MAORI LANDS

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 11451, 27 February 1931, Page 2

MAORI LANDS

STATE PURCHASE AT WHAKATANE.

INCLUDES LANDING PLACE OF THE MAT ATE.

More than ordinary interest, says tiiePress.'’ ’attaches to the pur-' el rase bv'tho Native Department oi land at the back of Whakatane Borough. and Arming into tlie. hills. The area acquired, which will be utilised with other areas oi Maori land lev one of the development schemes for-'the race, includes’ a historic spot, the landing place of the- Matatu canoe, one ol the famous craH in which the Maori migrated to New Zealand from Hawaiki. It will he possible tb develop fl number of dairy farms from the areas in the scheme, and the sentimental value attached to the locality, and its return to th e Maori after having been confiscated during the Maori wars, will further stimuliate the movement for its utilisation. Ihe actual purchase comprises .over' ‘2OOO acres, wnich had been held by Curt pcans, and the laud is situated between the sea and the rou’d Iroiu Whakatane’ to Ohope Leach. OhOpo Leach is 'full of toheroas. while the foreshores' of Ohnva harbor are noted for their pipi.s and the lagoon is full of mussels,and fish. The land will grow kumeras and potatoes, and the climate - is one of the best in the Bay of Plenty. There is an abundant water supply. ' The purchase has been made of behalf of the Ngatiawa tribe, who have been the custodians ol the landing place of the ancestral canoe. though the actual place has passed out of their possession. It will be returned as a result ol the recent purchase. Sir Apirann N gat a, Native Minister, -explained to a_ correspondent that it comprises haputcraogi, one of the most historic spots in New Zealand. It was the site of Toikairakau's pa. He; was probably the first immigrant ol any standing from Eastern Polynesia to settle in New Zealand, and probably there was no native tribe iir au\ pai t of New Zealand, and certainly none in the Bay of Plenty, but could trace- descent- from this famous ancestor.