He iwi taiwhenua
I mua i te Pakanga Tuarua, ka noho te mātotoru o te iwi Māori ki ngā taiwhenua. I te tekau tau atu i 1900, 95 ōrau e noho ana ki te wā kāinga, ā, atu i te tekau tau 1930, 90 ōrau o te taupori e noho ana ki ngā taiwhenua.
Ki tā ngā tatauranga i te tau 1926, neke atu i te 10,000 te nuinga o te iwi Māori e mahi ana i roto i ngā ahumahi matua.
I tua atu i te 7,000 te nui o ngā kaimahi i rēhitatia he ihu oneone. Ko te nuinga o tēnei hunga, kei ngā mahi whenua.
Te tuwhera ki ngā mahi ahuwhenua
Nō mua rawa mai ka hikaka katoa te Māori i te kawea mai o ngā tipu me ngā tikanga ahuone hou. Ko tā ētahi iwi he putu kai mā ngā tāngata whai o ngā tāone tuatahi. Ahakoa ka tū takitahi ētahi Māori hei kaiahuwhenua, ka mahi tahi tonu ia me tōna iwi. Taka mai ki ngā tau waenganui o te rau tau 1800 kua tīmata te whakatūhia o ngā mira puehu parāoa hei whakangao i te witi. I kitea ai te tōnuitanga o ngā mahi ahuwhenua a te Māori i te takiwā atu i 1840 ki te tekau tau 1860 – heoi he harore rangi tahi.
Riro whenua atu
Nō te tekau tau 1860, kua riro te nuinga o Te Waipounamu i ngā ringaringa o te Māori. Taka mai ki te rau tau 1900, ka riro te whenua i te hoko me te raupatu. I mua atu ko te iwi e whakamahi ana i tōna whenua, heoi nō te rironga o ngā whenua haumako ki te Pākehā, ka whakamahia ngā Māori ki ngā mahi tūtūā.
Mahi kirimana
He nui ngā Māori ka mahi ā-marama ki ngā pāmu Pākehā. Atu i te paunga o te rau tau 1800 ka hua ake ngā rōpū kuti hipi i karangahia ai he ‘kanataraki’. He rōpu ā-whānau, ā-hapū rānei ēnei rōpū. He mahi nā te ringa raupā te ahuwhenua.
Whai atu i tērā, ko ngā mahi kāwanatanga pērā i te hanga rori, te whakatakoto rērewē me te whakawātea puihi ka haere katoa ki ngā hapori Māori.
Ka mahi ā-marama tonu te iwi i noho ki te kāinga, ā, he āhuatanga tēnei i whakauaua i te rapu mahi ki waho, me te whakatutuki i ngā tono a te iwi. Whai i muri i te Pakanga Tuarua, ā mihini i pau haere ai ngā mahi i runga pāmu.
Te ahunga o te whenua – putanga mai i ngā mahi ihu oneone
Taka rawa ki te tekau tau 1930, he mahi uaua te whakawhanake a te Māori i tōna whenua i te kore āhei ki ngā pūtea āwhina a te kāwanatanga. I roto i tana tūranga hei minita Māori atu i te paunga o te tekau tau 1920, ka kōkiri a Āpirana Ngata i ngā kaupapa whakawhanake whenua i piki ai te rahi o ngā kaiahuwhenua Māori.
Ko te kaupapa whakawhanake he mahi nui tonu i whakaratohia e te kāwanatanga, ā, nō te tau 1939, e 5,000 te rahi o ngā kaimahi Māori ki tēnei wāhanga.
Ngā taiapa
Hāunga tonu rā ngā whakapaipai o te ahuwhenua Māori, he maha ngā ārai i te kaupapa a Ngata mā – arā, te tipu nui o te taupori, te iti o te whenua me te aha he tūpuhi, tae atu rawa ki te noho tāone.
Ngā umanga ā-rohe
Ko ētahi mahi i pū ki te wāhi kotahi anake. E ai ki ngā tatauranga ā-motu i te tau 1926, e 40 ngā kaipatu tītī i noho katoa ki Te Waipounamu. I ngā tau tōmua o te mano tau 2000 e whai hiranga tonu ana te ahumahi tītī ki te iwi o Rakiura.
I taua tau anō, e 627 te nui o ngā Māori e keri kāpia ana ki Te Tai Tokerau. Nō konei ka karangahia te kamupene A a te rōpū 28 ko ngā ‘keri kāpia’.