G.—la

1876. NEW ZEALAND.

NATIVE MEETING, WAIROA. (REPORT BY MR. LOCKE.)

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of Sis Excellency.

No. 1. Mr. S. Locke, E.M., to the Hon. the Native Minister. Sic, — Napier, 17th December, 1875. I have the honor to forward herewith a short summary of the speeches made by the Natives at the Wairoa on the 29th October last, on the occasion of my meeting the contending tribes in regard to the disputed boundary of lauds at Upper Wairoa, prior to taking the question into the Native Land Court for final settlement. I have, &c, The Hon. the Native Minister, Wellington. S. Locke. Notes of a Meeting held at the Wairoa, on Friday, October 29th, 1875, between S. Locke, Esq., E.M., and the Ngatikabungunu and Tuhoe or Urewera tribes. The meeting was called with reference to land claims and disputed boundaries at the Upper Wairoa, preparatory to the question being brought before the Native Land Court for final settlement. The leading men of the tribes were present, and altogether about 700 Natives were assembled. The meeting lasted for nearly five hours. — Tolia: The subject upon which I am about to speak is that which, is now reduced to the question of dispute about this land. We, the people of Kahungunu, say the land is ours; and you, the Urewera, with equal force assert that it is yours. We are all aware that application has been made to have this land adjudicated upon by the Native Land Court, and to my mind it is only by adopting such a course that this disputed matter will be smoothed away. I have nothing more to add. Mr. Locke, perhaps, may wish to address you. Mr. LocTce: I would ask your attention. We have met here to-day to discuss this land question, and also the intertribal boundary, before they come before the Land Court, there to be dealt with. We have met here with a view to affording all parties an opportunity of ventilating their opinions on the subject. Those Natives acting in concert with the Government —namely, the Ngatikahungunu tribe —assert their claim to the land on ancestral grounds ; and also because, during the period of trouble in the island, they adopted the cause of the Government. On the other hand, you, the people of Tuhoe, contend that portions of the land so claimed by Ngatikahungunu belong to you, having, as you declare, been either inherited by you from your forefathers, or acquired from your enemies through the right of conquest. The boundary which you (Tuhoe) assign to yourselves in the direction of the Wairoa approaches as far as Mangapapa, while that line claimed by Ngatikahungunu extends beyond Mangapapa across Waikare Lake, and thence up to the Huiarau Mountains. This land —that is, up to Waikaremoana Lake —was confiscated during the time of the rebellion, the principal owners of the land having allied themselves with the enemy of the Government. On the restoration of peace, some little time elapsed, when the Government relinquished its hold to a large tract of the country so confiscated, in favour of the Natives of the district who had throughout preserved their allegiance to the Crown. Subsequently thereto, action was taken to effect the transfer of this land to the Government; and now the question arises :To whom does the land belong ? With whom rests the power of legally conveying this land to the Government ? It is to meet these questions that the necessity occurs of having the land dealt with primarily by the Native Land Court. The adjustment of this question is one of no small difficulty. Both parties strongly urge their respective rights to the land on account of ancestral connections. Those Natives who have had lengthy intercourse with Europeans, and whose claims have been brought before the Court, are conversant with the mode of procedure adopted in the investigation of land titles, but such may not be the case with the Urewera, for they have been isolated. I will now mention the boundaries of the land claimed by the people of the Urewera tribe, which are—Pakaututu, Mohaka, Tuke-o-te-Ngaru, Paewahie, Ngahaha, Botokakarangu, Tukitukipapa, Putere, Te Arau, Eotonuihaha, Potikihere, Te Toi, I—Gr. IA.