He whīwhiwhi, he takaroa, he moumou pūtea hoki ngā whakawākanga Kōti Whenua Māori. I āhei noa iho te kōti ki te whakatewhatewha i ngā poraka rūri, ā, mā ngā kaipupuri Māori e waha ngā utu rūri. Mō te tini o ngā poraka e 20 ōrau o te uara o te whenua ka whakapaua ki ngā mahi rūri. I te haerenga o ngā kaikereme ki te kōti ka muia rātou e te hunga kaihoko, kairūri, rōia, kaihoko whenua, kaituku pūtea taurewa hoki.1 He roa ngā marama e haere ana ngā kōti whenua, ā, ka tāpiritia atu ko ngā utu kōti, ngā utu ture me ngā utu mō te haerenga me te noho. I tētahi whakawākanga i Kemureti i te tau 1882, ka horomia te wāriu o te whenua i te nui o te utu noho.2
Ka mahara te Māori ki ngā mahi a te kōti, ā, inā te tokomaha o ngā pitihana i whakatakotoria ki te Whare Pāremata mō tēnei take.
Te Porohaurangi
Ka hora hoki te mahi haurangi i ngā noho ki te Kōti Whenua Māori. E ai ki tētahi o ngā minita ki te Kōmihana Karauna i te tau 1898, ‘Whenever the Natives had their land purchased … it was a scene of continual orgies until the money was spent. They would go up to the hotels and buy liquor in quantities, drinking to excess, which led to frequent accidents, some of which were fatal’ (Ina hokona ngā whenua o ngā Māori ka kai, ka inu, tae noa ki te whakapaunga o te moni. Ka haere ki ngā hōtera hoko ai i te waipiro, ka haurangi rawa, ā, ka mate kūare noa.)3 I ngā whakahaere kōti i te Rohe Pōtae, ‘drunken Maori women and girls are a common sight there; and the results generally … are most deplorable’ (he tokomaha rawa ngā wāhine me ngā kōtiro haurangi; ā, ko ngā hua he weriweri).’4
Te ture whīwhiwhi
Ko tētahi take i roa ai ngā whakawākanga Kōti Whenua Māori ko te whīwhiwhi o ngā ture whenua Māori. He maha ngā kāwanatanga i tahuri ki te whakamana i ngā ture maha mō te whenua Māori me te Kōti Whenua Māori – e waru ngā whakahounga ture i te tau 1888, e iwa i te tau 1889. Huia katoatia, e 560 ngā ture whenua Māori i whakapūmautia mai i te takiwā o te tau 1865 ki te tau 1909.
Ko te Kōmihana Rees–Carroll
Nā ngā uauatanga o te ture me ngā kokoraho teka a ētahi kaikereme, ka whakatū te kāwanatanga i te kōmihana rangahau i te ture whenua Māori; te tāpaetanga o ngā rawa whenua Māori; me te Kōti Whenua Māori.5 Ka tonoa hoki te kōmihana ki te waihanga mātāpono mō te whakahaerenga o te whenua Māori e tairanga anō ai te noho Pākehā. Nō muri ka tapaina tēnei kōmihana ko te Kōmihana o Rees-Carroll, arā, ki te roia me te kaitōrangapū ki a William Lee Ree Coomas rāua ko te kaitōrangapū, a Timi Kara (ngā kaikōmihana o te uepū).
Ko ēnei ngā huatau i tūtohua e te kōmihana:
- Me waihanga tētahi Kōti Taitara Māori hei tirotiro i ngā tāpaetanga whenua Māori me te whakamana i ngā hoko tōtika. Ka āhei tēnei kōti ki te whakaputa taitara, engari anō i ngā kēhi i uru atu ai te heitara takahi ture. Ka waihangatia te kōti whakamana hei whakatewhatewha, hei whakatau i te wāhi ki ngā taitara tautohe. Nō te tau 1909 ka mutu tēnei kōti.
- Te hanga hou i te Kōti Whenua Māori kia kotahi te kaiwhakawā matua, kia tokorima ngā kaiwhakawā rohe, kia tokorima hoki ngā kaikōmihana rohe. I mua i te haerenga o te poraka whenua ki mua ki te kōti, ka whakarite kētia te rārangi kaipupuri.
Kāore tonu i whai mana ētahi o ngā tūtohunga o te kōti nā te taupatupatu o ngā ture kāwanatanga me te hiahia o te kāwanatanga ki te whakatuwhera i ngā whenua Māori mō te Pākehā.
Ture Kōti Whenua Māori o 1894
Nā te Ture Whenua Māori o te tau 1894 ka māmā anō te hokonga o te whenua Māori. Ka waihanga tēnei ture i ngā kōti pīra, ā, ka whakahokia mai te ture hoko tuatahi mō te Karauna, ā, tae rawa ki te tau 1909 e whakamahia ana. Heoi anō kua oti kē i te Karauna te hoko ngā whenua tārake, ā, hei ētahi kēhi kāore tonu i arohia te ture hoko tuatahi.