Land alienation and impacts 1870 – 1890
Crown encroachment of Māori lands and customary rights was well underway by the 1870’s. The breakdown of the traditional Māori communal structures had resulted in the individualisation of land titles and an end to customary ownership.
Internal issues over rights of ownership to lands and estates were prevalent amongst hapū and iwi throughout Aotearoa.
Hapū and iwi were finding that their own leaders were now corrupting the customary relationship that Māori had to their resources. This was no different in Waikanae.
The Ngarara Block is an example of such issues, where the lack of understanding of the Crown legal process saw the extinguishment of Māori customary ownership to large tracks of land.
The Maori Land Court became the Crown mechanism to effect major changes in our rohe. For the people of Te Ātiawa, this issue was compounded by internal struggles over rights of ownership to lands and other natural resources.
During the period between 1870 and 1890 the Māori Land Court was to be responsible for awarding significant areas of land to small sections of Te Ātiawa people.
To add further unrest within Te Ātiawa, Wi Te Kakakura Parata had made arrangements with the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company which saw the Crown purchase 15,500 acres of steep country along the Tararua foothills in 1881 as a part payment to the railway company for building the railway.
In 1884, the whare Pukumahi Tamariki was also moved to be situated closer to the railway.
When the line was open for traffic, Pukumahi Tamariki was brought via bullock to its present site in which it still stands today. This is at Marae Lane in Waikanae, and is now known as Whakarongotai Marae.
In 1891, the Native Land Court’s work was largely complete and the division of the large Te Atiawa lands between individual Māori owners, who, in accordance with the court’s approval, were free to sell their interests. Land sales continued to create considerable consternation among Te Ātiawa whānau.