PETITION OF RANIERA TUROA AND 595 OTHERS. (No. 260, SESSION II, 1884.)

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1885 Session I, J-01

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1885. NEW ZEALAND.

PETITION OF RANIERA TUROA AND 595 OTHERS. (No. 260, SESSION II, 1884.)

Ordered by the House of Bepresentatives to be printed, 10th July, 1885.

Ki nga Mema o te Whare Whakatakoto Ture me nga Mema o te Whare Runanga Nui o Niu Tireni e noho huihui ana i roto i te Paremete i Poneke. Te Pitihana a nga tangata Maoei o te Tai Eawhiti i te Takiwa Pobowinitanga o Akaeana ME TE KoBONI O NIU TIKENI. E WHAKAATU ANA, Ko o kai-inoi he tangata Maori e noho ana i runga i nga whenua i whakatuturutia nei kia matou ete Tiriti o Waitangi. Tpiri tonuhoki matou ki te Kawanatanga ote Kuini, i whawhai hoki matou ki o matou iwi ano, i awhina hoki i nga pakeha. Kua kite matou i nga Ture kua mahia nei e koutou mo nga whenua Maori he nui nga mate kua pa ki etahi atu iwi Maori, a kua timata hoki te eke mai ki runga ki a matou me o matou whenua nga mate kino o aua Ture. He haere mai ta matou inaianei ki te tono kia mahia e koutou he Ture pai mo matou me o matou whenua. I runga i nga Ture kua mahia nei e koutou, ka oti te whakawa o matou whenua e te Kooti Whakawa Whenua Maori, ka mohiotia nga ingoa o nga tangata, i muri tonu iho ka hiahia te pakeha ki aua whenua, ka haere huna mai ratou, kaore ia e haere ki te iwi nui tonu i roto i te maramatanga ; engari ki ia tangata ki ia tangata kotahi o ratou, ka tono i aua tangata i te po, kia tuhi i nga pukapuka hoko e kore rawa nei e whakaaetia e te iwi nui tonu, mehemea e noho mohio ana ratou. Kahore rawa atu tenei e tika, e hara hoki ite tikanga Maori. Te tikanga Maori, ko nga rangatira o ia hapu, o ia wi, me nga tangata hoki e whiriwhiria ana e te iwi, i runga i to ratou mohio, ngakau tika hoki, hei whakahaere mo te iwi, a koia tenei te ara tika hei whakahaere i o matou whenua. Kua rongo hoki matou tena tetahi Pire a te Kawanatanga, ka tukua ki te Paremete ; a ka arai hoki taua Pire i a matou mahi mo a matou whenua ake, me te whakatau ano kia hoatu e matou aua whenua ki roto ki te ringa o te Kawanatanga. He Ture kino rawa atu tenei, i era atu Ture kua mahia nei e koutou, a e tino whakahe ana hoki matou ki taua Pire. Ehiahia ana matou, ko o matou whenua timata mai i Wharekahika tae mai ki Uawa, kia whakamahia e nga tangata no ratou nga whenua, hei whangaitanga hipi, kau hoki, kia turia he taone, he paamu hoki ki runga. Ma koutou e mahi he Ture hei whakamana i o matou Komiti Maori, ki te whakahaere i nga whenua momatou me a matou tamariki; aka whakaaetia taua Ture e matou. Ma koutou hoki e whakakore nga Ture e whai mana nei te tangata kotahi, ki te whakatipu raruraru ki runga ki nga whenua o te iwi nui tonu. Kaua e whakamana koutou ite Ture e meatia nei ete Kawanatanga, kia tukua ki te Paremete, ara, te Ture whakatuturu ki te Kawanatanga anake te mana whakahaere i o matou whenua. Ma koutou hoki e mahi he Ture hei whakamana i o matou Komiti kia whai mana ai ratou, ki te whakahaere i nga mahi mo o matou whenua e ora ai matou; engari heoi ano te mana o aua Komiti he whakaoti i nga mea kua whakaaetia ete iwi whenua. Ama koutou hoki e tono te Kooti Whakawa Whenua Maori kia haere mai ki tenei Takiwa, kia mahia nga take o matou whenua kia tau ai te mana o o matou Komiti ki runga i aua whenua kia tuturu hoki ma te iwi ratou ko nga Komiti e whakahaere. Ae inoi ana hoki matou ko nga Ture e mahia ana e koutou hei whakatau ite rangimarire ki runga i nga iwi e rua. '* A ka inoi tonu o kai inoi. Eanieea Tueoa, And 595 others.

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[Translation.] To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The Petition op the Maobi People on the East Coast, in the Peovincial Disteict op Auckland in the Colony of New Zealand. Humbly showeth, — Youe petitioners are persons of the Maori race who are settled upon land vested in them by the Treaty of Waitangi. We also remained loyal to the Queen's Government. We also fought among our own tribes and assisted the Europeans. We have seen the laws you have made for the Maoris' land. Great troubles have come on other Maori tribes, and these troubles have commenced to come .upon us and upon our lands through the defects of those laws. We now come to request that you may make a good law for us and our lands. Upon these laws you have already made, our lands will be all adjudicated upon by the Native Land Court; then the names of the owners will be known, and then the Europeans would desire to come possessed of it. They would come secretly, but not openly to the whole tribe, but to each individual separately, and during the night ask them to sign a conveyance to which the whole tribe, if they knew the circumstances, would not have consented. This is by no means right, it is not a Maori custom. The Maori custom is that the chief of each tribe and men be appointed by the tribe, according to their wisdom and capability of conducting it for the tribe. This is the proper way to manage our lands. We have heard the Government have a Bill which they have presented to Parliament, and that Bill will prevent us from doing with our land as we please, but order us to place those lands hi the hands of the Government. This is a much worse law than those you have already made. We thoroughly object to that bill. We desire that our lands, commencing at Wharekahika and from thence to Uawa, may be managed by the owners, as a run for cattle and sheep, and to have a town laid out, and to lay out farms. We wish you to make a law to give effect to our Maori Committees, to manage the land for us and our children :we will agree to such a law. We wish you also to cancel any laws giving authority to one man to bring trouble on the land belonging to the whole tribe. Do not give effect to the law that the Government are going to introduce, that is, the law placing all the authority over our lands in the hands of the Government. Make a law to give effect to our Committees, that they may have authority to manage our lands for our benefit. The only authority of these Committees is to confirm what the owners have already agreed to; and we request you to have the Native Land Court sit in our district to investigate the claims to our land, so that the authority of our Committee will rest on our land, so that the tribe and the Committee can manage it. And we pray that the laws you may pass may bring peace on both races. And your petitioners will ever pray. Eanieea Tueoa, And 595 others.

Authority: George Didsbury, Government Printer, Wellington.—lBBs.