtiki in February 1865.

Ngāti Manawa wanted to detain Tūhoe’s manuhiri for the Crown, and blocked our path at Te Tapiri. This challenge was met by Tūhoe and Ngāti Manawa was defeated. Ngāti Manawa retreated but quickly returned with Te Arawa kāwanatanga commanded by Crown officers. Our Tūhoe ope withdrew to Te Harema but the Crown left them alone as its fight was not then with Tūhoe.

The Crown made a proclamation of peace in September 1865 and said no more land would be confiscated because of the wars that had been fought.

Why did Crown forces invade the northern part of the district in September 1865?

In July 1865 the Crown official James Fulloon (a whānaunga of Tūhoe) and three other men were killed by Pai Marire at Whakatāne for breaching an aukati. The Crown wanted to arrest the suspected killers of Fulloon and Volkner. Tūhoe were not among the 33 suspects sought.

In September 1865 the Crown proclaimed martial law in the Whakatāne and Opōtiki districts, just days before its troops invaded the district via Opōtiki to find the suspects and put down any resistance. This was not Tūhoe’s fight, and our only involvement was to assist the Crown with some information about the location of Kereopa, but the Crown’s forces failed to capture him.

Why did the Crown confiscate Tūhoe land in 1866?

In January 1866 about 450,000 acres of land in the eastern Bay of Plenty was confiscated because the Crown deemed some local iwi to have been in rebellion after it invaded the district in 1865. The confiscation included about 125,000 acres of Tūhoe land from Ōhiwa down to just above Waimana and Rūātoki, but Tūhoe were not the targets of the confiscation as the Crown did not deem them to be rebels, not yet anyway.

The Crown’s Compensation Court was supposed to investigate claims by Māori who had not been in rebellion and return their land to them. Crown Commissioner Wilson ignored Tūhoe claims and allocated their land to other iwi in out of court deals at the end of 1866. Large reserves were made for so-called rebels from other iwi, but whenua was not returned to Tūhoe.

How did Tūhoe respond?

Despite the injustice of the confiscation Tūhoe remained at peace for a time. The Crown began surveying the northern confiscation line across the Waimana valley in December 1866.

Tūhoe rejected a call by Whakatōhea in February 1867 to join their fight against confiscation. Instead, they established two defensive aukati; one along the Waiotahi River between them and Whakatōhea, and the other along the Crown’s confiscation line. Some Tūhoe tried the Crown’s process of claiming their lands in the Compensation Court but their claims were wrongly dismissed in September 1867 and the claimants, including Makarīni, were seized at Puketī and held captive without trial indefinitely in Te Ana o Muriwai. Other Tūhoe began to violently resist the Crown survey. In May 1867 a few Ngāti Huri men attacked a survey party at Ōhiwa, and then joined the Whakatōhea fighters in the Opōtiki district who killed two military settlers. Other Tūhoe kept to peaceful resistance, reoccupying confiscated land at Opōuriao in September 1867. No matter what they did, the land remained unjustly confiscated.

WAR AND CONFISCATION: WAIKAREMOANA. 1865-1867

Why did the Crown invade Waikaremoana in 1865 and 1866?

Crown forces (mainly Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu kāwanatanga) repeatedly attacked Waikaremoana from December 1865 to March 1866. They were pursuing Pai Maririe (‘Hauhau’) fighters fleeing from defeat at Turanga (Gisborne). Tūhoe had nothing to do with this fight but many of those at southern Waikaremoana were attacked and killed along with the Pai Marire refugees. Hakaraia Te Wharepapa was one of the rangatira killed while defending his land.

For the first time the Crown used its ‘scorched earth’ policy in Te Urewera, destroying 10 Tūhoe kāinga and all cultivations, food stores, livestock, horses, and waka to ensure total suppression of any resistance.

Prisoners were killed, including the elderly rangatira Rangikumapuao killed at Onepoto.

What happened to the Tūhoe survivors at Waikaremoana?

Many fled across the lake to escape the fighting but the repeated attacks and scorched earth tactics made it difficult to survive.

In May 1866 Tūhoe were among several hundred Māori in the area who surrendered to the Crown. Some of the captives (including Eria Raukura) were exiled indefinitely to the Chathams in terrible conditions. This was so they could not interfere with plans to confiscate our land under a new law: the defective East Coast Land Titles Investigation Act 1866.

Was Tūhoe land confiscated at Waikaremoana in 1866?

Not quite, but the Crown set in place the legal machinery to confiscate the land from Tūhoe later on. The East Coast confiscation law passed in 1866 was difficult to implement, so the Crown preferred to do a deal with Ngāti Kahungunu kāwanatanga. In April 1867 they agreed to give the Crown the Kauhouroa block (42,000 acres) near Wairoa, and in return the Crown withdrew its claims on all land up to Waikaremoana that was owned by rebels.

As Tūhoe at southern Waikaremoana were now deemed to be rebels, this meant their land could be confiscated and awarded to Ngāti Kahungunu kāwanatanga. This confiscation was not completed until 1875, but a lot happened before that. I konei e mēhia ana ko ngā Tūhoe e noho ana i te taha tonga o te moana o Waikaremoana he Iwi whakatumatuma, nā tēnā ka murua o rātau whenua ka whakawhiwhiā kia Ngāti Kahungunu kāwanatanga. Heoi, nō te tau 1875 i tutuki ai tēnei murunga, ēngari arā noa atu ngā whiu i pā ki a Tūhoe.

I murua anō ngā whenua o Tūhoe nā tana whai wāhi ki te pakanga i Waikato 1864?

Ehe – I murua e te Karauna na whenua o Waikato, Taranaki me Tauranga i muri mai o te pakanga i te tau 1863-1864, ā, kāre ia i whakawhiu i wētahi iwi kē. Kōatu i te 50 te ope tauā o Tūhoe i takahi i te ara ki roto o Ōrakau ki te tautoko i te o Te Kīngitanga e whawhai ana ki te pākeha. I konei ka kitea te tūhono rangatira ki te rangatira o Tūhoe me Maniapoto. Ko ētahi o Tūhoe i tohe ki tēnei karanga i runga i tana whakataukī kōrero “kia tāwharautia a Mataatua,” ā, he rōpu iti (30 tāngata) i haere ka hinga i Ōrakau.

I murua ngā whenua o Tūhoe nā tana whai wāhi ki te pakanga i tū ki Te Tapiri 1865?

Ehe – Kāore rā tātau i whawhai ki te Karauna i Te Tapiti i te marama o Mei 1865. E whawhai ana kē ki ngā kūpapa o Ngāti Manawa kāwanatanga. I pupū ake tēnei nā runga i tō tātau ārahi atu i a Kereopa me ētahi o ngā Pai Marire ki waho o tō tātau rohe, kia hoki ki Taranaki. Nā runga i te whakapae nā te Pai Marire a Te Wākana i kōhuru i Opōtiki i te marama o Pēpuere i te tau 1865.

E hiahia kē ana a Ngāti Manawa ki te mauhere i a Tūhoe hei kawe atu ki te Karauna, i Te Tapiri, ka pakangahia e Tūhoe, ka oma a Ngāti Manawa, ngaro atu ana. Heoi, ka hoki mai anō i te taha o Te Arawa kāwangatanga me ētahi hōia o te Karauna, tērā ka hoki whakamuri a Tūhoe ki te Pā o Te Harema, heoi, ka whakeke te karaunga nā te mea kāre ko Tūhoe tāna e whai ana.

I te tau 1865 i te marama o Hepetema, nā te Karauna te kōrero kia hohou i te rongo, whakamutua te muru whenua, kua ea i ngā pakanga o mua.

He aha ai i urutomo hia e te Karauna te taha raki o rohe i te marama o Hepetema 1865?

I te marama o Hūrae i te tau 1865 ka rangatū te ope tauā o te Karauna ki te kimi i te kai kōhuru o James Fulloon (he uri nō Tūhoe tētahi wāhanga ōna) ētahi atu, i mate i ngā ringa kōhuru o te Pai Marire i Whakatāne i kō mai o te aukati. E hiahia ana te Karauna ki te mauhere i te hunga e whakapae ana nā rātau i kōhuru a Fulloon me Te Wākana. E 33 ngā tāngata whakapaehia ana nā rātau i kōhuru, ēngari harakau nei he Tūhoe. I te mārama o Hepetema 1865 ka whakaheke te Karauna i tana ture ki runga o Whakatāne me Opōtiki, ka whakaeke ngā kāinga nei ki te kimi ia rātau, hāunga a Tūhoe e harakau nōnā te pakanga nei. Ko tāna he tuku kōrero ki te Karauna ki hea kitea ai a Kereopa.

He aha ai murua e te Karauna na whenua o Tūhoe i te tau 1866?

I te marama o Hānuere te tau 1866 kōatu i te 450,000 eka i murua e te Karauna i te taha rāwhiti o te rohe o Mataatua. Nā te whakapae a te Karauna he whakatumatuma o ētahi iwi i tana whakaeke mai ki roto i te rohe i te tau 1865. I uru katoa mai 125,000 o ngā whenua o Tūhoe mai Ōhiwa, ki te Waimana me Rūātoki, heoi ē harakau ko Tūhoe tēnā e mēhia ana he whakatumatuma i taua wā, waiho tonu.

Heoi ēhara i te mea i he mea rangahau hia e te Karauna te hunga e whakapae hia ana e rātau he whakatumatuma. Tāhorehore ana te Kai Kōmihana a Wilson ki ngā tono a Tūhoe, ā, whakawhiwhia ana ō rātau whenua ki iwi kē i te pito o te tau 1866. Korekore ana e hoki he whenua ki a Tūhoe.

He aha te whakahoki a Tūhoe?

Ahakoa te āhua i tau ki runga i a Tūhoe, mauri tau a Tūhoe ki te pupuri i te maungārongo i waenga i ā ia me te Karauna. Kātahi ka hīmata ngā mahi rūri a te Karauna ki te rohe o te Waimana i te marama o Tihema 1866.

Kāore a Tūhoe i tautoko i tā Te Whakatōhea tohe ki te pakanga mo ngā whenua muru. Engari whakaritea ana e ia ōna aukati ki te awa o Waiōtahi me te aukati ki te rārangi o te Karauna. I whakamātau ētahi Tūhoe ki te tono mo ō rātau whenua ma te Kooti Kapeneheihana i te marama o Hepetema 1867, ēngari auware ake. Ko ētahi o aua tāngata ko Makarīni, tērā i ātetehia ana i Puketī, ka mauhere hara kore ki Te Ana o Muriwai. Kātahi ka tohe a Tūhoe ki ngā mahi rūri a Karauna. I te marama o Mei 1867 ka pakangahia e ētahi uri o Ngāti Huri te ope rūri a te Karauna i te takiwā ki Ōhiwa, ka hono atu ki te ope whawhai o Te Whakatōhea ki Opōtiki. Ko ētahi o Tūhoe i mauri tau ki te maungārongo ki Opōuriao, ahakoa te rongomau i puria, i riro tonu te whenua.

He aha ai i urutomo hia a Waiakaremoana i te tau 1865 - 1866?

Ko ngā hoia a te Karauna (he Ngāti Porou, he Ngāti Kahungunu kāwanatanga te nuinga) i urutomo ki runga o Waikaremoana i te marama o Tihema i te tau 1865 me tau 1866 i te marama o Maehe. E kimi ana i ngā Pai Marire (Hauhau) tērā i marere mai i te pakanga i tū ki Tūranga. Kāore a Tūhoe i whai wāhi atu ki roto i tēnei pakanga, ēngari patua ana ngā Tūhoe e noho ana i te taha tonga o Waikaremoana, ā, me ētahi Pai Marire i marere mai ki konei.

Ko Hakaraia Te Wharepapa tētahi o ngā rangatira i kaha ki te pakanga mo tanawhenua ka mate.

I konei e kitea ana te whakamahia ana e te Karauna tana Ture ‘kaupapa haepapa whenua’ ki roto o te Te Urewera, whakamōwai ana i ngā kāinga, māra kai, whata kai, kararehe.

Kohuru hia ana ngā mauhere, me te rangatira a Rangikumapuao i Onepoto.

I aha hia ngā morehu o Waikaremoana?

He nui ngā tāngata i marere ki rāwahi o te moana, ēngari nā te kaha whiu o te ture haepapa whenua, me uaua ka ora.

I te marama o Mei 1866 he nui ngā Tūhoe me ētahi Māori i tūohu ki Te Karauna. Mauherehia ana rātau (Ko Eria Raukura tētahi) ki Wharekauri ka mate atu. Nā te ture hou i puta ai i tērā wā arā ko te Ture 1866 East Cost Title Investigation hei muru i ngā whenua o te Maōri.

I murua anō ngā whenua o Tūhoe i Waikaremoana 1866?

Kaua i taua wā tonu, ēngari i āta hangaia e te Karauna tana rautaki muru katoa i ngā whenua o Tūhoe. Nā te Ture hou nei i raru ai te Karauna, nō reira i tahuri rātau ki te whakamina i a Ngāti Kahungunu kāwanatanga. I te marama o Aperira i te tau 1867 i whakaae rātau ki te koha i te whenua o te Kauhouroa (42,000 eka) i te Wairoa, nā tēnei i whakakorehia rātau to rātau raupatu haere i te whenua o Waikaremaoana, arā o te iwi whakatumatuma.

SCORCHED EARTH AND THE PURSUIT OF TE KOOTI, 1867–1871

Why did the Crown invade Te Urewera again and again from 1869 to 1871?

Crown forces (most of which were Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, and Whanganui kāwanatanga) invaded Te Urewera in May 1869 pursuit of Te Kooti, who was briefly given sanctuary by Tūhoe.

Before this happened, Tūhoe sought a peace agreement with the Crown in November and December 1867, which Paerau Te Rangikaitupuake tried to negotiate. Terms were not agreed, but in January 1868 Tūhoe advocated peace and in return the Crown agreed not to breach the Tūhoe aukati along the confiscation line.

But the aukati was breached in 1868, after Tamaikōha and Te Puehu led protests against the confiscation in Waimana. They pulled up survey pegs and seized horses and livestock from military settlers.

Crown forces responded by attacking Nukutahuahua pa on Waimana River in February 1868, against the agreed aukati and Crown orders not to cross it.

This led to our attack on Hokianga Island, Ōhiwa, provoking another Crown attack across the aukati. This time, the Crown went as far up the Tauranga valley as Ōtara but quickly withdrew. Scorched earth tactics were used in these Crown attacks, and all cultivations below Tāwhana were destroyed as well as crops and food stores at Whakarae and on Hokianga.

Why was the Crown chasing Te Kooti into Te Urewera?

Te Kooti was the most wanted man in New Zealand’s history when he fled from his devastating defeat at Ngātapa in January 1869 and sought sanctuary in Te Urewera. A few Tūhoe had joined Te Kooti’s followers in the fight at Ngātapa, and most were killed. Some fell in battle, such as Ākuhata, but others were among the 120 prisoners killed in cold blood after the battle (including a Tūhoe woman and the wounded Nīkora Wakaunua).

Te Kooti made several requests to Tūhoe for sanctuary, beginning in November 1868, and in February 1869 most Tūhoe leaders agreed to give him sanctuary. Tamaikōha and a few others opposed this step.

In turn Te Kooti and his hardened fighters undertook to help us resist confiscation and fight to reclaim our lands. In March 1869 Te Kooti joined a Tūhoe attack on Ōhiwa and Te Rauporoa, and they joined his attacks on the redoubt at Mōhaka (leading to the deaths of many Ngāti Pāhauwera sheltering there).

Beginning in May 1869, the Crown used overwhelming and ruthless force to invade Te Urewera several times from three different directions.

It sought to kill Te Kooti and to exterminate those who supported him, meaning...Tūhoe. Scorched earth tactics were applied in the most brutal and prolonged way. Every kāinga, cultivation, and food store that could be found was destroyed, along with livestock.

An important urupā at Oputao was desecrated. At other urupā the bodies of the recently dead were dug up and desecrated. Prisoners and non-combatants were brutally killed. Women at Te Harema were taken away by Te Arawa kāwanatanga to force the men to come in and surrender lest their hapū be destroyed.

In the aftermath, hundreds more of us died of starvation and disease brought on by lack of food, clothing, and shelter. The Crown onslaught continued long after Te Kooti had lost the support of Tūhoe and had fled the district.

How was the Crown invasion ended?

When yet another invasion force entered Te Urewera in February 1870, Tamaikōha agreed a Rongopai with Te Keepa Rangihiwinui (the leader of the Whanganui kāwanatanga). The intention was to end the destruction. 

The Crown preferred to keep up the scorched earth campaign but reluctantly accepted the peace. In April 1870 the Crown breached the rongopai by attacking Whakarae and killing Tamaikōha’s uncle. Tamaikōha just managed to escape, and renamed the place Matekerepū. The rongopai was breached again and again at Waikaremoana in attacks there that continued until June 1870. As part of its meanspirited peace terms the Crown insisted all Tūhoe surrender and ‘come in’ to coastal settlements where they would be detained. Many did come in after July 1870.

In December 1870 other Tūhoe were allowed to remain in Te Urewera, and those who had come in were allowed to return to their devastated homes. Rōpata Wahawaha breached the rongopai again for the Crown when he returned to Ruatāhuna and Maungapōhatu in November 1871 and built redoubts there, before he was instructed to leave in December.

When did the Crown leave Te Urewera?

The final unjustified invasion of Ruatāhuna and Maungapōhatu in November 1871 led to an agreement between Tūhoe and the Crown for future peaceful relations. No land confiscation was imposed. By 1870 the Crown had (mostly) ceased to use

confiscation because it had found easier and cheaper ways to get Māori land.

The 1871 peace compact between Tūhoe and Native Minister Donald McLean for the Crown meant the Crown withdrew its forces from Te Urewera, and agreed to leave Tūhoe to manage our own affairs (as recalled in Te Waiata mo Ruatāhuna).

He aha rawa te take i kaha te urutomo hia a Te Urewera e te Karauna i ngā tau 1869 ki te 1871?

I urutomohia a Te Urewera i te Mei 1869 e te Karauna (te nuinga he kūpapa nō ngā iwi o Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Whanganui me te Kāwana) te take he whai i ā Te Kooti, tērā e noho haumaru ana i raro i ngā manaaki a Tūhoe.

I ngā marama o Noema me te Tihema i te tau 1867 i mua o te whakaekehanga mai o te Karauna ka nana a Tūhoe me ōna rangatira a Paerau me Te Rangikaitupuake ki te hohou i te tatau pounamu i waenga i te Karauna me Tūhoe. Tē arohia mai ngā takawaenga o Tūhoe. l te tau 1868 ka tahuri ki te kōkiri kia mau ko te rongomau, ā, ka whakaae te Karauna e kore ia mo te whakahē i te aukati a Tūhoe i te rārangi o te whenua muru.

Heoi i te tau 1868 ka murua te aukati a Tūhoe nā runga i ngā whakahē a Tamaikōha me Te Puehu ka tohe rāua, tīnaohia mai ana nā poupou rūri, kāhakihia ana ngā karahere o ngā hōia mo ngā mahi muru a Te Karauna i te Waimana.

Ka whakatika atu te Karauna i taua tau 1868 i te marama o Pēpuere, ka whakaekea e rātau te pā o Nukutahuahua i te tāhuna o te awa o te Waimana, i ngā tohe me ngā whakahē ki ngā hiahia a Tūhoe kia kore te aukati a Tūhoe e whakawhitia e rātau.

Nā tēnei ka whai ko te urutomo a Te Karauna ki runga i te motu o Hokiana, i te Ōhiwa whakapātaritati i te Karauna kia takahia te rūri aukati a Tūhoe. Ka whakamātau te Karauna, ka whakaekehia te whārua o Tauranga ki Ōtara, heoi, ka whakatahi tere tonu tana puta mai. I konei te Karauna e whakahuataki ana i te mana o te Kaupapa Haepapa Whenua mōai ana ngā hua kai, māra, whata kai i Tāwhana, otirā i Whakarae me Hokianga.

He aha rawa te take i whāia a Te Kooti e Te Karauna i roto o Te Urewera?

Kei ngā hītori o Aotearoa e mau ana ngā kōrero mo Te Kooti, he tangata i whāia ki te whakamate. Mai o tana turakihanga i te pakanga i Ngātapa i te marama o Hānuere te tau 1869 i marere aia ki roto o Te Urewera tauwhiro mai ai. Ko ētahi o āna ponongā o Tūhoe i mate i roto i te pakanga pēnei i a Ākuhata, ā neke atu i te 120 i mate, i whara i te tao tū (ētahi he wahine otirā me Nīkora Wakaunua).

I te marama o Noema i te tau 1868 i tono a Te Kooti ki a Tūhoe mā rātau aia e tauwhiro, ā, i te marama o Pēpuere i te tau 1869 ka whakaae a Tūhoe. Ko Tamaikōha i whakahē.

Ā hai tohu i tōna manawanui ki tā Tūhoe i whakaaro nui ai, ka tahuri a Te Kooti me āna ponongā ki te tautoko i a Tūhoe ki te aukati i te ture pākeha. I te marama o Māehe i te tau 1869 ka tū whiritahi atu a Te Kooti ki te taha o Tūhoe i te whakaekehanga ki runga o Ōhiwa me Te Rauporoa pakanga ai, ā, ki runga hoki o Mōhaka (te kōhurutanga o Ngāti Pāhauwera). What did the Crown do in Te Urewera while pursuing Te Kooti? He aha ngā mahi a Te Karauna i roto o Te Urewera i te whaiwhaitanga i a Te Kooti?

I te marama o Mei i te tau 1869, ka taha toru te urutomo a Te Karauna ki roto o Te Urewera.

Te kaupapa e whāia ana a Te Kooti me ōna ponongā, arā, a Tūhoe ki te whakamate. I konei pea e kitea ana te weti me te whakamataku o te Karauna i tana hohou i te ture Kaupapa Haepapa Whenua. Turakihia ana ngā nohohanga pā, tahunahia ngā whata kai me ngā kararehe.

Taruwekuhia he urupā tawhito i Oputao, me te aha hahua mai e rātau ngā tūpapaku ka tūkinotia. Kōhuru patua ngā tāngata. Ka mauherehia ngā wāhine i te pā o Te Hārema e Te Arawa kāwanatanga hai whakamaimoa mai i ngā tāne kia tukuna ngā pū ki raro, kia Manawa kiore.

Muri iho mai o te pakanga, ka mat mate tō tāua iwi i ngā whiu o te mate kai, i ngā mate urutā, rawakore me te pōhara. Ahakoa kūa mahue noa te iwi i a Te Kooti, tohe tonu Te Karauna ki te pēhi i a Tūhoe.

Nā te aha i mutu ai te riri a Te Karauna?

I te urutomohanga o Te Urewera i te marama o Pēpuere i te tau 1870, ka nana a Tamaikōha ki te hohou i te rongopai i waenga i a Te Keepa Rangihiwinui (te kaiārahi i te ope o Whanganui kāwanatanga). Ko te tūmanako kia mau ko te rongopai.

Ka rangatū te Karauna ki te hohou i tana ture whakaweti, ara, te ture Kaupapa Haepapa Whenua ki runga i a Tūhoe, ā, me tōna whakatenetene ki te whakaae atu ki te rongopai kia mau. I te marama o Aperira i te tau 1870 ka wāwahihia e te Karauna te rongopai i te whakaekehanga ki runga i te pā o Whakarae, kōhuruhia tētahi o ngā pāpara o Tamaikōha. Ko ia ko te Tamaikōha i waimaria, ka tapaia e ia te wāhi rā ko Matekerepū. Wāhia ana te rongopai i Waikaremoana, ā, urutomohia ana a Te Urewera mutu noa i te marama o Hune i te tau 1870. Kātahi ka tohe te Karauna, kia tukuna e Tūhoe te riri ki raro, kia hūnuku mai ki ngā whenua o taha moana, ki hea mauherehia ai. Ko ētahi i whakarongo ka nuku mai i te marama o Hūrae i te tau 1870.

I te tau 1870, i te marama o Tihema, i whakaaetia kia hoki a Tūhoe ki ōna whenua kua oti te mōai e te Karauna. Ka tuarua, tuatoru te wāhia o te rongopai e Rōpata Wahawaha i tana hoki ki te noho i roto o Ruatāhuna me Maungapōhatu i te marama o Noema i te tau 1871, whakatū mai ana i tana pā, aupēhi, whakatūohu i te mana o Tūhoe. Ēngari i te Tihema o taua tau ka ākina a ia kia puta.

Nōnahea i wehe ai te Karauna i Te Urewera?

Nō te marama o Noema i te tau 1871 te urutomo whakamutunga i whakaeke ki runga o Ruatāhuna me Maungapōhatu, ā, noho ana ko tēnei te rongopai i hohouhia hei paihere ia Tūhoe me te Karauna. Kaore he whenua i raupatuhia i muri iho o tēnei. I te tau 1870 nā roto o nā momo ture a te Karauna kua kitea kua murua katoahia ngā whenua o te Māori.

I muri iho i te hohouhanga i te maungārongo i waenga i a Tūhoe me te Minita o te Karauna arā a Te Makarīni, ka rokohia e Te Karauna ki āna hōia kia puta mai i a Te Urewera, ā, i āhei a Tūhoe ki te whakahaere i ā ia anō (e mau ana i Te Waiata mo Ruatāhuna ).

Urewera District Native Reserve, 1895-1921

Why was the Urewera District Native Reserve (UDNR ) established?

The foundation for the UDNR was laid when Premier Seddon (‘King Dick’) and Native Minister James Carroll (Timi Kara) came right into Te Urewera in 1894 to attend several meetings with Tūhoe.

The Crown men heard what Tūhoe had to say about the 1893 conflict over the Rūātoki survey, and about the peace compact and Te Whitu Tekau. The Crown agreed surveying and the Native Land Court would be kept out of Te Urewera. The 1871 peace compact was re-affirmed by Tūhoe, and Nūmia Kererū gifted the taiaha Rongokārae to Seddon.

Did the Crown keep its word this time?

No. In April 1895 the Crown ignored its promise to keep surveys out of Te Urewera.

It sent men in to do a ‘trig’ survey and survey a road line through Te Urewera to Waikaremoana. A trig survey involved putting up trig stations on mountains to provide reference points for future land surveys. Tūhoe opposed these surveys. Just as it did at Rūātoki the Crown responded with armed force to overcome Tūhoe and complete the surveys.

Here we go again. How did this betrayal lead to the UDNR ?

The meetings in 1894 and the surveying conflict in 1895 prompted the Crown to seek a new way forward, based not on conflict and domination but on co-operation with Tūhoe and on respect for and protection of our rights to and within Te Urewera.

The Crown finally recognised the importance of the 1871 compact. Premier Seddon agreed in 1895 that Te Urewera should be “kept inviolate” and a “protectorate” put in place for Tūhoe.

Governor Ranfurly toured Te Urewera and called the 1871 compact “the Treaty of peace.” Seddon accepted that the Crown had failed to honour the compact and that Tūhoe should now be allowed to administer our own lands as promised in 1871.

The Crown called Tūhoe to Wellington in 1895 for a series of meetings about special legislation to govern Te Urewera in the future. The result of these meetings was a solemn compact between Tūhoe and the Crown. The Crown formally acknowledged and agreed to respect te mana motuhake o Tūhoe in Te Urewera, and Tūhoe acknowledged the authority of the Crown in New Zealand.

The compact also agreed that the Tūhoe land remaining within the boundaries of Te Whitu Tekau would be protected from the Native Land Court and land purchasing by special legislation: the Urewera District Native Reserve was born.

What was the Urewera District Native Reserve Act 1896 (UDNRA )?

The 1896 Act was enacted to implement the 1895 compact between Tūhoe and the Crown.

The Act defined the Urewera Reserve (the UDNR of 656,000 acres) and excluded the Native Land Court from this area. Urewera titles would instead be investigated by a Tūhoe-dominated Urewera Commission.

The Urewera Commission would award hapū-based land titles, and the hapū would elect a block committee to administer their land, and sales were not permitted. The block committees would then elect a district-wide General Committee, which was Tūhoe’s local government and which would administer and govern the Urewera Reserve. The 1896 Act also promised schools and other services for Tūhoe, as well as protection of the forests and animals of Te Urewera.

At the same time, the Act included some clauses that were not part of the compact and which concerned Tūhoe. The Act provided for lists of individual owners on block titles, which was too much like the hated Native Land Court model for our liking. But we thought we could still make the new law work.

It was a law unique in New Zealand’s history, unique to Tūhoe, and full of promise. They referred to it on a flag as “Te Mana Motuhake o Tūhoe,” while Tamaikōha flew another flag that embodied the 1896 Act: “Kotahi Te Ture mo Ngā Iwi e Rua.”

Was the Urewera District Native Reserve Act implemented as promised?

No. From the beginning the Crown slowly undermined the promise and the intent of the 1896 Act in what was a long, slow betrayal of the bright promise held out to them in 1895 and 1896.

The Act was like a Trojan horse: a ‘gift’ that the Crown used to smuggle into Te Urewera the very policies the Act was supposed to keep out.

The Urewera Commission was not established until 1899, which was far too slow. The Crown imposed processes on the Commission that weakened the role of the Tūhoe Commissioners in favour of the Crown-appointed Pākeha minority, who were always the Chairman.

For instance, our Tūhoe Commissioners were not allowed to sit when lands in where they might have interests were being investigated. There was no provision for alternate Tūhoe Commissioners to take their place, so in many cases Tūhoe ended up as a minority on their own Commission.

The Pākeha Commissioners did not like the flag “Te Mana Motuhake o Tūhoe,” and instead used a modified flag: “Te Ture Motuhake o Tūhoe.”

The Crown-dominated Commission did not create hapū-based titles. Instead it created titles more like Native Land Court titles, with lists of individual owners and relative interests.

The Crown set up a Native Land Court process for those wanting to appeal the awards of the Urewera Commission. Appeals led to Tūhoe being excluded from their lands at Te Whaiti, Manuoha, and Pāharakeke, and wrongly allowed Ngāti Kahungunu interests into the Waikaremoana block.

The appeals process delayed the completion of titles until 1907, which meant block committees could not be elected so the General Committee could not be elected.

These delays also left Tūhoe in 1907 without the self-government we had been promised in 1896. In the meantime the local economy stagnated and our people suffered a series of climatic disasters like unseasonal frosts and floods that wiped out crops. The potato blight sweeping the country also hit us very hard.

How did the Crown acquire so much land in the Urewera Reserve?

It was underpinned by the betrayal of everything the Urewera Reserve and its special law – te ture motuhake o Tūhoe – had promised. The Crown exploited the absence of the General Committee to acquire land, even though the 1896 Act banned land purchases in Te Urewera. Without the Committee, Tūhoe had no voice and no say in the Urewera Reserve.

The Crown amended the Act in 1908, giving itself the right to appoint members to the General Committee and to purchase land through the Committee. The Crown misled Tūhoe by wrongly telling them they were liable for the £7,000 costs of the Urewera Commission, and that they should sell land to meet these costs.

Rua Kēnana emerged as a spiritual and political leader of some Tūhoe. He sought to control the sale of land in northern Te Urewera to the Crown so that the wrongful debt could be cleared and funds raised for the development of his community at Maungapōhatu. The Crown appointed supporters of Rua to the General Committee in 1909 and 1910, stacking it with those willing to sell land in line with Rua’s strategy.

Once the Crown had the Committee’s consent to purchase a few blocks, it completely ignored the Committee and never consulted it again and it met only once more. The Crown also ignored the Committee’s strategy to sell only selected lands. Instead, from 1910 the Crown purchased undivided individual interests in almost every block in the Urewera Reserve.

The Crown purchasing was illegal, as it breached the UDNRA. The Crown changed the law in 1916 to make future purchases legal, and it retrospectively validated the illegal purchases it had already made. The Crown purchase agents were relentless in targeting vulnerable owners and those in need of cash as a result of famine and poverty.

The Crown used unfair and unlawful valuations to impose fixed low purchase prices on Tūhoe, who were prevented from selling their land to anyone else. Hundreds of Tūhoe were left landless by excessive purchasing, including World War One veterans. By 1921 the Crown had purchased just over half of the individual interests in the Urewera Reserve blocks (345,000 acres).

He aha rawa te pūtake i hangaia te Urewera District Native Reserve?

I ōroko mai te hangaiatanga o tēnei ture mai o te taenga mai o Seddon me te Minita Timi Kara ki roto o Te Urewera i te tau 1894 ki te hui tahi me Tūhoe.

I reira ka rongo ngā māngai o te Karauna i ngā nawe a Tūhoe, mai o ngā tohe i tū ki Rūātoki i tau 1893 mo te rūri me te maungārongo a Te Whitu Tekau. Ka whakaae te Karauna kia parea mai ki waho o Te Urewera ngā rūri me ngā Ture o te Kooti Whenua. Ka rauora mai anō ko te rongomau o Tūhoe tērā i hangaia i te tau 1871, koia nei te tākohatanga o Nūmia Kererū i te taiaha kia Seddon ko Rongokārae te ingoa.

I pūmau te Karauna ki ēnei kupu?

Ehe. I te marama o Aperira 1895 i taringa kōhatu Te Karauna ki tāna i ōati kia kaua te rūri ki roto o Te Urewera. Ka tonoa āna kai tūruki rūri i ngā puke, rūri ki te rori mā roto mai o Te Urewera puta atu ki Waikaremoana. Whakatūhia ana ngā pou whenua ki runga i ngā puke me ngā maunga hai tohu i ngā rūri a te pākeha. Ka tohe tonu a Tūhoe i tana whakahē ki te rūri. Ahakoa ia ka rite tonu te tuku mai o te hōia ki te aupēhi i a Tūhoe e tutuki ai tana kaupapa.

Ko taua āhua anō. He aha ai i tahuri ai te mana o te Urewera District Native Reserve?

Mai o ngā hui i te tau 1894 me ngā raruraru i pupū ake i te tau 1895 ka noho te Karauna ki te mātataki ake he huarahi mōna e mahi tahi ai ia me Tūhoe i runga I te tika me te whakaaro nui ki ngā taonga o Te Urewera.

Ā nāwai ka hua, ka aro nui mai te Karauna ki te maungārongo i whakatūhia i te tau 1871. Nā te Minita Seddon i whakaae i te tau 1895 kia noho ‘tikanga herekore’ motuhake ake mo Tūhoe, mā Tūhoe e whakahaere. Nā te Kāwanatianara nā Ranfurly i tana huri i a Te Urewera te kōrero “Te Tiriti o te Maungārongo”. Ka whakaae a Seddon tērā kaore te Karauna i pūmau ki tāna i ōati ai i te tau 1871, māna tonu, mā Tūhoe tonu hei whakahaere i ōna whenua.

Kātahi ka karanga e te Karauna a Tūhoe ki Pōneke i te tau 1895, he hui ngātahi ai ki te kōrero mo te anamata o ngā whakahaere i a Te Urewera. Ka tatū ko ngā kōrero rangatira a Tūhoe me te Karauna. Ka whaiwhakaaro mai Te Karauna ki te mana motuhake o Tūhoe i roto o Te Urewera, ā, me Tūhoe anō ka whaiwhakaaro ki te mana o te Karauna ki runga o Niu Tireni.

Nā tēnei whakaaetanga i mana ai te kōrero ka noho wehe mai ngā whenua o Tūhoe ki roto i rohe potae o Te Whitu Tekau, e kore e whaiwāhi te ture Kooti Whenua me ngā tauhokohoko ki runga i ā ia, ka tauwhiroa i raro i te Urewera District Native Reserve.

He aha te ture Urewera District Native Reserve 1896?

Ko te Ture 1896 he ture e rāpoi mai ana i te mana o ngā kōrero rangatira i waenga i ā Tūhoe me te Karauna. Nā tēnei i mana ai te kōrero ka noho wehe mai ngā here o te Kooti Whenua ki waho mai i Te Urewera (i tōna 656,00 eka te nui). Ka noho mana ki raro i ā Tūhoe me te Kohimana o Te Urewera.

Ko Te Kohimana ō Te Urewera he rōpu e āhei ana ki te tuku i te mana ki ngā hapū

mā rātau tonu e tohu te komiti whakahaere i ō rātau ake whenua, ā, karekau e whakaae te hoko. Mā roto mai i ngā komiti ka whakatūhia e rātau he Kai Kōmihana Komiti ā Rohe, ko ōna tāngata katoa he Tūhoe, ā, mā rātau e whakahaere i ā Te Urewera. Otirā nā tēnei Ture 1896 i ōāti ētahi āhuatanga kia Tūhoe, arā, te whakahaere Kura, me te tiaki i ngā kararehe me te ngahere o Te Urewera.

Ā i tūhonohia mai ētahi here karekau i kōrero i roto i ngā kōrero a ngā rangatira, ka māharahara a Tūhoe. Waitohu mai ana ngā rārangi īngoa o te hunga nō rātau ngā whenua, heoi, matakawahia ana e Tūhoe nā te mea e titirohia ana he rite ki tā Te Kooti Whenua whakahaere i āna take. Heoi, ka nana a Tūhoe ki te hikoi whakamua.

He ture tēnei motuhake ake kia Niu Tireni, taketake ake kia Tūhoe, e ōāti ana I tāna i tumanako ai. Tāruahia ana ki runga i te haki “Te Mana Motuhake o Tūhoe,” tārua mai ana e Tamaikōha ki runga i tāna haki “Kotahi Te Ture mo Ngā Iwi e Rua.”

I whakapūmauhia Ture Urewera District Native Reserve ki tāna i ōāti ai?

Ehe. Whakahēhia ana, taunu ana te Karauna i tāna i ōāti ai ki a Tūhoe i ngā tau 1895-1896.

Whakaritea ana te Ture nei ki tahi hoiho, i kohahia e te Karauna, ā, ka kitea e Tūhoe kare i eke ki nga tumanako o te Ture nei.

He tōmuri nō te arahanga mai o te Kohimana o Te Urewera, kaore anō kia tū i te tau 1899. Ka whakaekehia e te Karauna āna ture, āna here ki runga i te komihana o Tūhoe hei whakangoikore haere i a Tūhoe, ka hinga ki raro ngā tūmanako a Tūhoe.

Ko ētahi o ngā Kohimana o Tūhoe kaore i whakaae kia hui tahi atu ki runga i te Komihana mehemea he whenua ō rātau e whakatewhatewhahia ana. Nā tēnei āhua ka noho ko te tokoiti, ā rānei ka riro ma te Pākeha hei whakatau i ētahi o ngā kaupapa.

Kāore te Komihana Pākeha i pārekareka ki te haki o “Te Mana Motuhake o Tūhoe,” ēngari i waihanga mai ko “Te Ture Motuhake o Tūhoe”.

Kāore te Karauana i waihanga whakarite rārangi ā Hapū, ēngari he waihanga I tana rārangi a tangata, tōna rite ki tā te Kooti Whenua. Whakatūhia e te Karauna he huarahi Pīra i ngā kēhi a Te Kohinama o Te Urewera. Ā pīrahia ana, panaia mai ana a Tūhoe ki waho i ngā whenua o Te Whāiti, Manuoha me Pāharakeke, a whakawhiwhiā kē kia Ngāti Kahungunu ngā whenua o Tūhoe i te taha uru o Waikaremoana.

Nā tēnei, tōmuri ana te waihangatanga i te komihana, ā, tūnoa i te tau 1907. Ā noho rawakore, pōhara ana a Tūhoe, kāore ngā ōāti o te tau 1896 I whakapūmauhia. Heke ana te ōhanga o Tūhoe, noho kai kore ana te iwi, pākau ana te pāraite ki ngā hua taewa.

He aha rawa i riro ai te nui o te whenua o Urewera Reserve ki te Karauna?

Nā te hanga taurekareka, riro ana ngā whenua i raro o te Urewera Reserve. I konei ka kitea te hanga whakawehi o te Karauna ki ngā take hoko whenua, ahakoa Te Ture 1896 te aukati o te whenua ki te hoko i roto o Te Urewera. I te kore o te Komiti ake o Tūhoe, korekore ana te taunga tūāpapa hei kōrero mā Tūhoe mo ngā take Urewera Reserve.

Whakatikahia ana e te Karauna i te Te Ture i te tau 1908, whakarite ana i to rātau mana kia whānui ake, ā, kia āhei ai rātau te hoko whenua mā roto mai i te Komiti. Ka rūkahuhia a Tūhoe, whakapae ana te Karauna me utu rātau i te 7,000 pāuna ki te Komihana o Te Urewera, ka mutu mā te hoko i ō rātau whenua ka ea te nama nei.

Ka maranga mai a Rua Kēnana, poropiti o Tūhoe. Ka whakatika atu ia ki ngā kaupapa hoko whenua o te taha raki o Te Urewera, meikore ake ka ea te nama ki te Karauna, ā, ka whakapau he wāhanga ki te whakapakari i tōna hāpori o Maungapōhatu. Ka tohua e te Karauna ko ngā pononga a Rua ki te Komihana Komiti ā Rohe i te tau 1909-1910, ko ngā tāngata ka āhei ki te hoko whenua.

I te whakaaehanga o te Komiti kia hoko ētahi wāhanga whenua, aurere ana te Karauna kore atu ana mo te hui ki Komiti i muri iho. Kāore rawa te Karauna e whakawhiti kōrero, i aronui atu ki ngā rautaki hoko whenua a te Komiti, tērā e hiahia ana ki te hoko ko ētahi wāhanga whenua. I te tau 1910 e hoko ana te Karauna i ētahi whenua i raro o te poraka whenua o Urewera Reserve.

Ahakoa te ture aukati i te hoko whenua i roto o te Ture Urewera District Native Reserve, hokohia ana o tātau whenua. Takahurihia ana e te Karauna te ture i te tau 1916 kia tareka ai te hoko whenua i roto i tā te Karauna i kī ai he tika, ā, me te hiahia kia whai mana anō wana tauhoko whenua o mua. Tūkarihia ana e te Karauna te hunga rawakore ki te hoko i o rātau whenua mo te moni te take. I tūkinohia ana a Tūhoe e te Karauna, hohou mai ana te toki tapatapahi o te wehi o pākeha ki te hao whenua. He nui ngā tāngata o Tūhoe e mahue kore whenua, ko ngā hōia i hoki mai i te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao. I te tau 1921 kua kitea kō atu i te 345,000 eka o ngā whenua i raro i te Urewera Reserve Block i hokona e te Karauna.

Invasion of Maunapōhatu, 1916

Why did the Crown invade Maunapōhatu in 1916?

Armed police invaded Maunapōhatu in April 1916 to arrest Rua Kēnana on liquor licensing charges and a charge of having resisted arrest on those charges in February 1916.

What did the Crown have against Rua?

There were other factors behind the invasion. Police Commissioner Cullen and his Minister, Herdman, loathed Rua because he discouraged Tūhoe from enlisting to fight in World War One, and he was suspected of making pro-German statements at a time when this was considered as treason or ‘mutiny’. They wanted to make an example of him.

Rua was seen as useful to the Crown from 1908 to 1910, when they manipulated his desire to raise funds to develop Maunapōhatu to open up the entire Urewera Reserve to uncontrolled individual purchasing. Once purchasing was in full swing, Rua was no longer useful to the Crown.

Rua sought to uphold the principle of ‘kotahi te ture mo ngā iwi e rua’ when it came to the control of the liquor trade at Waimana and Maungapōhatu. He saw the liquor laws as discriminating against Māori. When he ignored the liquor laws he was prosecuted in 1911 and sent to prison for several months. He was prosecuted again and sent to prison in 1915.

After he was released from prison the Crown used a suspended sentence from an earlier prosecution to issue a fresh arrest warrant. Rua was not clearly informed about the suspended sentence and told two policemen in February 1916 he could not come to Court about it until after the cocksfoot grass seed harvest was over. The Magistrate saw this as contempt of court, and in Rua’s absence sentenced him to another prison term.

What happened at Maunapōhatu in April 1916?

A contingent of 70 armed police invaded Maunapōhatu on 2 April 1916 to arrest Rua. It was a Sunday so the arrest on a liquor charge was illegal: the entire basis of the invasion was wrong in law. The first two columns of police to arrive were welcomed and treated as manuhiri. Police Commissioner Cullen led the third column and ignored the welcome, rudely riding his horse right on to the marae and took Rua into custody.

Rua urged the people not to resist but with so many armed police creating so much tension, a gun was bound to be fired. The police claim not to know who fired the first shot, but once it was heard chaos erupted. Some Tūhoe grabbed their guns and fired back as the people fled. As a result Te Maipi and Rua’s son, Toko Rua, were killed. The police claimed this was during a gunfight but medical evidence and Tūhoe testimony point to the men being executed after they were wounded and captured. Other men were wounded, including a few policemen. The two dead men were hastily buried by police without a tani, and Cullen then prevented the coroner from examining the bodies, so there was never an inquest into how they died. In the aftermath, the police stole cash, property, and taonga. Tamaikoha’s flag (Kotahi Te Ture mo Nā Iwi E Rua) was taken and used as evidence of Rua’s ‘sedition’. Some women were detained at Maunapōhatu.

What happened after the invasion?

Rua and 30 other men were detained at Maunapōhatu, but only he and 4 others were charged. The charges against all the men except Rua were later withdrawn or dismissed, and only Rua was tried on charges that included sedition. His trial in 1916 lasted 47 days, which was then the longest criminal trial in New Zealand (a record that stood until 1977).

Rua was cleared by the jury of all charges, except one. They did not agree on the charge of resisting arrest in February 1916, so issued a verdict of ‘guilty of moral resistance’.

The Court gave Rua a harsh sentence of 1 year’s hard labour plus 18 months imprisonment. The jury took the very rare step of publicly disagreeing with the sentence as far too harsh, and said that they did not think the police evidence had any credibility. They also called for an inquest into the deaths. Decades later some police admitted to having colluded to make sure their evidence would not lead to them being charged with manslaughter for the deaths they had caused. Tamaikōha’s flag was taken by the police but was not returned. It was later given by them to the Auckland Museum. The Maungapōhatu community was impoverished by the huge costs of the trial, and had to sell off livestock and land interests to clear their debts. They pleaded with the Crown for help, but it thought any help it gave might be seen by the public as an admission of the wrongs it had been committed at Maunapōhatu. Instead of providing aid, it suggested that if they needed money they should sell even more land.

He aha ai I urutomohia a Maunapōhatu i te tau 1916?

I whakaekehia a Maunapōhatu i te marama o Aperira i te tau 1916 ki te mauhere i a Rua Kēnana, mo ngā whakapae he hoko waipiro, ā, me tōna ātete kia mauherehia aia i te marama o Pēpuere 1916.

He aha ngā hara a Rua ki te Karauna?

Nā te whakapae a te Kai Komihana Pirihimana a Cullen me tana Minita Herdman, nā Rua te whakahau kia Tūhoe kia kaua rātau e rēhita mo te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao, ā, me tō rātau whakapae hoki i te tautoko a Rua i te whakanui aia i te hanaga a te Tiamana. I tēnei whakapae mēhia ana e rātau he tutū he whakatumatuma nō Rua me whakawhiuhia aia mo ēnei mahi āna, hei tauira mā te katoa.

I ngā tau 1908 ki te tau 1910 rāpoi hia ana a Rua e te Karauna i to rātau tautoko ki tā Rua e hiahia ana kia hoko i ētahi pito whenua. Nā tana hiahia ki te mahi moni hei whakapakari i tana hāpori a Maunapōhatu. I te hīmatahana o te hoko haere, koina te kaihoro whenua hana o te Karauna mahi mārika ana kia hokona e rātau nā whenua.

Pupuri ana e Rua ngā mātāpono o te kōrero ‘kotahi te ture mo ngā iwi e rua’ hei tautāwhi i āna mahi tauhokohoko waipiro i te takiwā o te Waimana me Maunapōhatu. Inā he rerekē o Te Ture Waipiro ko te pākeha anahe e āhei ana ki te hoko. Tāhorehore atu ana a Rua ki tēnei ture, i konei ka whakawāhia aia i te tau 1911 ka mauherehia ana mo ētahi marama, ā, whakawāhia ana i te tau 1915 ka mauherehia.

Ka tukuna mai ki waho, ka kitea e te Karauna tēra kāore i tutuki i ā ia ētahi hara o mua, ka tukuna te kōrero kia mauherehia. Ka tuku na pirihimana hei kawe i te kōrero kia te Rua, kāore i tika te whakamārama o te kōrero ki ā ia, kī ake ana e ia taihoa aia e haere kia oti te hauhake mai i wana hua whenua. I te kore o te Rua i tana kēhi ka whakatauhia e te Kooti kia kotahi tau aia i ro whakareherehere.

He aha ngā āhuatanga i tau ki runga o Maunapōhatu i te marama o Aperira 1916?

Ka whakaeke te ope 70 o ngā pirihimana ki runga o Maunapōhatu i te 2 o Aperira te tau 1916 ki te mauhere i a te Rua. He Rātapu taua rangi nā, he rā tapu ki te hoko waipiro, inā te hanga hē o te haramai a te Karauna. Ka whakaeke mai ngā ope tuatahi, tuarua o ngā pirihimana, ārahihia mai ana ki runga i te marae, whakaritehia rātau ki tahi manuhiri nui, ka manaakihia rātau. Katahi ka whakaeke ko te ope tuatoru, ko te Kai Komihina ko Cullen te kai ārahi, urutomo mai ki runga i te marae ma runga i tana hoiho, mauhere ana ia te Rua.

Nā te Rua tonu te whakahau ki tana iwi kia kaua e whakapataritari ki te pirihimana, heoi he mau pū mai nō ngā pirihimana, ka tupu te āwangawanga, ka pupū ake te riri. Pakū mai ana te pū, rere ana ngā matā, ka korara te iwi, ko ētahi Tūhoe i rere ki ō rātau pū, e ai ki tā te pirihimana, kāore i te mōhiohia nāwai te pū tuatahi i pakū. Koirā te whara hanga o Te Maipi me te tamaiti a te Rua, arā a Toko, ka mate i te matā. E whakapae ana te pirihimana nā te pakū o ngā pū i taotū ai te tokorua nei. Ēngari e ai ki tā Tūhoe he mea kōhuruhia rāua e ngā

pirihimana ki te pū. He nui ngā tāne i taotū, he pirihimana ētahi. Ka tāpukehia tikanga kore te tokorua nei e ngā pirihimana, ā, nā Cullen te kī kia kaua rāua e tirotirohia e te kai Tiro-Tūpapaku, nō reira i mate hara kore rāua. I muri mai o te pakanga nei, i whānako e nā pirihimana nā moni, rawa, taona ā te iwi. I heria te haki a Tamaikōha (Kotahi te Ture mo ngā Iwi e Rua) hei whakamahi mā te kēhi whakawā a te Rua. Ko ētahi o nā wāhine e mauhere hara kore i Maunapōhatu.

Muri mai o te urutomo, i aha rātau?

Kōatu i te 30 nā tāne me te Rua i mauherehia i Maunapōhatu, ēnari e 4 noaiho rātau i whakawhiuhia. Heoi, nō muri mai ka whakakorea ngā whakawhiu ki runga i nā tane, hāuna a te Rua, whakawhiuhia aia mo te whakatumatuma. Ka whakawāhia aia i te tau 1916, neke atu i te 47 ngā rangi e whakahaerehia ana tēnā kēhi (e ai ki te kōrero koina rawa te kēhi roa rawa tana whakahaere ā pau noa te tau 1977). Ka whakatauhia e te rōpu whakawā kotahi te whakawhiu ka utaina ki runga i a te Rua, ko te ātete i te mauhere a te ture, ko ētahi whakahiu he mea whakakore e rātau. Kātahi whakahē hia e te rōpu whakawā i te whakatau a te Kooti i ūtaina ki runga i a te Rua, he roa rawa tana whakawhiu ki rō whare herehere, ā, karekau i hānai nui ngā kōrero a te pirihimana i eke rawa ki te nui o tēnā whakawhiu. Whakahauhia e rātau kia whakaritea he whakawā ki roto i te mate o te tokorua nā. Nō muri noa mai ka whakapuakina mai e ētahi pirihimana tēra i rūkahuhia e rātau a rātau kōrero, meikore kei tūpono kitea nā rātau i mate ai te tokorua na. Kore rawa te haki a Tamaikōha i whakahokia atu, ēngari he mea hoatu ki te whare taonga o Akarana. Mahue pōhara mai te nohohana kāinga o Maunapōhatu, hokohokona ana ngā kararehe me ētahi whenua hei utu i ngā tāwēwē ki te Kooti. I toro te rina ki te Karauna meikore ka tuku tautoko mai rātau hei āwhina ki te waha i ngā tāwēwē, ēngari auware ake. I runga i to rātau pōhēhē kai tirohia mai tēnei tono āhua he whakapāhā ana te Karauna mo ana hara ki runa o Maunapōhatu, hēoi ko to rātau whakahau kia rātau kia hokona o rātau whenua e whiwhi moni ai rātau.

Urewera Consolidation Scheme, 1921–1927

What was Urewera Consolidation Scheme?

Consolidation schemes were a Crown solution to titles that were turned into a mess because of its policies. Consolidation schemes were supposed to be for the mutual benefit of Māori land owners and the Crown but always worked in the Crown’s favour.

In the Urewera Reserve the Crown had over half the individual interests but it did not have all the interests in a single block. As the interests were undivided, neither Tūhoe nor the Crown could point to any piece of land to which they had the title.

The Crown’s solution was to separate out its interests from Tūhoe’s, and consolidate the scattered Tūhoe interests into compact whanau-based titles that they could develop and farm, and which included areas of importance to them (like settlements or wahi tapu). Tūhoe agreed to consolidation because the Crown promised it would be to our benefit, it would bring an end to purchasing, the Crown would build roads to connect our new titles to other districts, and we would get secure surveyed titles that we could do with as we pleased, free from Crown interference

After 25 years of uncertainty, turmoil, restrictions on land use, and conflict over the Urewera Reserve, it seemed like a good offer. The land was “whakamoana’d” and this was the only option offered by the Crown to get it back.

How was Consolidation supposed to work?

The Crown put a money value on the individual interests in each block. Then it could move Tūhoe land interests around the Urewera Reserve and group scattered individual interests in several blocks into a single location equal in value to those scattered interests. This could result in the loss of traditional connections to some land, if an individual Tūhoe with rights in several blocks ended up with consolidated interests in only one block. Most Tūhoe had not sold all off their interests and some still had interests in several blocks due to their customary rights and connections across Te Urewera.

How did the Urewera Consolidation Scheme work in reality?

It was a disaster for Tūhoe but profitable for the Crown – yet another betrayal of the promise of the Urewera Reserve. Consolidation worked heavily in favour of the Crown and its irrational desire to get more land for settlement. Just a few years earlier it had known there was very little land in the Urewera Reserve suitable for Pākeha settlement but was obsessed with getting the land. The Crown broke all of the promises it made at the start of the Consolidation Scheme:

• it kept purchasing land during consolidation
• it imposed excessive survey costs and made us pay for these by giving up 31,500 acres more land
• it did not even complete the high quality surveys Tūhoe had paid for and overcharged them for the low quality surveys it did do
• Tūhoe paid for surveys that benefited the Crown and which it should have paid for
• not one Urewera block emerged from Consolidation with a secure surveyed title, except the Crown’s massive Urewera A block
• it misled Tūhoe into believing they had to pay half of the costs of the roads it had promised (£20,000), when no other New Zealander had to make such a contribution
• it took 40,000 acres of land as an equivalent for road costs, using unfair and unlawful valuations to get more land
• it didn’t even build the roads because they were too expensive and because it was clear there would be no Pākeha settlers coming to the area. This left Tūhoe titles isolated and unable to be economically farmed

As a result of its actions, the Crown increased its share of the Urewera Reserve from 345,000 acres at the start of consolidation in 1921 up to 482,000 acres at the end of Consolidation in 1927.

We lost Waikaremoana in the Consolidation Scheme’s exchanges, as well as the land taken for surveys and road (on top of already having lost Te Whaiti, Manuoha, and Paharakeke).

Having started with 656,000 acres when the 1896 Act proclaimed the Urewera Reserve as an inviolate protectorate, Tūhoe were left with 105,000 acres spread over 200 small unsurveyed blocks with little road access.

Tūhoe gave land for roads: shouldn’t they get the land back if the roads weren’t made?

Tūhoe tried to get back the 40,000 acres they had paid for roads that the Crown promised, but then failed to build.

After decades of protest, the Crown offered back £100,000 in 1957. This was less than the £20,000 value put on the land in 1921 plus interest, and certainly did not compensate Tūhoe for the wider economic losses they had suffered due to the lack of roads up the Whakatāne and Tauranga river valleys to Maungapōhatu and Ruatāhuna. The Crown could have returned the land to each of the blocks it had been taken from but by 1957 it wanted to establish the National Park on that land, not return it to Tūhoe, so it was the cash or nothing.

He aha te rautaki Whakakotahi i a Urewera?

Ko te pūtake ake o tēnei rautaki a te Karauna tērā ki te Whakakotahi i ngā taitara whenua o Te Urewera. Otirā me tana hiahia kia rite ngātahi ngā whai pānga whakahaere i te whenua, ēngari i eke rawa ki tā te Karauna i hiahia ai, kaua I tā Tūhoe.

I raro i te ture Urewera Reserve, i tata riro i te Karauna te nuinga o ngā whenua ki raro i mana o te Urewera Reserve, tae atu ki ngā pānga whenua motuhake. I uaua ai i ētahi wā nā te mea he ōrite nō te whai pānga o te Tūhoe ki o te Karauna.

Ko tā te Karauna i tūmanako tēra kia noho wehe mai tōna mana whai pānga ki to Tūhoe, kia whakakotahihia ngā pānga o Tūhoe ka whakatōpu ki tahi whenua rāhui mōna noaiho, otirā me ngā wāhi tapu ki a rātau, ka riro ai mā rātau tonu hei whakahaere e hanga pāmu (pēnei i ngā whakatatungā tiriti). Ka whakaae a Tūhoe, i runga i te ōāti a te Karauna ka noho wehe ōna ture, ka riro a Tūhoe ma tōna mana motuhake e whakahaere i ōna whenua me ōna kaupapa, e kore te hoko whenua, ka rūri i runga i te tika i tā Tūhoe i mohio ai.

Kua pau te 25 tau ka whakaaro ake a Tūhoe koinei te huarahi hei whai ma mātau, kua pau ngā tau e noho pōkau ana a Tūhoe i runga i ōna whenua. Ka whakaaro ake koinei he huarahi e anga whakamua, me whakamoana ka whakakotahi i te whenua.

Ka pehea te whakahaere I te Whakakotahitanga?

Ka wāriuhia e te Karauna ngā pānga whenua motuhake. Kātahi ka kohikohi i ngā

pānga o ngā whenua o Tūhoe ki te hāonga kotahi, ka wāriu ki tāna e hiahia ai. Heoi, ko te mate ka motu te taura here whānaungatanga o Tūhoe ki ōna whenua, ka whakakotahi te mana o te tangata whai pānga ki ētahi whenua ki te whenua kotahi.He āhua nui tonu ngā Tūhoe kāore i hoko o rātau pānga whenua, he nui tonu te hunga whiwhi whenua nā runga i ngā hono whakapapa.

He pēhea nei ngā whakahaere i ngā Whakakotahi i a te Urewera?

Ko te Karauna i whai hua, ko Tūhoe mahue mai ana i roto i te pōkaikaha. Ko te Karauna i whiwhi i ngā Whakakotahitanga o Te Urewera, i whiwhi i nui i te whenua i riro mai i ā ia. Ahakoa tana mōhio e kore rawa te pākeha i noho i runga i ngā whenua i roto o te Urewera Reserve, ka whakatangatanga tonu ia kia riro I ā ia ngā whenua. Rūkahu ana te Karauna, pakaru ana ngā ōāti i tūmanakohia e ia ki a Tūhoe i roto i te Whakakotahitanga o te Urewera:

• i te wā o te whakakotahitanga, i te kaha tonu tana hoko whenua
• ka rūria te whenua ahakoa te nui o te utu, he whenua ka riro hei utu I te tāwēwē
• kāore i tutuki i ā ia tana ōāti kia rūria te whenua i runga i te tika, utua ana ko ngā mahi taunanena
• utua kē hia ana e Tūhoe ko ngā rūri ka whai hua ko te Karauna kē
• kore rawa ngā pānga o te Urewera i tika te rūri, i tika rānei te whakawhiti, hāunga ō te Karauna o te Urewera A
• rūkahuhia a Tūhoe e te Karauna e mea ana me utu (£20,000) rātau i ngā whakamahi i te rori, ahakoa kāore karekau ētahi iwi o te motu i pēneihia
• murua ana e rātau neke atu i te 40,000 whenua hei utu mo ngā mahi i te rori, mahi nā rātau ki te heri i ngā whenua
• ā he aha rā ka whakakore e rātau ngā mahi hanga i te rori, nā runga i te whakapae kua mohio e kore te Pākeha e noho ki ēnei rohe, ahakoa kua oti i ā ia te whānako i ngā whenua. Waiho mai ana a Tūhoe i roto i te pōkau kāore rawa i tāea e rātau te whakapakari i te ōhanga

Nā tēnei āhua ka piki te pānga whai mana whenua o te Karauna i roto i te Urewera Reserve i te tau 1921 e 345,00 eka te nui, taka rawa mai ki ngā mahi Whakakotahi i te tau 1927 ka eke ō rātau pānga ki te 482,00 eka.

Nā te Rautaki Whakakotahitanga ki te rūri me te hanga rori i riro ai te nui o Waikaremoana (ā me Te Whāiti, Manuoha, me Pāharakeke). I te waihangatanga o te Urewera Reserve Ture 1896 e 656,000 eka tana nui, ā no muri mai riro ana i a Tūhoe ko ōna whenua 105,00 eka me ētahi 200 pānga whenua kāore kau i rūrihia.

I te mea he mea hoatu ētahi whenua mo te hanga i te rori, kāore e kore me hoki whenua mai?

I whakamātau a Tūhoe kia whakahokia mai ōna whenua 40,000 eka i utu ki te Karauna hei hanga i te rori, ēngari tē tāea.

Ka tau ngā rau tau e pakanga ana a Tūhoe kia whakahokia mai te whenua, I te tau 1957 ka kohahia e te Karauna he £100,000. He konakona noa tēnei, e kore e rite rawa ki ngā whiu, me ngā pēhitanga i tau ki runga i a Tūhoe me tōna ōhanga, nā te kore rori ki ngā awa o Whakatāne me Tauranga ki Ruatāhuna me Maungapōhatu i noho pōhara ai. Ka mahue te whakahoki a te Karauna I te whenua ki a Tūhoe, ēngari i te tau 1957 e hangaia ana he National Park ki runga i ngā whenua, nō reira hei mate atu a Tūhoe ki te toro i tana ringa ki te moni.

Waikaremoana, 1921–1971

What happened to the Waikaremoana block in the Urewera Consolidation Scheme?

Not one share in the Waikaremoana block was sold to the Crown before the Consolidation Scheme started in 1921. It was the only 100% Tūhoe block left, so it was not supposed to even be in the Consolidation Scheme.

The Crown wanted Waikaremoana block as a reserve to protect the lake catchment, which it wanted to exploit for hydro-electricity. From 1913 the Crown threatened to take the land for scenery preservation and water catchment protection. Facing yet another confiscation of land at Waikaremoana, Tūhoe adopted a new strategy. They insisted the Crown include the block in the Consolidation Scheme.

If the block was in the Consolidation Scheme, some of the owners who lived to the north in the Urewera Reserve could exchange their shares at Waikaremoana for shares the Crown held in the blocks to the north. That way they could secure a larger consolidated title where they actually lived. Very few people lived on the Waikaremoana block.

How did the Crown end up with ALL of the Waikaremoana block?

The Crown used an unlawful and unfair valuation of 6 shillings per acre for Waikaremoana block, so those Tūhoe hoping to exchange their shares there for interests in better quality and more expensive land to the north had to sell more shares to get a new title to the north worth having.

Ngāti Kahungunu owned about one-quarter of the shares, because the Crown had allowed them to appeal the Urewera Commission’s award to Tūhoe. On appeal, the Native Land Court wrongly included Ngāti Kahungunu in the title, but they didn’t want to exchange their shares, so they sold them outright.

The Crown paid Ngāti Kahungunu 15 shillings per acre for their Waikaremoana shares, far more than Tūhoe received. Some Tūhoe (Ngāti Ruapani) who lived at southern Waikaremoana did not want to exchange their shares into the Urewera Reserve because they wanted more land south of the lake.

To satisfy them, the Crown agreed to pay them 15 shillings per acre as well, and use some of this money to purchase some private land to add to their small reserves at Te Kopani and Heiotahoka. The price of 15 shillings per acre was also based on an unlawful and unfair valuation.

The Crown failed to buy the private land it had promised Tūhoe at southern Waikaremoana, and left them with just 607 acres of small isolated lakeside reserves around the northern shore. They were impoverished and virtually landless.

The Crown also failed to even pay Tūhoe at Waikaremoana the 15 shillings per acre it agreed to. Instead it paid them an equivalent in debentures. This meant they were paid a low rate of interest on the purchase price for 10 years, and then they would get the full purchase price.

Unbelievably, the Crown did not pay the interest it owed, then paid it late, and then manipulated the terms of the debentures to its own advantage. It lowered the agreed interest rate, lowered it again, and then re-invested the money without the consent of Tūhoe at Waikaremoana.

This was done at a time when Tūhoe at Waikaremoana were suffering through the Depression and from virtual landlessness. The purchase money was not paid out by the Crown until 1957.

What happened to Lake Waikaremoana during the Urewera Consolidation Scheme?

The Lake was not included in the Urewera Reserve, even though it should have been as it was within the boundaries of the Reserve and within the boundaries of Te Whitu Tekau.

As the Lake was not in the Reserve, it was left out of the Consolidation Scheme, but the Crown was after it all the same. In 1911, the Crown started looking at the hydro-electricity potential of the Lake. In 1913, Tūhoe claimed title to the bed of the Lake in the Native Land Court.

In 1918, the Native Land Court awarded the title to Tūhoe (who got 72% of the shares) and Ngāti Kahungunu (who got 28%). Ngāti Kahungunu did not have customary rights to the Lake but were included because the Court was misled by the title to the southern Waikaremoana blocks, which were confiscated from Tūhoe in 1875 and wrongfully awarded to Ngāti Kahungunu kāwanatanga. It was also misled by earlier Native Land Court awards, following appeals from the Urewera Commission affecting the Waikaremoana, Manuoha, and Paharakeke blocks.

The Crown appealed the 1918 title award, saying Māori could not own lakes. The Crown was wrong in law, but it used its position to impose numerous delays to its appeal, meaning Tūhoe’s title to the lake was not finalised. The Crown appeal was finally heard in 1944, and of course it lost. It had 10 years to appeal to a higher court but waited until 1954 before giving up and allowing title to the Lake to issue to Tūhoe and Ngāti Kahungunu.

How did the Crown get a lease of the Lake?

From 1911 to 1954 the Crown trespassed on the lake bed against Tūhoe’s wishes. It put hydro-electric installations on the lake bed, dumped rocks on it to plug leaks, and dug tunnels to take water. The Crown also lowered the lake bed by about five metres, damaging the fisheries and mauri of the Lake.

The Crown trespassed on the exposed lake bed. It built part of State Highway 38 on the dry lake bed, placed National Park buildings there, and lake users trespassed on the lake bed to get to the water. From 1954 the Crown pressured Tūhoe to sell the Lake but they would not sell, eventually agreeing to a lease. Tūhoe owned the lake bed but their rights as owners had already been ignored, so a lease was the best option to keep the Lake in their ownership.

The Crown would not agree to the rent Tūhoe sought but finally in 1967 it got a proper valuation which confirmed the rent should have been far higher than what the Crown offered. The valuation still excluded the value of the electricity taken from the Lake and Tūhoe have still never been paid for this.

Using the 1967 valuation, a lease was agreed in 1971 between the Crown and the Tūhoe and Ngāti Kahungunu owners, and the Lake Waikaremoana Act 1971 was passed. This also established the Tūhoe-Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board to receive the rent.

No back-rent has ever been paid for the 60 years of Crown trespass on the Lake or the uses it made of the lake bed before 1971.

Waikaremoana, 1921–1971

I ahahia ngā whenua o Waikaremoana i raro I te Rautaki Whakakotahi i a te Urewera?

I o te waihanga tanga o te whakaaro ki te Whakakotahi i a te Urewera i te tau 1921, karekau he whenua o Waiakaremoana i hokona ki te Karauna. Koinei noa te wehenga whenua motuhake ake no Tūhoe, nō reira tōna tikanga kāre he e uru ki roto i te Whakakotahitanga.

I te hiahia te Karauna ki te pupuri i raro i tētahi rāhui mana tiaki, inā te hiahia ki te whakamahi hei kōwaro hiko. I te tau 1913 i te hiahia te Karauna ki te muru i te whenua hei whakamahi māna i rāro i te mana ātawhai hei wāhi tirotiro. Kātahi ka maranga ake ko te kōrero a Tūhoe ki te whakahau i te Karauna kia whakauru e rātau tēnei pito whenua ki raro i te Rautaki Whakakotahitanga kia kore ai e riro.

Mehemea i whakatōpuhia mai ki raro i te Rautaki Whakakotahi ka tareka e te hunga whai pānga i te raki o te Urewera Reserve te tuari i ō rātau pānga i roto o Waikaremoana ki ō ngā whenua i raro o te Karauna. Mā reira e tāea ai e rātau te whai mana ki runga i ō rātau whenua. Kua korekore haere ngā tangata noho i runga i ngā whenua o Waikaremoana.

He aha rawa i riro ai te Karauna i te katoa o Waikaremoana?

E hoko ana e te Karauna ōna pānga mo te 6 hirini ā eka ki te hunga e tuari ana I ō rātau pānga i Waikaremoana, nō reira ma te nui o wo rātau eka e tuari hia ana ka nui ake o rātau whenua whai pānga ki te taha raki o te Urewera.

I hē noa te uru mai o Ngāti Kahungunu ki roto o Waikaremoana i ngā āhuatanga Kooti Whenua i te pīrahanga i te tono a Tūhoe mo te Kōmihana Urewera. Ka raua mai e te Kooti Whenua ki roto o tēnei whenua, ka kore ai hoki a Ngāti Kahungunu e hiahia ki te whakawhiti ki te kōmihana, ka hokona mai e te Karauna o rātau pānga.

Ka utua e te Karauna a Kahungungu te 15 hirini ā eka mo ō rātau whenua ki Waikaremoana, nui ake i tā Tūhoe. Ko ētahi o Ruapani e noho ana i te taha tonga o Waikaremoana kāre i hiahia ki te whakawhiti i o rātau pānga ki te Urewera Reserve, nā runga i tō rātau hiahia kia whānui ake o rātau pānga ki te moana.

Nōreira kia eke ki tā te Karauna i hiahia ai, ka hokona mai e rātau na whenua mo te 15 hirini ā eka, kātahi ka tapiri mai i ētahi whenua ki tō rātau pito whenua tōpu ki nga whenua o Te Kopani me te Heiotahoka. I hē te wariuhanga o te 15hirini ki ngā whenua.

Kāore i tutuki i te Karauna tana ōāti kia Tūhoe tēra e hoko mai ana i ētahi whenua i te taha tonga o Waikaremoana, mahue mai ana ko te 607 eka ki ngā tahataha o te moana i te raki. He whenua pōhara, rawakore.

Kāore hoki i tutuki i ā ia tana ōāti mo te utu i a Tūhoe tana 15 hirini ā eka. Ka tōmuri tana utu ia Tūhoe, kāore i whakawhiwhia te katoa o ngā moni. He maramara noa i whakawhiwhia kia Tūhoe.

I hanga ngoikorehia a Tūhoe e te Karauna, korekore rawa i utu i tāna i ōāti ai ki ā ia. Mahi mārika rawa te Karauna ki te waiho i ngā moni he wāhi kē. Nō te tau 1957 kātahi anō a Tūhoe ka kite te hua o ngā moni tēra i ōāti hia e te Karauna.

I ahahia te moana o Waikaremoana i te waihangatanga o te Rautaki Whakakotahitanga?

Karekau te moana i raua mai ki roto i te Urewera Reserve, ahakoa i roto ki te rohe o te Urewera Reserve me te rohe pōtae o te Whitu Tekau. He mea nā te Karauna ki te mahi kia waiho mai ki waho o te Reserve me te Rautaki Whakakotahi, hai whakamahi māna ake. I te tau 1911 ka hīmata te titiro a te Karauna ki te kōwaro hiko mā te wai. I te tau 1913 ka kēreme a Tūhoe i tana tono mo te papa o te moana ki te Kooti Whenua.

I te tau 1918 i whakawhiwhi e te Kooti Whenua te taitara pānga whenua kia Tūhoe (i tōna 72%), ā, ka whakawhiwhi kia Ngāti Kahungunu he pānga (%28 ) te nui. I uru noaiho mai a Ngāti Kahungunu nā te mea i kōrero tekahia te Kooti Whenua nō rātau ke tētahi wāhanga o te whenua i te taha tonga o te moana, ēngari he mea murua tēnei whenua i a Tūhoe i te tau 1875, ā, ka whakawhiwhiā ki a Ngāti Kahungunu kāwanatanga. Ā he mea kōrero tekahia te Kooti Whenua mo ngā whenua a te Komihana o te Urewera ki ngā whenua o Waikaremoana, Manuoha me Pāharakeke.

I te tau 1918 ka pīrahia e te Karauna te taitara e mea ana, ka āhei te mana o te Māori ki te moana. Ka tohea e te Karauna tēnei take, whakatōroa i te tono a Tūhoe ki te moana. Nō te tau 1944 ka whakawāhia tēnei take, ka hinga te Karauna. Nō te tau 1954 ka pīrahia e te Karauna tēnei take ki te Kooti Teitei, ka hinga rātau, whakawhiwhiā ana te taitara kia Tūhoe me Ngāti Kahungunu.

He pēhea i riro mai ai terīhi o te moana ki te Karauna?

Mai o te tau 1911 ki te 1954 te tau mahi mai ana te Karauna i tāna i hiahia ai ki runga i te moana, ahakoa te tohe a Tūhoe kia kaua te moana te whāwhāhia, tē whakarongo. Hangaia mai ana ngā kōwaro hiko, taipurupuruhia ana ngā putanga wai, whakahekehia ana te teitei o te wai, pāwherahia ana ngā hua o te moana me te mauri.

Hangaia mai ana e te Karauna tētahi wāhanga o te rori matua ki runga i te papa moana maroke, whakatūhia ana wana whare ki reira. I te tau 1954 ka wero te Karauna i a Tūhoe kia hokona te moana me ōna pānga katoa, tē aro ake, nāwai rā ka whakaae a Tūhoe kia rīhihia e rātau. Mā te rīhi ka āhei ai rātau ki te pupuri i te mana rangatira ki te moana.

Karekau te Karauna i whakaae ki tā Tūhoe whakatau mo tana wāriu o te utu reiti, heoi i te tau 1967 ka wāriuhia te moana, ka kitea tikanga kia nui ake te kaute o te reiti ki tā te Karauna e hiahia ana. Ā kārekau te wāriu rā i titiro ki te wāriu o te hiko e tangoahia mai ana, ā me te aha, kāre anō i utua te kapeneheihana mo tēnei take.

Mai o te whakaputanga o te wāriu i whakaritea mo te moana i te tau 1967 ka waihangahia he whakaaetanga i waenganui i te Karauna me Tūhoe rāua ko Ngāti Kahungunu, ko te puawaitanga mai o te Ture Lake Waikaremoana 1971. Ā, nā tēnei i puta mai ai te Poari o Tūhoe Waikaremaoana hei taunga pukoro mo ngā moni reiti.

Kāre anō i whai whakaaro, i utu kapeneheihana hia mo ngā 60 tau e kaihaumi I te moana i mua o te whakataunga o te tau 1971.

Urewera National Park, 1954 & 1957

How did the Crown get the land for the Urewera National Park?

The Crown was awarded the Urewera A block (482,000 acres) at the end of the Urewera Consolidation Scheme. The Crown’s land included interests it had purchased from Tūhoe as well as land taken for survey costs and road costs. The Crown’s award was never suitable for Pākeha settlement, so in 1954 and 1957 it was set aside as the Urewera National Park.

The Lake was added to the National Park when the Crown secured the lease of the Lake in 1971, but the Lake’s Tūhoe owners were not consulted about this.

What impact did the National Park have on Tūhoe?

We were and are severely affected by the establishment of a National Park on land surrounding their isolated enclaves of Tūhoe land, but they were never consulted about the establishment of the Park.

The Crown has imposed severe restrictions on the uses Tūhoe can make off their land because that land is beside the National Park. Logging valuable native timber on Tūhoe land has been closely restricted since the Park was established but Tūhoe have never been compensated for loss of income from their timber, even though the law has provided for compensation since 1961, and Pākeha land owners in other districts received compensation.

Customary Tūhoe use of land in the National Park is also severely restricted and controlled by the Crown. This includes Crown regulation or restriction of hunting, use of horses and dogs, and gathering of traditional foods and medicinal plants.

Tūhoe have never had a guaranteed place on the various s that govern the National Park, and their token membership has only ever been at the Crown’s discretion.

Tūhoe values and aspirations are not reflected in the management of the Park, and Tūhoe have gained little in economic benefit from a Park established on land wrongfully taken from them.

He pehea i riro ai i te Karauna te whenua mo te Urewera National Park?

I te mutunga o ngā kaupapa o te Rautaki Whakakotahi i whakawhiwhiā te whenua o Urewera A (482,000 eka). Ko ēnei whenua he tōwaitanga o ngā whenua hoko, muru, rūri, hanga i te rori. Katahi whakatūhia e te Karauna kia waihanga ko te Urewera National Park i te tau 1954-1957 hei whakatatū i āna nawe. I tana rīhihana i te moana i te tau 1971, ka whakauru mōhuhia e te Karauna te moana o Waikaremoana ki te National Park, karekau i wānanga me ngā uri o te moana.

He aha ngā whakawhiu i tau ki runga i a Tūhoe i te whakaarahanga o te National Park?

He nui ngā pā kinotanga o te hangaiatanga o te National Park, nā te karapoti o te Park i wo tātau ake whenua, ka mutu korekore rawa i whaiwhakaaro mai ki a tātau.

Nā tēnei i whāiti noa ngā whakahaere ki runga i wō mātau ake whenua. Kārekau i āhei ki te mira rākau māori, ā, kāre anō i utu te kapeneheihana mo ta rātau mira i wō mātau ake rākau, ahakoa te ture kapeneheihana i te tau 1961, ko ngā pākeha noaiho i whai hua.

Kua whāiti noa ngā whakahaere i runga i wō mātau ake whenua, nā ngā ture a te Karauna, poka kē mai ki runga i wo mātau whenua. Pēnei i te haere puihi ki te mahi kai, kararehe, mahi kai māori.

Kāore a Tūhoe i whakawhiwhia ki ngā taumata teitei i runga i ngā Poari whakahaere.

Kāre ngā mātāpono me ngā whāinga o te Te Urewera e aro nui ana ki ngā tūmanako me ngā moemoeā o Tūhoe, kāre hoki he whaiputanga mai ki te ohanga me te oranga nui o Tūhoe.

1958 Tūhoe Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board

What was the Tūhoe Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board?

The Tūhoe Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board, the Trust Board became Tūhoe’s first Iwi Authority.  Constituted in 1958 as an amendment to the Māori Trust Boards Act 1955 the Trust Board was established to administer the compensation to Tūhoe for land given by Tūhoe for roading that was never constructed.  The sum of £100,000 plus some interest was paid to the Trust Board as a ‘full and final’ payment discharging the Crown of all claims and demands for the land and the roading.  The first session of the Trust Board was appointed on 25 February 1959, its eleven member represented the Ruatāhuna, Maunapōhatu and Rūātoki divisions.

In 1971 the Waikaremoana division and representation of Waikaremoana beneficiaries on the Board was enabled through the enactment of the Tūhoe Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board. In addition, the Lake Waikaremoana Act 1971 validated the lease to the Crown of Lake Waikaremoana and provided for the administration of the rental by the Tūhoe Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board.  This Act set about a 50 year lease with an annual rental value of $143,000 per year backdated to 1 July 1967. By Tūhoe agreement, Lake Waikaremoana then became part of the Urewera National Park.  The lease expires on 1 July 2017.

What did the Trust Board do?

The principal activity of the first Trust Board was the management of the Trust Boards funds.  In 1967 the Board purchased their first asset, Poronui Station.  This was the first time that Tūhoe had entered into the investment business.  Poronui was later sold and over the years the Trust Board purchased commercial properties, shares, joint ventures and fishing quotas.

In the early 80s various training and social welfare programmes were rolled out by the government departments with the aim of assisting whānau and hapū by creating work training skills for employment, loans for the establishment of new business to help broaden the Tūhoe economic base and promoting better hapū organization and management in the interests of hapū on behalf of their whānau / beneficiaries.

The Trust Board administered a number of land blocks across Tūhoe from the Waikaremoana Reserves in the southern border to Tahora 2G2 in the East to Te Pae o Tūhoe in the West and middle of the rohe. These blocks were later returned to their owners.

The Board was based in Rotorua for just over 50 years and moved to Rūātoki for around two years from 2011 until it was integrated into Tūhoe - Te Uru Taumatua in September 2013.

Who did the Trust Board represent?

The Trust Board was responsible to its beneficiaries, those who are owners and their descendants of specific blocks in the Te Urewera District.  The Department of Social Welfare as it was known then had established a tribal register program requiring the Trust Board to establish a register / roll of beneficiaries. Applicants applied to the Trust Board clearly showing proof of descending from an original owner in one of the blocks of land in the Te Urewera District. The tribal register enabled entitlement decisions. 

The Trust Board was dissolved in 2014 by an Act of Parliament, the Tūhoe Settlement Act 2014.

1962 Tūhoe Tribal Authorities

What are the Tūhoe Tribal Authorities?

Established over 50 years ago, Tūhoe Tribals were created to represent the collective forum of marae and hapū within their area.  A national Māori Council, district Māori councils and Māori executive committees (the tribals) were established by the Māori Community Development Act 1962.  Headed by the national Māori council, this structure was designed to collectivise a national Maori response to government policy and community development at a local level. 

There are four tribals within the Tūhoe rohe, the Eastern Tūhoe Māori Executive Committee now known as Te Waimana Kaaku Tribal representing the Waimana whārua, the Western Tūhoe Māori Executive Committee now Te Komiti o Runga Tribal representing Rūātoki and Waiohau whārua, the Tūhoe Manawarū Tribal Executive Committee now the Manawarū Tribal Authority representing the interests of Ruatāhuna and the Waikaremoana Tribal Committee at Waikaremoana.

What is the role of the Tribals?

Tribals serve as a forum to raise issues relating to marae and hapū at a whārua level.  Tribals have always advocated for the wellbeing of their people in terms of social, cultural and economic development and wellbeing.  Tūhoe Tribals have always been a vehicle for the permanence of Tūhoetana. 

In the 2000s Tribals actively involved themselves at a political level beyond their whārua boundaries.  A focus on the Iwi’s Treaty of Waitangi research and claims set the foundation for the position of Tribals today as central to facilitating not only whārua priorities but also those of the Iwi.  Today the Tribals have developed the first tribal and whārua-led economic development plan.

How do I get involved?

Tūhoe have an important role to plan in the future of their whārua and the Iwi.  Connecting with your hapū and Marae is the first step to doing this.  Hapū inform the Tribals planning.  Attending tribal hui is another way to stay informed.

Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe

What is Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe?

Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe is the cultural and sporting event on the Tūhoe calendar.  Tūhoe from near and far immerse themselves in their Tūhoetana.  Haka, the uniquely Tūhoe style, Tūhoe waiata, Tūhoe reo, Tūhoe tikana all on stage; the result of months of wanana prior to Easter on the sporting fields rugby and netball are fiercely competed.  Debates in te reo on topical issues for Tūhoe are heard on marae throughout the host whārua.  A range of other activities have been added over the years to the weekends programme, some have become permanent fixtures in the event. 

Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe has become an integral part of Tūhoe enabling those who for the first time want to enter the Tūhoe world carefully, those who want to re-enter boots and all, and, those who are yearning for home.  Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe demonstrates that Tūhoetana is prized.

Re-establishing Tūhoetana

Today more than 80% of Tūhoe people live outside of the rohe. From the early 19^th century through land confiscation and other government actions, the Tūhoe people were driven away to live a non-Tūhoe life. The people slowly lost their connections, their tūākiritana, and their Tūhoetana.

Tūhoe leaders recognised the impacts of urbanisation on Tūhoetana, this called forth the Tūhoe Cultural Festival (as it was named), the first held at Mātaatua marae in Rotorua on April in 1971. Now over 40 years since the first hui ahurei, Tūhoe from across the country and abroad descend upon their homeland biennual at Easter weekend. As more generations of Tūhoe are born and raised in the cities, it becomes more difficult to maintain Tūhoetana and the hui ahurei is an event to link whānau to their Tūhoetana.

He aha Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe?

Ia rua tau, i te pekatau o te nahuru, ka tū te hui nui a Iwi o Nāi Tūhoe. He hui whakakotahi ai i nā uri o Tūhoe Pōtiki mai nā tōpito o te ao. He wā whakāra i nā tikanga a Iwi ki runa i te papatūwaewae, whakatakoto i nā kaupapa matua hei tautohe, nā hākinakina whakataetae ā hapū,  he hui whakapikiora mō te huna e noho tawhiti, e noho mokemoke, ā, he tohu whakaaro ki nā kanohi o te ahi kā roa.

He aha te pūtake o te hui ahurei?

I te tau 1971, i tū te Ahurei tuatahi i te marae o Mātaatua ki Rotorua.  I taka te whakāro ki te whakatū hui hei whakakao mai i nā whānau noho tāone, ā, hei whakaoho, hei mau pūmau to rātau Tūhoetana.

Na wero kia Tūhoe I tēnei wā?

E ai ki nā kaikautetana i te tau 2013, waru te kau pae hēneti nā Tūhoe e noho ana i waho atu o te rohe pōtae.  I te rau tau iwa tekau, nā te tokomaha  o nā whānau i nuku ki nā tāone nui kimi mahi ai, a tōna wā, i heke haere te mōhio ki te whakawhiti i whakāro ki te reo me ōna tikana. Koina te take i whakatūhia Te Hui Ahurei ā Tūhoe, hei ronoa mo aua ahuatana. I tēnei takiwā, hora te whenua i nā uri o Tūhoe e whakapakeke whānau ana ki waahi kē, he uaua ake ki te mau i te reo me nā tikana  o Tūhoe.

Tūhoe and the Treaty of Waitangi Tribunal

Tūhoe made its first claim to the Waitangi Tribunal on the 31st March 1987 under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. This was the WAI 36 Claim by James Wharehuia Milroy, Tamaroa Raymond Nikora, and the former Tūhoe Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board. Claims to the Waitangi Tribunal are complaints that the Crown has breached the Treaty of Waitangi by particular actions, inactions, laws, or policies. By these actions Māori have suffered harmful effects as a result.

So what is WAI 894?

WAI 894 is the Combined Record of Inquiry for the Urewera District Inquiry.  All claims made to the Waitangi Tribunal relating to Te Urewera were grouped into one area.  Some 40 claims fall under Wai 894 including Iwi bordering Te Urewera such as Nāti Kahununu, Nāti Awa, Nāti Manawa, Whakatōhea and others. 

Our Tūhoe issues included:

• Eastern Bay of Plenty Raupatu.
• The Maunapōhatu invasion
• Waikaremoana
• Urewera District Native Reserve Act
• Urewera Consolidation Scheme
• Urewera National Park

The former Tūhoe WaikaremoanaTrust Board as a separate claimant raised issues regarding the Native Land Court, rates, native timber, rivers and waterways, Ōhiwa, and environmental impacts.

Nā Rauru o Nā Pōtiki (Nā Rauru), a collective of all hapū of Te Urewera, also lodged claims for Crown breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi.  The establishment of Nā Rauru represented a true return to hapū mana in opposition to the former Trust Board who did not represent all Tūhoe hapū. In addition to the issues above, the claims of Nā Rauru included the social impact, economic deprivation, urbanisation, colonisation, the loss of traditional methods, tikana, kawa and te reo ō Tūhoe.

The Urewera Tribunal was appointed in early 2002 and 11 hearings were held across the rohe between November 2003 and April 2005.  Closing submissions were presented in June 2005 at Rūātoki. The first of four reports were released by the Waitangi Tribunal in April 2009 and the final part released on 20 December 2012.

There are now six parts of the Te Urewera report published by the Waitangi Tribunal, these are a series of pre-publications in broad explanations of the historical claims of the people of Te Urewera.