E toru ngā momo puritanga whenua o Aotearoa:
- ko te whenua Karauna
- ko te whenua matawhānui
- ko te whenua Māori. Kei raro i te mana whakawā o te Kōti Whenua Māori.
Kāore pea he kōti taurite ki te Kōti Whenua Māori, puta noa i te ao.
Mana whenua tūturu
He rerekē te mana whenua o te Māori i tērā o te Pākehā. Nō te whenua te Māori; ehara nōna ake te whenua. Ka mutu nō te hapū, nō te iwi whānui kē.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Nō te tīmatanga tonu o te noho Pākehā ka tīmata te hiahia a te hunga tauhou ki te whenua Māori. E 27 miriona heketea ngā whenua e puritia ana e te Māori i tērā wā. Ki tā te wāhanga Ingarihi o te Tiriti, ka tukuna mā te Karauna anake te tika ki te hoko i ngā whenua Māori. Kātahi ka hokona anō aua whenua mō tētahi utu nui kē atu, hei pūtea āwhina, hei whakatairanga hoki i te noho a te Pākehā. Tae rawa ake ki te tau 1860 kua riro katoa atu ngā whenua Māori ki Te Waipounamu i te Pākehā, ā, kua hauruatia ngā whenua Māori ki te 14 miriona heketea. E 75 ōrau o ngā heketea 11 miriona o Te Ika-a-Māui i roto tonu i te ringaringa Māori.
Te Ture Whenua Māori 1862
Ka haere tonu ngā hoko whenua takitahi a te Karauna, ā, i te tau 1863 ka whakaaetia te hoko whenua Māori ki te hunga kotahi. Hei whakamāmā i te tukanga, nā te Ture Whenua Māori o te tau 1862 i whakamana te pūnaha mana kaipupuri hou, arā, me āta whakatau haere te Māori i ōna mana ki ōna whenua. Ka rūritia te whenua, kātahi ka tukuna te taitara ki ngā kaipupuri ā-ture. Ko te pūtake o ēnei ko te takahuri i te tikanga whenua Māori ki te ture Pākehā.1 Mā tēnei ture ka tukuna te kaipupuri whenua Māori kia hoko ki te hunga takitahi, takitini anō hoki.2
Ngā Kōti Tuatahi
I runga i te Ture Whenua 1862 ka whakamanaia te kāwana kia whakatū i te kōti:
for the purpose of ascertaining and declaring who according to Native Custom are the proprietors of any Native Lands and the estate or interest held in them therein, and for the purpose of granting to such proprietors Certificates of their title to such lands (ki te titiro me te whakatau ko wai ngā kaipupuri o ngā whenua me ngā rawa Māori me te tuku ki ēnei kaipupuri tētahi tiwhikete taitara ki aua whenua).3
I te Āperira o te tau 1864 ka waihangatia te tuatahi o ēnei kōti ki te takiwā o Kaipara. Ka puare ētahi atu kōti ki te Tai Tokerau i taua tau anō hoki. I roto i ēnei kōti ka whakatūria ngā rangatira hei kaiwhakawā i te taha o ngā apataki Pākehā.
Te whakamārama i te mana whenua
E riro mai ai te taitara ki ō rātou whenua, me puta rawa ki te Kōti Whenua Māori ki te whakamārama i ō rātou pānga. Ka tukuna ngā whakapapa, ngā hapū, ngā pou tara-ā-waho, ngā tohu whenua, ngā maunga, ngā awa, ngā kōawa, ngā tūtū manu, ngā taunga ika, ngā whenua māra, ngā umu pokapoka, ngā pā, ngā wharenui, ngā urupā, ngā wāhi motuhenga, ngā pā tuna, ngā waikaukau tae atu ki ngā wāhi horoi kākahu. Ka whakatakotoria hoki ngā kōrero tuku iho, ngā mōteatea me ngā mātauranga katoa i pūrangiaho ai nō rātou taketake te whenua mai anō i ngā tau ukiuki. Nā runga i tēnei hātepe ka tokaina ngā paenga tūtanga whenua ā-iwi, nā reira hoki ka mutu ngā haerenga a ngā iwi a ngā hapū, ki tēnā takiwā, ki tēnā takiwā, i ōna anō wāhanga o te tau e tika ana ki te kohi mātaitai, ki te mahi kai, ki te aha atu.
