TAIAROA AND THE CLAIMS OF THE NGAITAHU.

Otago Witness, Issue 1170, 2 May 1874, Page 21

TAIAROA AND THE CLAIMS OF THE NGAITAHU.

The evidence offered in support of the claims of Taiaroa is of a singular character. At the sitting of the Native Lands Court, in Dunedin, in 1868, the Hon. Mr Mantell stated that in making reserves for the Ngaitahu people the rule he adopted was to allow ten acres to each man, woman, and child ; but that he would recommend the Court to award fourteen acres per soul. That, acting according to the instructions of Governor Eyre, he "tried to allow as little as the Natives would take. The reserves I then made were for present wants. I left it to be determined at some future time what allowance should be made them. I often told them if they were not satisfied with my reserves they could appeal to the Government." Four years later he stated, "As regards the first case "—the Otakou block — " it appears, at the time of purchase, promises were made to the Natives of reserves to be selected, after survey of lands, in the proportion defined in the New Zealand Company's scheme ; viz., one section to every ten sections. The Committee will see, by referring to Captain Symond's report, that he states, at the request of the principal agent of the New Zealand Company, he abstained from inserting in the deed of cession, any express stipulation with regard to further reserves. " Further on, he again asserts : "In making these purchases, it was clearly intended that nominally one tenth, but virtually one eleventh, was to be reserved for the Natives." The Hon. Captain Fraser gave some peculiar evidence also before the Committee. He stated : " There was some considerable discussion between the Natives and Colonel Wakefield, about the reserves they wished to have. I think, if I recollect rightly, that it was an ancient burial ground which was insisted on, and ulti- , mately conceded by Colonel Wakefield Mr Jones also stated that the reserve made for the Maoris by Mr Mantell was much larger than the original j reserves insisted on by the Maoris." In an earlier part of his evidence, he stated he believed "that Mr Strode and myself are the only persons in Otago wh© are in favour of handing over the original reuerves to the Natives." His evidence, it should be remembered, is only the recollection of conversations that took place between him and Mr J. Jones. The claimant himself says nothing about the reservation of " tenths " in the Otakou block, confining his statement to unfulfilled promises in Kemp's purchase, but hands in as evidence a valedictory statement made by his father on the 13th Feb- j ruary, 1862, addressed " To all my Tribe, to my Hapu, and to my Son ": — j

" Let me bind these words to your remembrance that they may be impressed on your memory in the future, after I am dead and gone, that you may understand and judge for yourselves respecting the lands that I sold to the Europeans. " The European land purchasers made certain statements in all purchases of lands. "Firstly— Be good to my nation, to the Pakeha, for it was I that brought them to this island, to Te Wai Pounamu, in former years. It was I and some other chiefs that went to Port Jackson and arranged a covenant there, in which we placed the whole of the Island of New Zealand under the sovereignty of the Queen ; and the covenant was drawn up there, and the Governor of the Colony gave a token of honour, also the Queen's flag, to me and Tuhawaiki. The Governor gave us all authority (mana), and to us was the authority over the whole of our island, Te Wai Pounamu. The Queen was also to be our parent (protector), that no other of Her Majesty's subjects, or any Foreign nation, should interfere, or take or sell, or otherwise dispose of our land without our consent given to any other nation. We agreed to these arrangements of the Governor of New South Wales, and that covenant was established. After that was the Treaty of Waitangi, and I and my tribe agreed a second time. " Secondly— After that land purchase commenced m this island, the first land we sold was Otago ; it was sold to Colonel Wakefield. We pointed out all the boundaries, and all stipulations were mentioned to Colonel Wakefield as follows :— ' We said the first payment for this land would be £100,000.' Colonel Wakefield said, ' That is too much, £2400 will be ample, and that is all the cash consideration ; it had better be arranged in this manner, vis,, that one acre in every ten shall be reserved for you.' We agreed, to this, and gaid !-r' You oan have the land according to these terms. 1 We do not know whether these words were written down or not, but all the people present heard these words. These are the places about which we spoke, and stated that we desired to retain Otakou, Taiari, Maranuku, Te jUroro, and other plaoea." , Th« foregoing in the whole oi the evt«

dence that has been collected in support of the claims for "tenths " in the Otakou block. Mr Mantell being absent on the occasion of the purchase, his evidence is almost worthless ; Captain Fraser narrates only what he has heard in desultory conversation ; living natives present at the negotiation, who were examined in Wellington, fail to recollect anything about the promise of the reservation of the " tenths " ; and the claim stands upon the unsupported testimony of Taiaroa the elder alone. His instruction to his people, and the statements it contains, deserve a little attention — for this subject has become so involved that at the present time any person can make almost any statement on the subject with impunity, without fear of contradiction.

His having placed the whole Island under the sovereignty of the Queen, by a covenant with the Governor of New South Wales, is simply nonsense, he not having the power to do so — as the powerful tribes, the Ngatiawa and Ngatitoa, held possession of the northern portion of the Island, and had done so for generations ; keeping the lands of the Ngaitahu as a hunting ground, and the people themselves as a "relish" when wanted. The connection of his tribe with the Treaty of Waitangi may be briefly narrated. On the 13th of June, 1840, Captain John Mas, Commander H.M.S. Herald, writes in his diary as follows :—": — " Arrived off Otago, but so late that we had only time to obtain the signatures of two chiefs who resided near the entrance of the harbour. Taiaroa had gone to Moeraki, I was sorry to hear ; and I did not deem it advisable to enter further into the harbour, where I , was told a young man, a son of Taiaroa, j resides, and whose signature we might otherwise have obtained. " Tuhawaiki had signed it on the 9th, two other natives at Akaroa, and thus ends the connection of the tribe with the treaty. The declaration of sovereignty over the island took place at Cloudy Bay, four days after Taiaroa was sought for at Otago Heads. The Hon. Mr Mantell alludes in his evidence to Captain Symond's report : It would have been more pertinent had he referred to the instructions given him. He waa instructed by Governor Fitzroy, on the 27th February, 1844," to proceed to the Middle Island, and there superintend and assist the agent of the New Zealand Company in effecting the valid purchase of not more than 150,000 acres of available land. To such an extent of land the Crown's right of pre-emption will be waived, upon your report o the validity of the purchase, on certa n conditions. "You will be most careful not to countenance any, even the smallest, encroachment on, or infringement of, existing rights or claims, whether Native or other, unless clearly sanctioned by their legitimate possession You will inform the aboriginal Native population that you are sent to superintend and forward the purchase of lands which they wish to sell ; and that you, on behalf of th 6 Government, will not authorise, nor in any way sanction, any proceedings which are not honest, equitable, and in every way irreproachable." These are the only two clauses in the instructions that at all concern the Native race. If Mr Symonds had arranged with Captain Wakefield to exclude from the deed the mention of tenths, he was acting contrary to his instructions — a course of proceeding not likely for a moment to be tolerated by Mr Clarke, described by Colonel Wakefield as being the real Governor of New Zealand. At this period of the Colony's history, from causes too lengthy to review, the "tenths" had fallen into confusion, and claims were asserted by the Crown to the possession of all Native lands net actually in possession of the aboriginal population. Thus, on the 26th of March of the same year, when Governor Fitzroy in a proclamation waived the right of pre-emption over over certain portions of land, in condition No. 5, he stipulates : "Of all land purchased from the aborigines in consequence of the Crown right of pre-emption being waived, one-tenth part of fair averago value, as to position and quality, is to be conveyed by the purchaser to Her Majesty, her heirs a»d successors, for public purposes, especially the future benefit of the aboriginals." It will thus be plain that the original scheme of reserving "tenths" by the Company, for the sole use of Natives, was by this authority, over certain portions of New Zealand, declared, to have no effeot. In the following month, by a, notice published by Majqr Richmond, it was declared the Governor consented to, waive the right of pre-emption on the part of the Crown in favour of the New Zealand ! Company alone. IJr Symonda, started with Mr Daniel Wakefield on his mission ! on the 21st May, Mr Tuokett having gone from Nelson at an earlier date.

In the first deeds of cession from the Natives to the Company, where " tenths" are reserved, the following olauße was inserted ;—" And the said William Wakefield, on behalf of the said governors, di*

rectors, and shareholders of the New Zealand Land Company, of London, their heirs, ad. and ass., for ever, docs hereby covenant, promise, and agree to and with the said chiefs, that a portion of the land ceded by them, equal to one-tenth part of the whole, will be reserved by the said governors, directors, and shareholders of the New Zealand Land Company, their heirs, ad. and ass. , and held in trust by them for the future benefit of the said chiefs, their families, and heirs for ever." In the second, and subsequent deed?, instead of the word " tenths" the wording appears thus : — "A portion of the land ceded by them, suitable and sufficient for the residence and proper maintenance of the said chiefs," &c, &c. In the deed of purchase of the Otakou block neither of the above clauses appear, but the reserves are defined and accurately described. Were th< 3 re no other evidence to offer in support of the position we have taken, the burden of proof would be on our side. But the testimony of Colonel Wakefield is conclusive. He writes to New Zealand Company from Nelaon at length, commencing by stating that the completion of the purchase of the lands selected by Mr Tuckett for the New Edinburgh settlement " had been obstructed by the bad understanding between Mr Symonds and the Company's agent." " Upon my arrival at Otago I found that Mr Tuckett had left but little to be done beyond completing the purchase of the land, by distributing the payments to the Natives. It remained only to verify the boundaries in the presence of some of the vendors, and of the reserves made by them for themselves and families, in order to prevent as far as possible any future question." "For this purpose Mr Symonds proposed that we should perambulate the boundaries of the block, or so much of them as would enable us to see the principal natural limits of it. That officer, M. G. Clarke, and I, accordingly commenced our journey for that purpose, on the 18th July, accompanied by six natives, deputed by the assembled natives of the district, to point out the boundaries. .... We returned to Otago on the 26th of July. The day after our return we marked out the Government reserve at Taiaroa Head for a pilot and signal station, also the district reserved by the natives, and not included in the purchase. It embraces about four miles frontage on the eastern side of the harbour, the boundary line running across to the sea to the North of Cape Saunders, and comprises at a rough calculation ten thousand acres of land of various descriptions, well wooded, but broken by ranges of high hills. It contains the residences and cultivations of all the natives of the district of Otago, amounting to not more than forty or fifty souls. The deed of conveyance, a copy of which accompanies , this, was prepared by Mr Symonds and Mr Clarke. When the natives were assembled at Hoputai from all parts of the coast to the number of fifty, men, women, and children, the boundaries of the land to be purchased were explained to them, and time was allowed them to talk the matter over, according to their custom ia such transactions, before receiving the payment. They encamped on the spot, waiting the event. .... On the 31st of July Mr Clarke addressed the Natives to the effect that they had now only to receive the payment to complete the transaction for which they had assembled, that they were about to part with the land described in the deed which he would read to them, with all growing on it or under it—that it would be gone from them and their children for ever — that they must respect the white man's land, and that the white man would not touch that reserved by the natives. The deed was then read in Maori, and the Natives agreed to the boundaries and terms mentioned in it. John Tuawaiki then signed it, and wajs followed by all the other chiefs, aud sons, and other owners of la,nd. '* In another portion of his letter^ Colonel Wakefield says, "the native ohiefs, in parting with their unoccupied lands, gave aB their motive for so doing, and as an inducement to us to take possession of them, the conviction they labour under, that in a few yeara they and their tribe will toe. no, more. The affair was conceded, during the forenoon without any disagreeable occurrence, and. I ha,ve never seen any more satisfactory termination of any New Z.ealand bargain." Two yeara later, when the Crown grant was given to the New Zealand Company by Captain Gray, the boundaries of the Native Reserves as cited in the deed of cession, were again inserted — no mention being made of any others, Their united area amounts to about 9300 aores. Although taking no aotive part in the proceedings, Mr Commissioner Spain accompanied Captain Wakefield in his southern journey, and was a spectator of the negotiations. This ourtailed account of a purchase, of land, oonnected with whioh there ia such amass ( of evidence, all tending in the one direo- { tion, will, ft ia to be hoped, satisfy the '

minds of all impartial persons, that the promises made in the cession of the Otakou Block have been fully and honourably discharged.