1. TE KOOTI TANGO WHENUA (the land-taking court)
Te Kooti Whenua OR
TE KOOTI TANGO WHENUA
(the land-taking court)
the Native Land Court was soon dubbed ‘te kōti tango whenua’ (the land-taking court) for its role in facilitating the sale of Māori land
They didn’t use double voewls in old days except w kooti

2. He Kōrero Tīmatanga/Introduction
Mana whenua tūturu (Māori Customary Land Tenure – how Māori defined who owned what according to tikanga)
Te mana whenua me te whakawhiti whenua (land tenure and alienation, pre- Native Land Court)
Ka tū te Kooti Whenua Māori (establishing the Native Land Court – why)
Te whakamārama i te mana whenua (proving rights to land)
Ngā mahi a te Kooti Whenua Māori (the court in practice)
Ngā utu ki te Māori (cost to Maori)
Ko Rangitoto-ki-te-tonga me te Kooti Whenua Māori (the Rangitoto experience)
Mai i te kupu Native ki te kupu Māori, 1920–1980 (the court from )
Te Kooti Whenua Māori i āianei (the court today)

3. 1. Mana whenua tūturu
Māori lived according to a complex system of customary laws. These were based in concepts such as:
mana
tapu
rāhui
utu
muru
Some laws attempted to take account of customary practice, but they were never fully implemented.
Māori Customary Land Tenure – how Māori defined who owned what according to tikanga
mana (status, either inherited or acquired) - Mana whenua means tribal authority over, and control of, lands. Within the tribal rohe (area) there were a variety of competing rights. Hapu had main or tūturu (permanent) villages near areas that provided resources such as food, often with a pa nearby. However, groups often moved between different gardens and resource areas according to the season.
Tapu (sacred prohibition)
Rāhui (a form of tapu restricting access to certain food sources)
utu (repayment for another’s actions, whether hostile or friendly)
muru (a form of utu, usually a ritual seizure of personal property as compensation for an offence)
part of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 set apart districts where Māori laws and customs would be observed. However, this part of the act was never implemented .

4. 1. Mana whenua tūturu
Te Ao Māori ki Te Ao Pakeha – belonging to the land versus land belonging to you Rights to occupy and use tribal lands – held collectively by all tribal members Rights sustained through continued occupation or use – ahi kā.
Māori Customary Land Tenure – how Māori defined who owned what according to tikanga
Māori believed they belonged to the land, rather than that the land belonged to them.
tūāhu – sacred mounds or stones erected on first settlement
tohu – signs marking human occupation, such as markings on trees and rocks, burial sites of umbilical cords (iho) of chiefly children and burial sites of bones
ātete – evidence of successful defence of resources against challengers
knowledge and evidence of eeling, fishing, hunting and gathering sites
The original Māori system of land ownership was quite different from that of Pākehā settlers.

5. 1. Mana whenua tūturu
A hapu/iwi would base its claim to land upon a take (right) supported by occupation. These take included:
take taunaha or take kite
take raupatu
take tuku
take tūpuna
Rights sustained through continued occupation or use – ahi kā. It could include seasonal visits and temporary encampments.
An iwi would base its claim to land upon a take (right) supported by occupation. These take included:
take taunaha or take kite – land discovered
take raupatu – land taken by conquest
take tuku – land gifted
take tūpuna – an ancestral right validated by reciting whakapapa

6. 2. Te mana whenua me te whakawhiti whenua
There are three main types of land ownership in Aotearoa:
Crown land belongs to the state
General land, which is ordinary private land
Māori land is owned by Māori and is subject to the jurisdiction of the Māori Land Court.
After the Te Tiriti was signed in 1840, only the Crown could buy Māori land, which was then resold to settlers to fund and promote Pākehā settlement. From 1863 individuals could buy land directly from Māori.
land tenure and alienation
Pre-emption: In this way, by 1860 almost the entire South Island had passed out of Māori hands and the total amount of Māori land had decreased by almost half, to 14 million hectares

7. Tapaetanga whenua Māori: Te Waipounamu (the alienation of land in the South Island)

8. 3. Ka tū te Kooti Whenua Māori
The purpose was to:
convert Māori customary title to something like English title
so the land could be leased but preferably sold
Māori could be issued with legal title to their ancestral lands after proving ownership
No parallel system in any other country
1862 – first court established under Māori judges
After 1865, the Māori judges were demoted to position of assessors and no longer had a decisive role in matters of Māori custom.
establishing the Native Land Court

9. Justice minister Henry Sewell described the aims of the court as:
“to bring the great bulk of the lands … within the reach of colonisation” and “the detribalisation of the Māori – to destroy, if it were possible, the principle of communism upon which their social system is based and which stands as a barrier in the way of all attempts to amalgamate the Māori race into our social and political system.’
Oddly, Sewell had also protested against the government’s policy of confiscating the land of Māori deemed to be ‘in rebellion’.

10. 4. Te whakamārama i te mana whenua
The process involved three separate steps:
Title investigation to determine its owners and ‘relative interests
Once it had made its decision, the Court would issue a certificate of title to the owners.
The owners now had a freehold title. They could sell the block, lease it, try to raise money on it, or simply farm it and live there themselves.
proving rights to land

11. 4. Te whakamārama i te mana whenua
The court usually heard evidence on four take:
ahi kā
take tupuna
take raupatu
take tuku
Other take sometimes included were Ringa Kaha, and Aroha
proving rights to land
Ahi kā
take tupuna (ancestral right) and ōhākī (dying bequest)
conquest – take raupatu
gifting and transfer – take tuku

12. 4. Te whakamārama i te mana whenua
Māori were forced to argue their claims to lands before the courts, and Pākehā judges tried to interpret Māori custom.
Judges often simplified and distorted those customs, and seemed to show a preference for claims based on raupatu (conquest), followed by ahi kā.
proving rights to land
Ahi kā
take tupuna (ancestral right) and ōhākī (dying bequest)
conquest – take raupatu
gifting and transfer – take tuku

13. 5. Ngā mahi a te Kooti Whenua Māori
To simplify Māori land transactions no more than 10 owners (‘10-owner rule) were recorded for blocks of less than 5,000 acres – designed to be trustees for the rest of the hapu.
In 1873 the ‘10-owner rule’ abolished – all those with interests in the land became equal owners.
Courts judgements were made by a presiding judge and two Māori assessors – kept separate minute books
the court in practice

14. 6. Ngā utu ki te Māori MP Robert Bruce declared that:
‘we could not devise a more ingenious method of destroying the whole of the Maori race than by these land courts. The natives come from the villages in the interior, and have to hang about for months in our centres of population ... They are brought into contact with the lowest classes of society, and are exposed to temptation, the result is that a great number contract our diseases and die.’

15. 6. Ngā utu ki te Māori
The court ignored complex Māori customs relating to land ownership and succession in favour of a simplified set of rules.
Te Kooti proved costly on many levels:
destabilised Māori society
undermined tribal authority
court process very expensive for Māori
The lost to Maori
1. Land easily sold to private purchasers – very rapid land loss and consequential impoverishment =>
2. lNew system of individualised titles had serious impacts on Māori social organisation
lengthy, contested cases. Court could only investigate land that had been surveyed, and owners had to pay for surveys. Court hearings were often long and complex, so travel and accommodation costs were high
The court could only investigate blocks after they had been surveyed, and the survey costs were met by the Māori owners. Often 20% or more of the value of a block was consumed by its survey costs. The claimants then had to attend court sittings where they were prey to ‘a predatory horde of storekeepers, grog-sellers, surveyors, lawyers, land-agents and money-lenders’ Court sittings sometimes lasted for months, resulting in additional court costs and legal fees, as well as travel and accommodation costs for the landowners and competing claimants.

16. 6. Ngā utu ki te Māori
According to Māori custom the group who occupied a block of land held decision-making rights over it. The Native Land Court did not uphold this custom Māori forced to argue claims to lands before the courts – Pākehā judges tried to interpret Māori custom. Judges often simplified and distorted those customs, and often showed a preference for claims based on raupatu (conquest), followed by ahi kā. Māori communities set up their own tribal komiti (committees) as an alternative to the Native Land Court. The Crown recognised these only as advisory bodies to the court.
The ost to Maori

17. 6. Ngā utu ki te Māori
The court could only investigate blocks after they had been surveyed, and the survey costs were met by the Māori owners. Often 20% or more of the value of a block was consumed by its survey costs. The claimants then had to attend court sittings where they were prey to ‘a predatory horde of storekeepers, grog-sellers, surveyors, lawyers, land- agents and money-lenders’ court sittings sometimes lasted for months, resulting in additional court costs and legal fees, as well as travel and accommodation costs for the landowners and competing claimants.
There was little recognition of tribal variations in custom or of the way in which resource rights to the same lands could be spread among several different groups. This often increased tensions among tribes appearing in court, forcing them to compete for exclusive rights to lands they might once have shared

18. 7. Ko Rangitoto-ki-te-tonga me te Kooti Whenua Māori
Rangitoto was exempted from sale to the Crown in by the Ngāti Toa
Also excluded from the lands sold by Ngāti Koata in 1856
In the 1860s and 1870s the southern part of the island was used by Ngāti Koata for market gardening
Rest of island leased
Rangitoto was excluded from the sales of the 1850s and retained its status as customary land until It was not defined as a native reserve and was left out of government reports on the reserves

20. 7. Ko Rangitoto-ki-te-tonga me te Kooti Whenua Māori
In 1883, Judge Mair awarded the ownership of Rangitoto and the surrounding smaller islands to 79 members of Ngati Koata.
The make-up of the ownership list was largely decided out of court by Ngati Koata. Three days of negotiation to get list
Court minutes brief – much of the business being conducted out of court
Ngāti Kuia did not make a counter-claim, so the court awarded the title of Rangitoto and the surrounding smaller islands to Ngāti Koata
Title was issued in the Native Land Court at Nelson in 1883
First list of 60 names, then later than 19 added
On 20 November the court ordered that a certificate of title be issued for Rangitoto and the smaller surrounding islands, in unequal shares to 79 people.

21. 7. Ko Rangitoto-ki-te-tonga me te Kooti Whenua Māori
There were later petitions and applications made on the basis that people had been left out of the list of owners because they were living away from the area at the time of the hearing:
E.g. In 1890, Kārepa Tengi and 12 others petitioned Parliament, asking for an Act to enable them to insert their names into the list of owners, as they had been living at Waitara at the time of the title investigation. Government agreed, but no further action
First list of 60 names, then later than 19 added
On 20 November the court ordered that a certificate of title be issued for Rangitoto and the smaller surrounding islands, in unequal shares to 79 people.

22. 7. Ko Rangitoto-ki-te-tonga me te Kooti Whenua Māori
In 1895 Renata Te Pau applied to partition Rangitoto and define the shares of the owners Task was complicated as many owners had, since 1883, left for the North Island and their reserves at Croisilles Hearing held in Porirua – as many owners lived in the North Island, particularly at Porirua and the Taranaki district.

23. 7. Ko Rangitoto-ki-te-tonga me te Kooti Whenua Māori
Out-of-court arrangements – Ngāti Koata rūnanga, and a small Kōmiti of prominent rangatira divided Koata into three classes of owners who were allotted land according to:
when they arrived on the island
their relationship to the original heke
their descent from the categories of right holders

24. 7. Ko Rangitoto-ki-te-tonga me te Kooti Whenua Māori
Rangitoto was partitioned into 11 blocks. During the hearing claims were made for the inclusion of more names in the lists of owners, but Judge Mackay was unable to alter the original ownership award. Some people who had been omitted in 1883 were included in the title by allowing existing owners to transfer part of their share to others who had not been included In 1901 six owners successfully petitioned Parliament to have their names included in the title, on the grounds that it had been agreed that one owner held an area of land in trust for them.

25. 7. Ko Rangitoto-ki-te-tonga me te Kooti Whenua Māori
Restrictions were placed over the Rangitoto blocks and outlying islands making them inalienable except by way of lease for up to 21 years – but this was soon ignored by the Govt The poor nature of the land on Rangitoto made it unsuitable to sustain the Ngati Koata population, and it was acknowledged that Ngati Koata would not have access to development finance, which meant that the Crown created a position whereby only Pakeha farmers would be able to profitably farm the island.

26. Block % in Maori ownership Rangitoto 1 54% Rangitoto 2 0.2%
14%
Rangitoto 4
10%
Rangitoto 5
Rangitoto 6
17%
Rangitoto 7 0%
Rangitoto 8
38%
Rangitoto 9
Rangitoto 10 7%
Rangitoto 11
Islands
33%
Reserves
100%
Maori ownership at time of Rangitoto report (1996)

27. 8. Mai i te kupu Native ki te kupu Māori, 1920–1980
In 1947 the court became the Māori Land Court.
From 1953 Māori could be forced to sell land worth less than £25 to the government.
 The Maori Affairs Act 1953 defined three types of Māori land – customary, freehold and reserve land. Māori could be forced to sell land worth less than £25 ($50) to the government by vesting to Māori Trustee.
Māori opposition to the compulsory acquisition of ‘uneconomic interests’ (land blocks worth less than $50) and provision to convert Māori land with fewer than five owners to general land led to the act’s replacement by the Maori Affairs Amendment Act 1974.
The corut from
In 1947 the court became the Māori Land Court. From 1953 Māori could be forced to sell land worth less than £25 to the government.
 The Maori Affairs Act 1953 defined three types of Māori land – customary, freehold and reserve land. Most controversially, it gave the Māori Land Court the power to vest Māori freehold land valued at less than £25 in the Māori Trustee.
Māori opposition to the compulsory acquisition of ‘uneconomic interests’ (land blocks worth less than $50) and provision to convert Māori land with fewer than five owners to general land led to the act’s replacement by the Maori Affairs Amendment Act 1974.

28. 9. Te Kooti Whenua Māori i āianei
From the 1970s Māori issues – including land issues – became more prominent.
After 1993 the Māori Land Court’s objectives were to keep Māori land in Māori ownership, and to promote its use and development. In the 2000s all Māori land transactions must go through the court
In the 2000s, as the Māori Land Court, it had a very different focus – to keep land in Māori hands and to promote its use and development.
How the court operates today
Ture Whenua Maori (Maori Land Act) 1993, was the first piece of Māori land legislation to include a reference to the Treaty of Waitangi. Its preamble acknowledged the special relationship between the Māori people and the Crown established by the treaty, affirmed that it is desirable to recognise that land is a taonga tuku iho (treasure handed down) of special significance to Māori people, and promoted retention, occupation, development, and use of land for the benefit of its owners, their whanau and their hapu.
Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 represented a significant change in the direction of Māori land policy. For the first time, the importance of the relationship of land to Māori and the need to promote land retention was acknowledged in law. Under this act the Māori Land Court was required to assist Māori landowners to promote the use, development and control of Māori land. The act emphasised retention of Māori land for the benefit of its owners, heir whanau and their hapuand their descendants.

29. He Kōrero Whakamutunga
New Māori Land Service????