Story: Te tango whenua – Māori land alienation

Donald McLean buying land

Donald McLean buying land

Donald McLean, seated by the tree on the left, negotiates the purchase of land at Wairoa from the local Ngāti Kahungunu people in 1865. McLean was the head of the Native Land Purchase Office, and became native minister in 1869. He convinced chiefs to sell land cheaply by telling them that positive economic effects would follow.

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Alexander Turnbull Library, Rhodes Album
Reference: PA1-q-193-053

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Richard Boast, 'Te tango whenua – Māori land alienation - Crown pre-emption', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/19519/donald-mclean-buying-land (accessed 24 April 2024)

Story by Richard Boast, published 24 Nov 2008, updated 1 Jul 2015