Buying the Land

Te Ao Hou, October 1956, Page 8

Buying the Land When a European prior to the Treaty of Waitangi and for many years thereafter wanted to purchase land, he was faced with the initial hurdle of ascertaining the tribe or chief with whom he should negotiate—i.e., those who would have the right to sell the land. Sometimes this was comparatively easy—it was obvious from the circumstances. But many and many a would-be purchaser found that after he had, as he thought, completed a bargain with the proper people, others came forward alleging their rights. As he had no sure means of determining who had the better title, he must either satisfy all or give up the land. Many claims were disallowed by the early Land Purchase Commissioners because negotiations had not been with the right people. It was more than twenty years after the Treaty of Waitangi that something effective was done to meet this situation. The danger of trouble arising from purchasing from one tribe land claimed by another became more and more prominent. The outstanding and classic example is Waitara which was the occasion, if not necessarily the direct cause of the Taranaki Wars. In addition the old Maori social order was

One of the more famous sales of Maori land in the last century was the sale of Lake Wairaraupa concluded at Papawal, near Graytown, in 1896. On the right of Judge Butler (seated in the centre of the group) is Sir James Carroll. (Turnbull Library Photograph) already seriously shaken, and the authority of the chiefs weakening—particularly in regions of close settlement. Thousands of Maoris had already left their village communities to work for or with settlers. They had discovered the attractions of a cash economy and had developed more sophisticated tastes in clothing, food, furniture, and, of course, stimulants and sports. Boys who had been given a sound education in missionary schools had become men and the Christian teachings were on the whole not calculated to maintain the communal relationships previously existing.