For ourselves and for Ngati Maringi, to which we belong,
Claim we have been prejudicially affected by the policies, practices, actions and omissions of the Crown in the alienation of land in those parts of the Waimarino block which comprised the rohe of Ngati Maringi- 79 of whom were listed as owners in the waimarino block, and who received land grants in WAI 3, WAI 4, WAI A, & WAI E, and we claim
that these matters are contrary to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, and in breach of section 6 of the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975,
Background history and grievances: Ngati Maringi is a hapu descending from the great tipuna Tamakana, whose lands include the whole of the Waimarino block, as well as parts of adjoining blocks.The early history of Tamakana was told at the Taurewa 4 hearing in 1904 which is set down in Taupo minute books 16,17 & 18. After getting into strife where he was living at Taurewa, Tamakana left that area and thereafter lived with his mothers people. His many descendants include Ngati Maringi. most descendants of Maringi live in the Waimarino and surrounding region. Maringi was mandatedas as a hapu at Te Puke marae, Raetihi on the 12th June 2004. Waimarino Block Hearing- Rangihuatau was accepted by the court as the conductor of case. He had previously at a public meeting - described himself as "a Crown Man", and his actions at the Native Land Court, where he was often involved between 1880 and 1900, should be viewed in that context. At the Whakaihuwaka definition of interests hearing in 1898 Rangihuatau gave evidence, and made contradictory statements. Witness- Tutawhiao said; at the hearing. I attended a meeting held at Pipiriki last august about this land. I heard Rangihuatau say at that meeting that his right on this land was from Turangawhaia & Rangitauhenga. I disputed his statement at that meeting before all the people, so when he heard what i said, he said let some old man of N' Ruru speak about it. Uenuku Tuwharetoa was selected- he was not present. So Rangihuatau said let him come and decide between us because he is an expert genealogist. He was bought and questioned by the committee, and said he did not know Rangihuatau as a descendant from Turangawhaia. when the committee asked the old man who were the proper descendants of Turangawhaia he said Wi te Korowhiti & Rena Tio.When Rangihuatau saw this and heard what the old man said, he intimated that he would not accept the ruling of the committee on that evidence and would bring the case before the court. Rangihuatau did not speak of his right from Tamahaki, but from Turangawhaia. Finding the case was against him Rangihuatau went home, and returned and said he wanted to have his case investigated again by the committee, he set up a different right- he set up Turanganui. i said, i would not answer that till the N' Ruru all come, but before they arrived Rangihuatau went to town, and when in town he set up Tamahaki...
Rangihuatau has no right on this land- his rights are at RaoRaomouku and he sold that land. Rangihuatau makes up statements and names. When the Waimarino hearing began on the 1st March 1886 Rangihuatau opened the Claimants case, he began thus:
I live at Tieke my hapu is Ngati Tamakana; I know this land it belongs to me : i can point out the boundaries; the lines are correctly given in claim No 12 on Panui for 22/2/86. I claim through my ancestor Tamakana.( Tamakana,Tuatapa, Tatara, Kowhaikura, Te Rahuru,Mautautahana, Tumotoro, Kurakahimorere, Rangihuatau, Hori Tumakiterangi, Te Rangihuatau. I also claim through conquest, enemies attacked us and we defeated them, no other ancestor besides Tamakana had any right on this land and his descendants have been in constant occupation down to this day. The wish to have the case over as soon as possible meant objections were dealt with by cutting out the land over which there were objections- such as Kiritahanga's, or else adding the objectors to the list of owners. On the 16th March 1886 a list of 1010 owners was published by the Court- followed by the notation: 'Land Inalienable except by lease- Proper survey to be made before certificate can issue.' Although the land was said to be "inalienable except by lease' Crown purchase agents immediately began purchasing shares; and In September 1886 after some hundreds of individual shares had been bought, the Crown made an application to have its share of the block cut out. This is a clear breach of the Treaty guarantee by the Crown to respect Maori property rights, here the court has made the land inalienable; but Crown land agents- following instructions from Wellington- immediately begin pressuring owners to sell shares. The crown agents, led by W.J Butler manipulated the process by having compliant trustees appointed for the shares of minors;- and then purchasing those shares. This is also a breach as the crown guarantee in the treaty to respect Maori land rights; did not exclude Maori children from that guarantee.
79 Members of N' Maringi - including 35 children - were awarded shares in the Waimarino block. 74 members of the N' Maringi including Rangihuatau and other chiefs Tukaiora te Pikikotuku & Te Keepa Putaata "sold" their shares in the Waimarino block; prior to the hearing to define interests in that block. The shares of all 35 children of N' Maringi awarded land were sold to the Crown during this time. The process of the Crown acquiring the land-rights in the Waimarino block in 1886 - 1887 of these 74 hapu members - 39 adults and 35 children - remains a grievance against the Crown; which had guaranteed in the treaty to respect and protect Maori land and taonga; whereas it acted with avariciousness and undue haste to dispossess N' Maringi of their lands. These 74 were later awarded shares in the WAI A & WAI E blocks - sellers reserves. The adults of N' Maringi were awarded 50 acres each, and those who were still minors in 1886 were awarded 25 acres. That meant 1474 acres in WAI A & 1375 acres in WAI E were awarded to them. The hearing to define interests did not take place until March 1887. Most of the evidence at the Waimarino block hearing on the hapu entitled to ownership and their residences and boundaries came from Rangihuatau. The crown purchase officer W.J Butler had taken a prominent part in the proceeding- could be said to have manipulated those proceedings - and would have been in close consultation with Rangihuatau and would made him aware the Crown wanted the hearing finalised as quickly as possible. When other resiled from giving evidence on hapu boundaries; Rangihuatau stepped up and gave evidence as to rights in the block. The evidence on boundaries of hapus given by Rangihuatau may have been accurate - he was a chief, and did live in the area, and acting as a agent of the Crown, would not have a wanted too many objections which could delay the proceedings, and so had an interest in being as accurate as he could with the information relayed to Court. However it is clear that it in such a large block - he could not possibly provide an accurate delineation of each hapus rights; and many rightful owners were no doubt left out. Evidence concerning Ngati Maringi- When the Court was considering the interests of the owners Butler opened the case for the Crown - 1 April 1887. he called Rangihuatau, who was sworn and gave evidence about Nagti Maringi;
I am a member of Ngati Maringi; that hapu has a large claim on this block. The Principal members of the hapu are these; Te Oro, Matuahu, Te Kuru. Iam related to Te Kuru, he is a younger relative of mine, he is a greater man then I, because i have given him my mana. Matuahu and Te Pihi are in the same position, I can give the boundaries of the land of Ngati Maringi, beginning at Waitapa, thence to Whakapahirangi..... thence to Matahiwi, following the Hikumutu stream to huroa on the Hikumutu stream, on to Kopango, and thence to porere, thence to point of commencement. Ngati Maringi may have other lands in this block, but i am not able to describe them. Rangihuatau later spoke of the leading men of the hapu. Tautahi Wiremu Pakai is a N' Maringi and is interested from Wairoa to Otaupour; also at Waimarino proper. He has equal rights with Topia at Owhango. Hohepa Te Huri is a member of the hapu and is interested in the lands I have described. Te Karahe; Te Panikena belong to the same hapu; also Tukaiora Pikikotuku, Purini te Huotewaka, Hikata Rangihuatau- these persons have equal interests with Topia. The whole of N'Maringi have claims from Waimarino. to Owhango, to Otaupouri. And N' Kahukurapango and N' Maringi are equally interested in the lands at Manganui a te ao, Waimarino & extending to Owhango. 'Another witness Parahi Panikena spoke about N' Maringi: I know the hapu N' Maringi; we ahd a claim to Waimarino proper. Matuahu being our chief, from there we own land as far as the junction of the Whakapapa and Whanganui rivers. Matuahu being the principal owner. N' Kahukurapango being on the same land, they also rest at Manganui a to ao, N' Kahukurapango and N' Maringi live together, i cannot trace boundaries. We have cultivations at Owhango, we have eel weirs at Otaupouri. The court awarded the non sellers 41,000 acres; and the N' Maringi shares of this was 2,250 acres. these were 5 non sellers from Ngati Maringi - 1) Te Oro Kairahau to Marama 2) Te Kura Kaanga 3) Te Matehaere Mangumangu 4) Raina Whitia 5) Ngahuia Mangumangu. The placement of the hapu in the reserves is also a cause for grievance. Although the Court indicated the location of reserves would be decided by the Crown and local chiefs it would appear W.J Butler decided where the reserves would be, and which hapu would be placed in which reserve. Lack of promised consultation in such an important matter is a breach of the rights guaranteed under the treaty. Butler - along with other Crown officials - also decided that 33,140 acres would suffice for the sellers reserves - whereas promises had been made when shares were purchased that 50,000 acres would be set aside. Apparently owners were encouraged to believe they would receive a title to a 50 acre block, in the area their hapu lived, if they sold their share to the crown. the false promises to encourage land sales by the crown agents is again a clear breach of treaty guarantees. It would appear then when it became apparent at the definition of interests hearing in March 1887, just how many shares the crown had managed to ' purchase ' and consequently how much land been lost, their was little assistance for the crown on hastening any final declaration by the crown, this was commented on by Judge Puckey, In remarking on the attitude assumed by the sellers who were present we may say that it has not been our bad fortune on any previous occasion to find a people and their chief take so reprehensible a position as that assumed by the sellers of Waimarino. They appear to have banded themselves together to give false evidence before the Court, in face to use the words of the Maori proverb, they have gone back and swallowed their own spittle. The lack of respect and bias by the Judge leaves the inevitable impression that a fair hearing had not been held, The Stout/Ngata commission report on ' Native lands in Whanganui District' in 1907 was to comment, In the whole history of the colony there has never been any purchase so extensive in any district, or one that was completed with such expedition. This dispossession of the Waimarino Maori caused N' Maringi to soon become an impoverished, deprived hapu, without an economic base to progress from, or even enough land to guarantee self sufficiency. These orders were made on the 7th April 1887, and at the same time the Crown was awarded 417,000 acres. In the same month the Crown published a map showing the boundaries of the proposed National park, which showed all the land within the Waimarino block, in the park boundaries to be Crown land. This indicates that a reason the purchase of shares in the Waimarino block was done with such haste was partly to provide land for the National Park. Over 9,000 acres of the area shown to be within the proposed boundaries of the park in 1887 came from the Waimarino block. Each if the N' Maringi was awarded 225 acres in the WAI 3 block & 225 acres in WAI 4, ' Waimarino 4 Block ' when in June 1907- WAI 4 was subdivided Ngahuia Mangumangu became the sole owner of WAI 4B1, and Raina Whitia the sole owner of WAI 4A3. In 1911 the Crown had taken land in the Waimarino for defence purposes and this included 1051 acres of WAI 4B. It remains unclear if the land were ever used for the purpose, with Peter Clayworth being unable to fine any evidence at all of such use. instead of being offered back to the owners the crown retained the land for other purposes - When the Tongariro National Park Act became law in 1992 649 acres of WAI 4B2 was included in the National Park. 55 Acres of WAI 4B2 was included in a new area of state forest, which is now vested in LandCorp.
346 acres of WAI 4B2 between the railway line and S.H 4 were added to the National Park in 1941 but later removed ( 1951) and later leased out as grazing land. When the Crown proposed taking 128 acres of WAI 4B2 for a scenic reserve a number of the owners Haitana te Kauhi and 8 others - petitioned the Minister of Works about the Crown taking of land in WAI 4 and asking that the Government send representatives to Raetihi - to consult with the owners- the letter said, We the persons who have subscribed our names here to altogether object to the above named piece of land or any part thereof being reserved as scenery or for any other purpose of the Government. We state our objections:
1) We desire that this land be left as a home for the cultivation of our children after us: 2) A railway line has been laid over this land and you people have not yet paid us for the part so taken: 3) You have not paid us for the earth and gravel which you took off this land, for road and railways, 4) You have not piad us for the ares taken for the road which had been made over the land for the benefit of the general public, 5) We have sent in an application for sub-division of the land by the Native land Court due to sit in Taihape on the 1st March 1912. We shall know then who will be awarded the part you propose to take. 6) We notice that you propose to take part of the land for purpose of the defence system, 7) You have not yet paid us for the portion taken as a railway station. These are our pbjections and proposals and if they are not clear to you- you had better come to Raetihi, where we shall supplement those with many others, after which we may come to some mutual agreement. The nine signtories include all 5 members of N' Maringi hapu who were awarded land in WAI 4. " ( from here i am missing two pages 10 & 11 of this case where someone came to borrow it and has not been returned ) " all good ill go on to page 13/ The majority of owners of WAI A were in favour of leasing. In their recommendations the commission thought it would be unnecessarily expensive to subdivide WAI A where there were originally 367 owners of 14,850 acres- an average of 40 acres each. The recommendation was for 4,000 acres to be set aside for maori farmers and the rest available to be leased to general public. "Waimarino 3 Block"- The commission deals with the WAI 3 Block under the multi - hapu grouping of Ngati Uenuku, and reported that those who were living on the land there, 'desired partition to enable them to farm, but suggested that the interests of the absentee owners could be dealt with as the commission thought fit. In their recommendation the commission said, The Ngati Uenuku of the area had asked for 600 acres to be set for a Papakainga reserve, and 8,000 acres for maori farming, the balance was to be available for general settlement. It appears that when the report was prepared all of WAI # and WAI A remained in Maori ownership. That was not the case in WAI 4, where 2,000 of the 3,450 acres had been leased for 21 years at 6d, an acres. The owners stated to the commission that the balance was intended to be reserved for the use and occupation of the owners, and for that purpose an application had been made to vest the land in the Aotea Maori Land Board. The commission recommended that this intention should be given effect to. The recommendation of the Stout-Ngata commission - made after exhaustive enguiry and extensive submissions by Maori land owners - were designed to enhance the best use of the land still in Maori hands. The recommendations concerning the lands investigated were for some to be set aside for Maori occupation or farming, and some to be made available to the general public by leasing. They were designed to encourage Maori economic progress. The recommendations were ignored by the Crown. The 1909 Native Land Act opened the door to purchasing of Maori land, which began a new wave of alienation. At that time only 734 acres of WAI had been leased, and none sold. Between 1910 and 1920 over 4,000 acres of the WAI 3 Block was sold, and permanently alienated. Another wave of permanent alienation in the WAI 3 block followed the law change making alienation easier, in the Maori Affairs Amendment Act 1967. Descendants of Maringi also had interests in lands outside of the Waimarino block. At the partition hearing of the Taurewa 4 block in 1910, witness Tukaiora Pikikotuku gave his whakapapa and that of his wife Merita Ngarori, who had rights in that block and was a descendant of Maringi, under Tamakana. ( It also includes the relationship with the chief Matuaahu, who had been spoken of earlier in the evidence of Rangihuatau ). Maringi = Te Maitautepanga had Ngamanaako and Tumutoro, Ngamanaako had the following Pikiriki,Te Kinitohi, Parekahu, Te Piki Kotuku,- Tohihora,Tukaihora, Wharerangi, Matuaahu,- Hinewai, Te Ahuhu, Pehiaki, Marata,- Tumutoro had the following Te Kura,- Rangihuaku, Hori Tamekiterangi, Merita Ngarori,- Te Hikaka, Parekahurangi, Wi Tamaiwhana, Hori Tamaiwhana. Later witness Te Hanairo and he knew Parekahurangi and Paretutu, and that their kainga was at Te Mako, and that they were of Ngati Maringi. Under cross examination by Wi Kiriwehi he said: I know Merita Paretutu and Parekahurangi have right on this block & Merita also being a daughter of Hori Tamekiterangi. I knew Matuaahu - he was a chief. He had a proper right to this land. N' Kahukurapango and N' Maringi owned all the lands from Taurewa around. Hoko Pakekei said Matuaahu got his rights from both parents; but chiefly from his fathers Wharerangi. Maringi also had many descendants outside of the Whanganui district - as the following whakapapa shows: Tamakana - Tangohara - Hinemaui - Maringi - Korakohinau - Kuia Tauwehe - Te Wawahanga, Te Kahurangi - Te Ruaangaanga - Potautau - Tawhiao - Mahuta - Te Rata. 4) We seek the following relief: To be specified at a later date, once research has been completed, but likely to include the return of some portions of land in the above mentioned block which include the extensive Crown lands in the WAI 4 block, which make up reserves and the Erua State forest, monetary compensation, and an apology for Crown actions. 5) We wish the Tribunal to, after consultation with myself or a representative group of Ngati Maringi commission a researcher to report on the claim, and will forward a research proposal in due course. 6) We ask for permission to amend this claim if necessary. 7) The Tribunal is advised that our legal representative is: Mark McGhie, Ruapehu Law, Box 15, Ohakune. 8) We are of the opinion that those who should be notified of this claim are all the persons and organisations who currently are on the mailing list for WAI 903 - the Whanganui enquiry, and WAI 1130 the National Park enquiry. we can be contacted at the following address. Justin Winiata Moke-Bishop 16 Moore Street, Ohakune 4625 or phone 0211 735 767 also Francie Hiroti 6-14 Duncan Street, Raetihi 4632 or 06 3853238. This case has been uploaded to page Ngati Maringi Trust by Justin Winiata Moke-Bishop ( dated 27.07.2013 )
