Kōrero: Marlborough region

The Kaikōura coast, from Cape Campbell to the Hurunui River in Canterbury, around 1 million hectares, was sold by local Māori to the government for £300 in 1859. This deed of sale records the transaction and maps out the territory sold. Appended are the signatures of the Māori sellers, headed by the chief Kaikōura Whakatau, and the allocation of the £300. A total of around 2,000 hectares, in dispersed locations, was retained by the sellers, and these reserves were indicated in separate documents. The deed was witnessed by James Mackay, the assistant native secretary, who bought the land for the government, and two settlers – George Fyffe and Alexander Mackay, who was James Mackay’s cousin.