Kōrero: Ngāi Tahu

Whārangi 8. Te kerēme a Ngāi Tahu

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Ngā hoko whenua

I roto i te tau i tū te maungārongo o Ngāi Tahu me Ngāti Toa, ka hainahia e ngā rangatira o Ngāi Tahu te Tiriti o Waitangi ki Hakaroa, ki Ruapuke, ki Ōtākou. I whakapono a Ngāi Tahu, ko te taonga nui ka puta mai i te tiriti, ko ngā hua o te ao hōu. Heoi, ko tētahi take o te tiriti, kia āhei te Karauna ki te hoko whenua i te Māori hei hoko atu ki ngā tāngata whai, ki ngā whakahaerenga arumoni rānei. I waenganui i ngā tau 1844 ki 1863, ka hokona e Ngāi Tahu ōna whenua ki te Karauna. E iwa ngā hoko, ā, ko te hoko nui rawa, mō te rohe o Waitaha i te tau 1848; he mea whakarite e Henry Tacy Kemp; e 20 miriona eka (takiwā o te 8 miriona heketea) i hokona mō te 2,400 pāuna. Ko tētahi atu hoko nui, ko te hoko o Ōtākou i te tau 1844: i hokona ngā eka 400,000 (neke atu i te 162,000 heketea) mō te 2,400 pāuna.

Te whakaahu a Ngāi Tahu

Kāore i roa ka mārama ki a Ngāi Tahu, kīhai rawa te Karauna e piri ki tāna i oati ai. I whakapono te iwi ka rūritia he whenua mō ratou, ka rāhuitia ō rātou mahinga kai, ka tū he kura, he hōhipera ki ngā kāinga.

Nō te tau 1849 ka takoto te whakamau a Matiaha Tiramōrehu, te tono ōkawa tuatahi a Ngāi Tahu e pā ana ki ngā hoko whenua. Nō te tekau tau atu i 1870, ka tīmataria e Hōri Kerei Taiaroa te kerēme a Ngāi Tahu ki mua i te whare paremata. Whai muri, ā, taka rawa ki te tekau tau atu i 1990, tata ki te katoa o ngā rangatira o Ngāi Tahu i whakapau kaha ki te kaupapa nei.

Ko te pōhēhē a Ngāi Tahu e noho ana ki Waitaha, kīhai i hokona te taiwhenua. Nā runga i tēnei, ka aratakina e te matakite e Te Maihāroa tana ope ki Te Ao Mārama (Ōmārama), i te rohe o Waitaki, ki te whakaatu i tō rātou mana ki ngā mahinga manu o te raumati. Ka whakaaturia rātou e te hunga pāmu hipi ki te kāwanatanga, ko te otinga, i te tau 1879 ka panaia a Te Maihāroa rātou ko tana ope i te tuawhenua kia rere ki tai.

Te whai i te kerēme

Atu i ngā petihana i whakatakotohia ki mua i te aroaro o te whare pāremata me Kuini Wikitōria, whāia ai e Ngāi Tahu ana kerēme mā roto i Te Kōti Whenua Māori i te tau 1868, i mua hoki i ngā kōmihana roera, tae rawa atu ki te Kōmihana Roera o 1879, he mea whakatū e Francis Nairn rāua ko Thomas Smith. E ai ki te pūrongo a te kōmihana nei, kia rahi atu ngā whenua i rāhuitia mō Ngāi Tahu. Heoi kīhai te take nei i whāia, ka tapahia te pūtea hei whakahaere i te kōmihana.

Ngā whatinga oati

I te tau 1879, ka kōrero tētahi rangatira o Ngāi Tahu ki te kōmihana roera e rangahau ana i ā rātou kerēme whenua. I reira te koroua nei i te hainatanga o te hokonga a Henry Tacy Kemp i te tau 1848:

“Ko te kupu oati a Kemp mō ngā whenua rāhui, ka mau tonu te iwi ki āna mahinga ika, ōna wāhi tanu tūpāpaku, mahinga kai, pā tuna, aha noa. Kōrerohia ai aua kupu oati e 30 tau ki muri! Kei hea te whakatinanatanga o aua kupu? Ko ngā mahinga kai ngā wāhi ka tiki kai mātou, ngā hua a Rongomatāne. Mahi kai ai mātou i te motu puta noa.” 1

Ngā whakataunga tuatahi

Ka tū ētahi atu poari, kōmihana ki te rangahau i te take nei. Ka kōrero ā rātou pūrongo katoa mō te rawakore o Ngāi Tahu i te hokona o ō rātou whenua i ngā tau pokapū o te rau tau 1800. Ko te whakatau a tētahi kōmihana o ngā tau 1920-21, kia utua a Ngai Tahu ki te e 354,000 pāuna; kāore tēnei i eke. Nō te tau 1928 ka whakatūhia te tuatahi o ngā Poari Kaitiaki o Ngāi Tahu (Ngai Tahu Trust Board). I te tau i muri mai ka tū tētahi hui ki te aru ko wai mā ngā uri o Ngāi Tahu, e whai wāhi ai ratou ki te paremata tērā ka puāwai.

Kia taka rā anō ki te tau 1944, ka whakamanatia e te kāwanatanga reipa te Ture Whakatau i Ngā Kerēme a Ngāi Tahu (Ngāi Tahu Claim Settlement Act). Ko te ritenga, ka utua a Ngāi Tahu ki te e 300,000 pāuna, arā, ia tau ka utua te 10,000 pāuna ki te iwi mō ngā tau toru tekau. Ko te whakatau a te Kōmihana o te tau 1920-21, kia e 354,000 pāuna te paremata ki a Ngāi Tahu; kāore te iwi i rata ki tēnei. Nō te tau 1946, ka whakamanahia ā-ture Te Poari Kaitiaki o Ngāi Tahu, hei whakahaere i ngā tahua moni.

Kupu tāpiri
  1. Harry C. Evison, Te Wai Pounamu, the greenstone island: a history of the southern Maori during the colonisation of New Zealand. Christchurch: Aoraki, 1993, p. 444. › Back
Me pēnei te tohu i te whārangi:

Te Maire Tau, 'Ngāi Tahu - Te kerēme a Ngāi Tahu', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/ngai-tahu/page-8 (accessed 29 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Te Maire Tau, i tāngia i te 8 Feb 2005, updated 1 Mar 2017