Ina ra ko ta mua ture ko te ngaro whakarere o te tangata, he ngaro mo te toru whakatupuranga, ara he mate tonu atu te ritenga o tera ngaro, katahi ano pea ka kiia ko te ahi mataotao tera. Ko te wa i waenganui o te ahi ka—me te ahi mataotao ka kiia ko te ahi tere ara kei te ngaro te tangata tena ano te wa ka hoki mai ki runga i nga whenua o ona matua tipuna noho ai. Ka whakaturia Te Kooti Whenua Maori ko te kaupapa o te ture kairiiwhi paanga whenua ko a te Maori ko ana ture. Otira kaore te tikanga o te ahi mataotao i uru ki roto i a te Pakeha i ana ture i waihanga ai. Na reira kaore he ture hei aruaru i te whakauru atu i te hunga kairiiwhi ki nga rarangi ingoa o nga poraka whenua na wai ra i tokoiti taua hunga ka tokomaha haere ke atu ka tokomaha haere ke atu. Ko te mutunga ko te mea kua whakaaritia ake nei kua tokomaha rawa nga tangata no ratou te whenua, kua mokamoka nga paanga. Ko Ta Apirana Ngata, tera tangata rongonui whakaharahara, tera tangata whai whakaaro o Niu Tireni, te tangata tuatahi ki te mohio iho ko te noho mokamoka o nga paanga whenua tetahi mea hei patu i te tangata i roto o nga tau a ko ana mahi me nga mahi a nga Kawanatanga i whakarongo ki ana tohutohu taihoa ake nei te whakamarama ai. KO NGA AHUATANGA I MUA ATU O 1954 TE WA I WHAKAMANA AI TE TURE MO NGA MEA MAORI 1953 ME NGA RONGOA A TAUA TURE Ko tenei korero me nga korero a muri ake nei e pa ana ki nga mahi hei whakatikatika i nga taitara o nga whenua Maori. Me timata ake nga korero ki nga ahuatanga o nga tau i mau atu i 1954: (i) Ko Te Mahi Wira: Ma te mahi wira ka whakatupato te tangata kei tuku maramara ona paanga whenua ki ona uri ara ka tuku ia i ona whenua ki te tamaiti kotahi ki nga mea tokorua anake ranei kia noho toitu tonu ai ona paanga. He tokomaha nga Maori kua kite iho ko te mahi wira te mea tika. (ii) Ko Te tuku ko Te Hoko: Mehemea kei te noho wehe nga whenua o te tangata nona motuhake te taitara e rua nga huarahi e mohio iho ai ia ka heke toitu aua paanga whenua ona, tuatahi me tuku aroha e ia, tuarua me hoko. Kua ngawari noaiho enei huarahi i raro i te Ture o 1953. Kei Tekiona 213–4 o taua Ture nga whakamarama a mehemea kei raro iho i te £100 te wariu o aua paanga kaore he utu taake. (iii) Ko Te Whakawhitiwhiti: E ahei ana te tangata ki te whakawhiti i ona hea motuhake i tetahi poraka mo nga the person concerned returned to live in his tribal habitat. When the Maori Land Courts were first established, it was intended that they should leave the principles of Maori customary succession unchanged. However, nothing in the European-made laws carried on the old principle of “ahi-mataotao”. As a result there was nothing to prevent the lists of owners of Maori blocks becoming longer and longer. Gradually, fragmentation became the major threat to Maori land. Foremost among the Maori leaders aware of the disadvantages and the grave dangers of fragmentation was Sir Apirana Ngata, one of the greatest and most far-sighted of New Zealanders, and the outstanding contributions made either by him or by Government under his leadership towards practical solutions will be mentioned later. By what means could this problem be combatted before 1953, in which year the Maori Affairs Act 1953 came into force, and what additional remedies did that Act introduce? In this article, and the ones that follow, all the methods that exist to improve Maori titles will be reviewed. Let us first turn to the ones already in force before 1954. (i) By Will: By making a will an owner can pass his interest on to one or some of his children instead of to all of them, or to one person instead of to all those who would normally succeed him. Maoris are showing a growing appreciation of the advantages of making wills. (ii) By Gift or Sale: If an owner wishes to dispose of freehold land interests to one or more persons during his lifetime he can avoid fragmentation on succession by gift or, if he wishes to receive payment for the whole or part of its value, by sale. It is much easier and less expensive to do this since the 1953 Act came into force than it was earlier. Sections 213–4 of the Act provide a simple means for this and no stamp duty is payable if the value of the land sold is £100 or less. (iii) By Exchange: The freehold interests of one person in one block can be exchanged for those of another in another block. A good and simple example of this occurred in the Court at Hawera recently where two brothers who had succeeded equally to two adjoining sections, exchanged interests and each became the sole owner of one block. Exchange can, of course, be used in much more complicated cases than that one. Any inequality in values resulting from an exchange can be compensated for by payment of money or by a charge on the interest of the person benefiting as ordered by the Court.