MEMORIES OF RAIDS BY TE KOOTI

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 24 January 1939, Page 6

MEMORIES OF RAIDS BY TE KOOTI

REVIVED BY NATIVE LAND COURT CASE OWNERSHIP OF TARAWERA BLOCK Memories of the raids in Hawkes Bay of Te Kooti and his Hau Hau warriors will be revived at a special sitting of the Native Land Court in Hastings, on 31st January, when the ownership of the Tarawera Block of 74,664 acres, situated near Te Haroto, will again be reviewed. After the Hau Hau rebellion, part of the Tarawera Block was confiscated to the Crown in 1867, and, as a result of petitions to Parliament, and the passing of special Acts, the Taiawera Block was reallocated to 24 loyal Natives, in whom ownership was finally vested in 1870. Further Parliamentary adjustments followed, and in 1914 the shares of the 24 original grantees were declared to be equal. In 1919 four new owners were admitted to the block, and in 1922 the land was again equally divided, each of the 28 holders having approximately 2323 acres. Meantime those Natives who had originally been excluded from the titles petitioned Parliament for an investigation of the titles and finally the Native Land Amendment and Native Land Claims Adjustment Act was passed in 1924. This Act allowed the Native Land Court to disregard the original grantees and to proceed as if the Native customary rights of the parties still existed. An inquiry was held in Napier by Chief Judge Jones, who admitted into title people of the Ngati Kurupoto, Ngati Maruwahine and Ngati Hineuru, who had at one time owned the land. Since then the relatives of the original grantees have been active in their endeavours to have the question re-opened and the land allocated in the spirit of the 1870 settlement and not on the basis of Native customary rights, as at present.

The family of Te Pohe. descendants of Ngahere, Te Pohe, one of the original grantees, have been particularly insistent upon their rights under the 1870 allocation, and as a result of a petition to Parliament, in September, 1936, have finally secured permission to have the position reviewed by the Court at a sitting in Hastings this month. It is expected that two judges will be present to hear their appeal.