I te tīmatanga, kīhai te Māori i rata ki te whakatipu witi, he rerekē hoki nā te hātepe whakapaipai, he rerekē hoki te āhua o te witi ki ērā ngā tipu a te Māori. Ka rongo te rangatira rā a Ruatara mō te kaha hiahia i te witi ki Poihākena, whāia, nō te tau 1813 ka whakatōkia e ia te māra witi tuatahi ki Aotearoa. Kāore tonu ētahi atu rangatira i aro atu ki a ia, kia oti rā anō te witi te hurihuri. Whāia, kāhore i pau te rua tau ka whakaatu a Hongi Hika i tōna māra witi ki a Te Mātenga.
He pai te witi hei kai nā te mea ka taea te tiaki mō tētahi wā roa, ka taea hoki te tauhokohoko ki tāwāhi.
Mira mahi puehu parāoa
I te tekau tau atu i 1840 ka kake te taupori o ngā tāngata whai. Ka whakawhānui te Māori i āna mahi tipu witi hei hoko ki Ahitereiria. Nāwai ā, ka kitea te koretake o ngā mira ā-ringa. Nō ngā tau pokapū o te tekau tau atu i 1840 ka huihui ngā iwi o Waikato, o Te Whanganui-a-Tara, o Taranaki, o Whanganui ki te hoko mira pana wai. He uaua te kawekawe taputapu i te tuawhenua me te tai hauāuru i mua i te takotoranga o ngā huarahi me ngā rerewē. Mā te hurihuri ka māmā iho te witi hei kawe ki ngā wāhi hokohoko pērā i a Tāmaki-makau-rau.
Te pāmu Māori me te noho Pākehā
I kaha te hāpai a ngā mihinare me ngā Pākehā i te whakatipu a te Māori i te witi, hāunga te mea kāore i pai ētahi whenua mō te whakatipu witi. I pēnei te whakaaro o tauiwi nā runga i te tokonga whakaaro Pākehā e mea ana me whakamahi te whenua. I tua atu, kei te Paipera Tapu ngā kōrero e hāpai ana i te parau, te witi me te tiringa o te oneone hei ara ki tētahi ao pai atu. Ka whakapono hoki te Pākehā, mā te pāmu a te Māori i te whenua, mai kore ka whakatū kāinga tūturu ia, kia noho wātea ai te nuinga o ngā whenua ki te hunga whai mai i tāwāhi.
He nui ngā tautokonga ki ngā iwi ka whakatipu witi, ka hanga mira pana wai rānei. Ka tuku pūtea taurewa a Kāwana Hōri Kerei ki ngā hapū maha i Te Ika-a-Maui hei hanga mira; ko tētahi here o ēnei pūtea taurewa, kia noho wātea ai ngā whenua Māori ki te Pākehā.
He mārama te kite atu a te Māori, he tohu te whakatipu witi ki te rangimārie. Nā whai anō he maha ngā iwi i hiahia ki te whakatūturu i te kotahitanga o 1840 ki te Karauna o Ingarangi mā te whakatipu witi. Heoi, i te tau 1856 ka paheke ngā utu mō ngā hua ahuwhenua, ka noho te maha o ngā hapori he nama moni anake te hua, kua kore hoki he wāriu o ō rātou mira.
