Te Tai – Treaty Settlement Stories

Story: Raukawa

Raukawa and the Crown

Chapter 2 Raukawa and the Crown

Image: Kiingi Tāwhiao

The Kīngitanga

In the early 1850s, Wiremu Te Rauparaha and Mātene Te Whiwhi, both with connections to Raukawa, were at the forefront of discussions about establishing a Māori king. As the Raukawa chief, Hītiri Te Paerata, explained in 1888, the Kīngitanga movement was considered by some to be the best way to deal with problems relating to the way ancestral lands were being alienated.

These problems included, among other things, the low prices the Crown paid for Māori land, insufficient acknowledgement of chiefly mana, and the chiefs’ ability to sell ‘lands belonging to the people’.

Hītiri said that in supporting the Kīngitanga, Māori wanted ‘to set up a head whose mana was to overshadow the land and protect it’.

Raukawa was drawn into the movement through their whakapapa connections to other tribal groups and because of the benefits the Kīngitanga promised for Māori. In 1856, at the Hīnana ki Uta, Hīnana ki Tai hui at Pūkawa, Māori present agreed that a king was needed to rule over a confederation of tribes. In 1858, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero was selected for the role.

Grey-haired Māori man with tattooed face and feather in his hair. The words 'Hitiri Te Paerata, N.Z.' are written in the bottom left corner.
Portrait of Hītiri Te Paerata, 1828-1909.Creator of Collection Unknown: Postcards of Maori chiefs. Ref: PAColl-7512-03. Alexander Turnbull Library

Kīngitanga – Paraone Gloyne, Robert Joseph and Des Tata

Video transcript

Paraone Gloyne:

‘Whakarongo rā koutou ki te ara whānui tū ai te Kīngitanga. Nā Mātene Te Whiwhi i whiu ki a Whitikau, ka hē ki reira ki Taranaki.

Ka whiua ki roto Whanganui ko Peehi Turoa, ka hē ki reira.

Ka whiua ki roto Taupō ko Te Heuheu, ka hē ki reira.

Ka whiua ki roto Rotorua ko Te Amohau, ka hē ki reira.

Ka whiua ki te Tairāwhiti ko Hikurangi te maunga e kore nekeneke ko Te Kani a Takirau te tangata, ka hē ki reira. Ka whiua ki roto Waikato ko Pōtatau te tangata, he mana i heke mai nō ngā mātāwaka o te motu.

You can’t not talk about Kīngitanga, when you come to Rangiaowhia, you can’t.

You can’t talk about Rangiriri, Meremere, Pāterangi, Waiari, Rangiaowhia, Ō-Rākau, Pukehinahina, Te Ranga, Te Kaokaoroa and Te Tarata, you can’t talk about those places if you don’t talk about Kīngitanga.

And this year we are commemorating 160 years mai te timatanga o te Kīngitanga and that little Pātere I done at the start talks about one of our kōroua, Matene Te Whiwhi. Biggest iwi consultation, ever. They struck at symbols of the Kīngitanga because Kīngitanga stands for "mana motuhake Māori".’

Robert Joseph:

‘They took this place out to bring down the Kīngitanga, and most wars, if not all wars, are battles over two things, land and power, property and sovereignty. Who’s in control and who has the resources. Even wars now, going on about those two things. They disguise it as a whole bunch of other things, but at the end of the day it boils down to those things.’

Des Tata:

‘If we go back to 1858 at the time of Pōtatau, and then Tāwhiao taking over the Kingship, he went on a journey to all of our marae our rohe and talking to us about what should happen with the land. They had started what is known as the ‘Land league’ where he said ‘put your lands under me, under the King and they’ll never take it’. So, we saw that as being, because we had no one to turn to but ourselves, so the majority of Tauranga Moana put their lands under Tāwhiao. The lands in Tauranga had already started to be sold before the battle of Gate Pā. The king was just an excuse to the British to take land.’

The Crown came to view the Kīngitanga movement as a challenge to the Queen’s sovereignty and sought to undermine the mana of the king.

In May 1861, Governor Thomas Gore Browne demanded iwi of the Waikato accept the Queen’s authority and obey her laws. In return, the Governor reaffirmed the Crown’s commitment to the protection of Māori possession of their lands and property as set out in the Treaty. He demanded that Māori be able to sell land to the Crown without interference from others, and permit roads and bridges to be built when required.

In September 1861, having returned to power, Governor Grey soon put forward his proposals for ‘new institutions’ that would give Māori a greater role in local administration and which were in part designed to restrict the appeal and influence of the Kīngitanga.

Following the wars of the 1860s, the Crown sought to detach Raukawa from the Kīngitanga. While the Kīngitanga opposed the construction of roads and the work of surveyors within Te Rohe Pōtae, from the early 1870s the Crown sponsored these activities within the parts of the Raukawa takiwā that lay outside of Te Rohe Pōtae. After intense negotiations in the early 1870s, some of Raukawa accepted the Crown’s request to construct roads, but others remained loyal to King Tāwhiao.

War and Raupatu
1860s

Raukawa were affected by the New Zealand wars in three main theatres, Taranaki, Waikato and Tauranga. The most notable battle encompassed Ō-Rākau in 1864, plus the British army campaigns in Tauranga which included the battles of Gate Pā and Te Ranga (also 1864).

In addition to these theatres of war, Raukawa were affected by the conflict between the Crown and Te Kooti in 1869-1870. Regarding the Waikato war, Crown forces invaded the Waikato on 12 July 1863 when General Cameron and his army crossed the Mangatāwhiri stream into the Waikato proper.

Waikato
1863

On 9 December 1863, the British army occupied Ngāruawāhia and the situation in the Waikato became even more threatening. Kīngitanga forces retreated further south and did their best to construct a new defensive line to prevent the British army from reaching their main objective, the rich farming land around Rangiaowhia.

Rangiaowhia was vitally important to the people of the area because it was a centre of economic growth and trade. The market gardens supplied much of the produce sold in Auckland and afar. Raukawa believe that when the Crown attacked Rangiaowhia on 21 February 1864, a massacre of refugees and non-combatants occurred. Accounts of the massacre saw Crown forces including militia unload a barrage of gunfire into the village, trapping the villagers within their whare.

The battle at Ō-Rākau began in earnest on the 31 March 1864 and concluded on the 2 April 1864. Leading the first British attack on Ō-Rākau was Brigadier-General G. J Carey, who was met with heavy resistance from the pā.

Waikato campaign – Robert Joseph, Nigel Te Hiko, Paraone Gloyne, Anthony Pecotic, Kiriupokoiti Heke (Koro Gin)

Video transcript

Robert Joseph:

‘It’s actually not recorded in a lot of our “official history books”. They don’t record what happened here and many of them actually down played what happened here.

This place was actually known as the granary of the North Island. It was a huge hub of economic development and prosperity. But Māori signed the declaration there, so that they could continue international trade. This was truly an economic heart not only for Tainui but for the country.

This place had this church, this is all that’s left now the Anglican church. Te Hāhī Katorika, a Catholic church and a Māori whare karakia as well. They had a big race course. Some of the early Europeans when they came here they were actually surprised at the wealth that was here. They wanted this land so they introduced a policy of confiscation. If Māori aren’t gonna sell it, we’re just gonna take it by law.

The battles that occurred so there’s Koheroa, Meremere, Rangiriri, Pāterangi, Rangiaowhia then Ō-Rākau. But what’s important is we need to acknowledge our history, because it’s ours, no matter how disturbing. And that is what Rangiaowhia is about whānau. That’s what we are striving to do here. Tell the full picture and it’s nigh impossible to tell it all, but tell what best we can, what happened. Because as one of the themes of this whole kaupapa, Me Maumahara Tātou – we must remember. We must remember what happened here, because if we don’t remember, we don’t learn the lessons and then we continue to do the silly things against each other. So, we must remember what happened here whānau.’

Nigel Te Hiko:

‘What we have now, is that we’ve all come together to start looking at the NZ Wars. So, in 1863 the Crown crossed the Mangataawhiri stream, a further north of us towards Tuakau, they crossed the Mangaatawhiri stream, which essentially meant that they invaded the Waikato. This wasn’t a simple, “we’re moving people down here.” This was an actual invasion. Back in 1863, Governor Grey had heard that these Waikato Māori were going to attack Auckland, it was a lie. Rumour. On the 9th July 1863, the Governor issued a proclamation, and on that proclamation, he said “that if you are a Māori in that Northern Waikato area, you must swear allegiance to the Crown, if you do not swear allegiance to the Crown, then you are going to be evicted from your home”. Two days they were given in order to swear allegiance, they didn’t, the invasion started.’

Paraone Gloyne:

‘Now I want you to close your eyes. Close your eyes. I want you to imagine a grove of peach trees here. Close your eyes and imagine. I want you to imagine cornfields and wheat and orchards full of ripe succulent fruit. I want you to imagine gardens as far as the eye could see around here. I want you to imagine tamariki running around. I want you to imagine a racecourse. I want you to imagine two flour mills where they milled their own flour here. I want you to imagine you hear the bullets. I want you to imagine you can hear the horse hooves of the cavalry. I want you to imagine you can hear General Von Tempsky saying “Fire!” I want you to imagine your koro running out with a white blanket as a sign of peace. “Bang!” I want you to imagine that they shot him. I want you to imagine that their house caught on fire. I want you to imagine that those people in that house were burnt alive.

Open your eyes. That’s what happened here at Rangiaowhia. So, when you go home, when the hikoi finishes today and you go home you got a big, big job. Because we got to keep the kōrero going. It’s so so so important. Because this is a huge part of our history and makes up who we are as Māori today, as New Zealanders, as Kiwis. Koinei ngā kōrero. Koinei ngā kōrero. Nō reira, koina tāku ki a tātou. Don’t forget, remember, and keep telling the stories.’

Nigel Te Hiko:

‘Welcome to Ō-Rākau. What you’re gonna hear today is actually from the stories from the kōrero of those who fought here. And so, you’re gonna hear our story, this is our history, this is our truth.

Standing at Ō-Rākau, often it breaks my heart when I stand here. The problem with us not talking about places like Ō-Rākau is that then it becomes easy to forget. It becomes very easy for the Crown or for the Government to forget about what happened in places like Ō-Rākau and Rangiaowhia. I was one of the privileged ones to actually have that kōrero. Me of my generation and the generation before me, weren’t given that opportunity. I think about, if we don’t tell the story, then how are you gonna know. And so, what I am going to give you today is not found in any history book, it is passed on from generation to generation. It was told to me by my koroua and my kuia. When they said it, they had tears in their eyes. My koroua Te Paerata, was so angry that he told his people we are going to go to war. He took his tokotoko and said “Me mate au ki konei” – let me die here on the land.

It was a stinking hot day on the 31 March 1864 but they were having church, when our sentries, our lookouts saw the advance of the British Troops, Lieutenant Brigadier General Careys troops moving upon the pā. The pā was attacked three times, every time the British attacked Ō-Rākau pā, they were repulsed they were pushed back. Three hundred Māori, men, women and children here in this pā, fighting against Carey’s troops of over 1200. For every 1 Māori defender there was 4 trained soldiers. Because we got caught early from finishing the pā, we ran out of food, we ran out of water and we ran out of bullets. It got to such a bad state that what we were putting in the guns, we were putting pips from the peaches that’s what they were using. “Go tell those people that we will give them a chance to get out, to give up”. The reply was “Friend, we will fight you forever, ka whawhai tonu mātou ake”.

So, for many of them it was an act of chivalry, an act of bravery that these young men would give their lives so selflessly.

For my family, we remember Ō-Rākau not only with a sense of sadness, but also with a sense of pride because our koroua Te Paerata, who gave his life here, his son Honeteri gave his life here for the service of his people, and so we remember these people, we remember Ō-Rākau.’

Anthony Pecotic:

'And you got to understand this rain is a blessing, ‘ānei he pai tēnei ua, te honongā Papatūānuku ki Ranginui, Ranginui ki a Papatūānuku ki Ranginui’.

So, my name is Tony, my tupuna who fell here her name was Hinetūrama. Her daughter died with her as well her name was Ewa. But I like to cast my mind back to 1850 to the time we were talking about before at Rangiaowhia, that this whole area was a Pātaka kai.

So, my whakapapa here comes from my tupuna, she lived in Maketu over in Te Arawa, she lived on Mokoia, she lived in Ōhinemutu and she lived in Ō-Rākau. So, she had kainga in all those places and those places connected her to her whenua.

So, Māori we didn’t have one kainga, we had a whole lot of kainga and it followed our whakapapa. So, it was a new land, it was a new time. The Treaty of Waitangi had been signed.

‘Kua tiro rātou whakamua’, they were looking forwards to the time all the pakangā, all the fighting of the past was behind them and this new world was taking them forward.

They knew the pain, they knew the anguish that our people went through just over the hill there. They knew what happened, but they still decided to stay, they still decided to stand.

Te Arawa, just like Ngāti Porou had some people in it that fought with or against the Crown at different times, so it was survival, survival instinct at that time.

The battle went for three days, they ran out of water, they ran out of kai to eat. The babies inside were starving, but when you’re in war, you’re in war and when you’re fighting for your kids, I think you will do anything.

So, I stand here on behalf of my tupuna, that lies here in Ō-Rākau her name was Hinetūrama.

I use to ask my grandmother “why don’t we talk about this”, or ‘“He riri ia”, because I was talking about her great grandmother and she use to say “You don’t know, you don’t understand the pain and I don’t want to give it to you, you don’t need to know this…”

He said “No, no, your mother was an enemy, your sister as well and so then he sent a claim in, claiming all the area that he could whakapapa to.” They said, “no, no it belongs to other people now, your claim is invalid.”

For the rest of his life he continued to try and come back to get his mothers’ bones and they said no, no, no, no Māori not allowed here.

So, we became what’s called ‘“ahi mātao”, so ahi mātao means, that your fires have burnt out, it means you no longer have a home, it means you no longer have a kainga.

Through all these wonderful things we’re doing today, as a part of that coming back that re-connecting, re-connecting on our Raukawa side.

Now if you think about it, the battle that took place where woman and children were killed, it burns a memory on the minds and the hearts of our people, because it wasn’t done by te Ao tāwhito, te Ao Māori, it was done by fellow Christians.’

Kiriupokoiti Heke (Koro Gin):

'The battle was here in 1864, my grandmother that brought me up, she was only 15 year old and they used her to get the water from the Pūniu River, use to fill up these calabashes with water, run all the way down about 4 kilometres down towards the Pūniu River to get the water for them. In 1958, she passed away at 112.’

Hītiri despaired
‘It became a forlorn hope with us; none expected to escape, nor did we desire to; were we not all the children of our parent? Therefore, we all wished to die together.’

After failing to take the pā through a direct assault, Carey decided to lay siege to it. General Cameron arrived boosting the Crown’s forces to well over 1400 troops that fully surrounded the pā.

By the 2 April 1864, it became clear that the pā would fall. This prompted Cameron to offer terms of surrender.

Afterwards, some of the Raukawa survivors made their way south towards the safety of the King Country or to Taupō. Others made their way to Tauranga, where they unfortunately found themselves in the middle of a further theatre of war.

Tauranga
1864

Following Ō-Rākau General Cameron moved his headquarters to Tauranga on 21 April 1864. On 29 April, the Battle of Pukehinahina (Gate Pā) took place. The British army was soundly defeated, losing 10 officers and 25 men killed.

Pukehinahina and Te Ranga

Video transcript

Nigel Te Hiko:

‘In particular, we are here at a place called Pukehinahina, and so matua Des is going to talk about the events that happened around that time and what occurred and what happened to his whānau, to his people that fought here.’

Des Tata:

‘During that time, the gun boats had come through our harbour, if you look behind you back to Mega Mitre 10, to where our cars are parked down there, there was a gate there, from there right back down to the sea the land was brought by Reverend Brown from the Haahi Anglican. So, there was a pact that we did as the people or tangata whenua of Tauranga back in the early 1830s and that was about this land, you teach us the Paepera Tapu, you teach us technology and educate us.

For every English farm or asset like that they always have a gate at the back.

Morunga from Ngāpuhi came down and fought Tauranga iwi, they killed up to 200, they chased 180 into the sea and made sure they never came back and they took 150 with them as slaves to the north.

While there, those ones that were born and I am talking about Rawiri Puhirake, Penetaka Hakaraia. They grew up and it just so happen in the early days of fighting up there with the British, so while there and after their battles, Wiremu Karuwhā said to Kāwiti “You can’t keep slaves and reading your Paepera Tapu release them”.

When they all come back they started the pā and they knew how it worked because Rawiri Puhirake and them had already fought at Ruapekapeka. Kāwiti told them gave them advise, and said “whatever you do if the guns are any bigger then what you think they are, then you must go deeper”, the trenches went down at least 3 metres, that’s deep within and they had fox holes.

So, they had 1700 men, they were the crack troops of the British forces, they were the best in the world at that time and they were the most equipped. Our people made sure that the road was build wide enough to allow them to bring all their stuff up. This is the cunningness and cleverness of our people.

Tauranga wasn’t what you might call ‘united’ the cousins to Rawiri Puhirake brought the British troops around here. 7.45, and then the first shots came over. Te Wano, he was doing the karakia, once he had got half way through, the shots had come over and blew him in half. So, the other Ihakara, the Christian, he took over and he started his karakia and his head was taken off.

Rawiri Puhirake said “go back down, no one to move, no one to say anything until I say” and he’s screaming at Cameron, screaming at Cameron and he’s telling him “carry out your works, carry out your works, because when you come here, my trenches will be blocked by your dead”.

Cameron said to his men “take the pā” and as they were getting closer, one of the captain’s looked and he could see what was there, it was nothing so he turned around and went back to the tent and told Cameron “General, general they all dead or they all gone”. Just as he said that, the whole pā erupted.

240 guns they all fired at the one time, so how can they hear Rawiri Puhirake saying FIRE, they had manuka light all latched together and it went all the way through the pā and he was at one end and when he gave the signal, once the firing had stopped they knew the troops were walking, coming in.

So, as they were coming in and he screamed and pulled at the same time, that caused confusion, heavy confusion, because in those times the leaders they use to lead the battle. Well that’s the last time they led the battle.

So, they ran and that was the time General Cameron witnessed this crack troops of the British run, never seen it before. The next morning, the British troops came in and took the pā and when they took the pā, there was no one here, we had all gone.

They set up an enquiry in Auckland, so it was a big court case and who was on the stand was General Cameron. They asked him this and asked him that and he’s forever saying everything he blames himself.

“If I had done this, done this it would have been different” and when they talk about something else he says the same, the same, the same. Not once did he attribute anything to these natives.’

Des Tata:

‘All the tribes came together and met at a settlement at Waimapū on the other side of the Waimapū River. Where are we going to fight this fight, so once again they had all these discussions. The first place was here, 50 yards down the road and it comes to a point and that’s why they didn’t want to be here, the only escape route they had was either side and either side if you go have a look there’s about 100-foot drop.

I think everyone just wanted to get the fight all over and done with so they came here.

They started digging here the night before 21 June, come up in 5 days’ time and we’ll be ready, well they came up on the third day and caught us still digging.

A kārere went into Te Papa, said to Greer who was the new chief in command, “kaua tātari e te tū te pungarehu” and what he was saying “hit them now before the ashes harden”. We all know that if you light a fire and rain gets on it and it gets hard to unpack, it’s hard to break through. So, the British learnt about that, about the trenches, they knew that they couldn’t let us dig in cause, it was hard to get them out.

So, they set up their gun about 600 yards out, 6 to 700 hundred yards out, they had 500 men there, so they sat and waited. They could see the trenches, they could see them above the trenches so they hadn’t dug in. So, he didn’t like what he saw Greer, he saw too many people here, women and children were here. So, he sent some of his men back to Te Papa and told them to bring up another 300 men and another gun because he was uneasy, he didn’t know the numbers here.

And as he waited, and waited the dirt was black as it was thrown out and then it started to change colour to the brown, then he realised that they were getting too deep. So, he said to his men “we are gonna attack”. So, they started to attack. The first shots came over from the big gun.

Then Greer says “take the pā”. So, they started to march on the pā. As our men are looking back out that way, we have a 140 here and that was including the women and children, they left around about 100 here. So, the British troops start walking forward and they started to shoot.

Our men here stood up out of the trenches and about 30, 40 yards out, it’s reported by them, and we didn’t know this, they stood up and they started to walk out because we had no guns here, we had no guns here.

The whole 100 stand up out of these trenches, they were only up to my hip. They stood up and they started to walk and they walked forward on the British troops. The British troops got so close, they were shooting everyone and they were dropping, then they dropped their guns. One of the British troops said to him “you could tell we were an overwhelming force, why didn’t you stop?” And this is what he said, “me mate ahau, mō te whenua” and he died.

It would have been about 10 that was just strong enough to take back down to their hospital they had down at Te Papa, but otherwise they had all died. The leaders Rawiri Puhirake died here and Henare Taratoa he died here. He’s the one that wrote the rules, he’s the one from Raukawa ki te Tonga.

When it came to this battle here, the British troops didn’t care, they took all the personal belongings from our dead, from our fallen, that was pretty much it for the battle of Te Ranga.

When we left Gate Pā to come here our numbers were 240 down there, when we got here it ended up 130.

That’s our history, we got to live with it and we got to live among each other. It’s not easy, where slowly getting there as you probably hear in my voice, it’s not over but we are slowly getting there.

This generation will help us heal that past, but it’s hard to forget aye, so that’s why when I stand before you I speak to you with passion because it happened to my people and everyone else in Tauranga.’

Some Raukawa also fought at Gate Pā including prominent Raukawa chiefs Tukeka, (a chief of Pātetere) and Te Wairoa named Te Mouhouho.

Because of the wars in Waikato and Tauranga, the Crown labelled Raukawa as rebels and subjected Raukawa to two large-scale confiscations. The confiscation of significant amounts of Māori land throughout the North Island was an important aspect to the Crown’s response to the wars.

The New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 provided the necessary legal framework for the Crown to confiscate Māori land. It aimed to punish any Māori through the taking of their lands if they were judged to be involved in any act that supported the making of war against the Crown.

By September 1865, the Crown demanded the disarmament and surrender of all Māori involved in armed conflict against it. This included those tribes described as Ngāti Raukawa on the Horotiu. Failure to do so meant that those tribes were not considered for any claims of compensation.

None of the land that the Crown confiscated within the Raukawa takiwā was returned to Raukawa through the Compensation Court. This included Maungatautari.

In the Tauranga confiscations, the Crown took a significant amount of land including lands within the Kaimai area where Raukawa hapū claimed interests.

Following the cessation of open conflict in Waikato and Tauranga, some Raukawa hapū became heavily influenced by the actions of Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki, who, in 1869, led his whakarau into the Raukawa takiwā. Many felt that the presence of Te Kooti served as a destabilising influence upon the iwi.

Te Kooti was able to escape when the Crown attempted to trap him there. He escaped to the Urewera, where the Crown and their allies continued to pursue him.

Native Land Court
1865

Established under the Native Lands Act 1865, the function of the Court was to determine the ownership of Māori land and provide Crown title to defined areas.

The Native Land Court was introduced into the Raukawa takiwā in 1866 at a time of uncertainty and amongst economic and social disruption. It was a time of undeclared peace between Raukawa and the Crown. The initial sittings of the new Native Land Court effectively continued on from the sitting of the earlier Compensation Court which was tasked with determining which groups were, or were not, in ‘rebellion’ against the Crown.

And therefore, who was eligible for compensation from land confiscation. This transition affected the way Raukawa saw the Court, and how the Court saw Raukawa.

As a result, Raukawa was often absent from the early hearings or did not identify themselves as Raukawa in fear of Crown retribution. Some of the great Raukawa leaders who should have led the claims, had died during the wars. Others observed the edict of King Tāwhiao who forbade attendance at the Court.

Those Raukawa who did attend the Court hearings were often prevented from doing so by Hauhau followers (Hauhau were militant sections of the iwi opposed to what they saw as Crown intrusion into their lands).

This resulted in Raukawa not presenting evidence in key cases.

Native Land Court – Nigel Te Hiko, Chris McKenzie

Video transcript

Nigel Te Hiko, co-negotiator:

‘Then came the Native Land Courts of the 1860s right through to the 1880s. As a mechanism the Native Land Courts was probably the most insidious mechanism ever devised by the Crown and let lose on a people. I have my own personal views on the Native Land Courts but Raukawa experienced problems in the Native Land Courts as early as 1866, with the early hearings of the Maungatautari case.

In that particular case, it was argued by others that Raukawa had abandoned the area. That we had gone to Kapiti. What was also precipitating the problem was that many of the claims in the Native Land Courts were not made by Raukawa people still living in the central North Island takiwā.

It was ‘hard yakka’ for our tupuna to get recognition as a result of the Native Land Courts. So, the Native Land Courts became a real issue for us. In fact we lost significant amounts of land. If we were to imagine a map and we were to take in an area, with perhaps a Raukawa flavour to it, 1860, that area would be completely red. Māori ownership, not necessarily Raukawa ownership, but Māori ownership, 30 years later by 1890, the majority of that land would be gone.’

Chris McKenzie, lead negotiator:

‘Many people don’t know you know, some of you might know, that the BNZ got bailed out by the country not that long ago.

That’s not the first time it got bailed out, actually it got bailed out by the sale of Raukawa lands at the first Native Land Court when it first started up.

People wont know, or though they may have heard, that the Native Land Courts were bad, but they don’t know they were particularly bad here because we were the first place to get it, so they didn’t know how to work out Native Land Courts so they were particularly rough here they literally stripped us immediately of that.

We didn’t get a X2 multiplier that you get if you are a “raupatu” tribe, but we were far more affected than most, because they trialled the Native Land Courts here.

We were invaded, but we don’t get raupatu money.

We were literally invaded not once, but a couple of times. People don’t know those stories.’

Land speculation
1870s

From the 1870s, cadres of Auckland based, political figures with access to large sums of money formed speculative land companies principally to purchase large tracts of Māori land within the Raukawa takiwā.

Some of these companies raised capital on the London market to speculate on the sale of Māori land to settlers. Only a few intended to settle in the area.

Between 1873 and 1877, the private acquisition of interests in much of the Raukawa lands was restricted when the Crown suspended the operation of the Native Land Court because it became concerned over potential disturbances to the peace.

In 1875, the Crown had begun to purchase the interests of the private parties and by 1877 begun taking steps to achieve large scale purchasing throughout the Central North Island. This included making private dealings in the Pātetere unlawful. This put Raukawa in a very difficult situation as the prices paid by the Crown were less than those offered through private purchase.

Further problems for Raukawa arose. Reportedly, Raukawa brought land into the Native Land Court in which they attended and participated in hearings. They incurred substantial debt through this process which resulted in the sale of land to cover the rising debt. During the late 1870s, the Crown endeavoured to acquire the remaining Raukawa interests in Pātetere lands (Mangakaretu, Huihuitaha, Pokaiwhenua, Tokoroa and other blocks).

New Zealand Company logo on newspaper.
New Zealand Company Incorporated – Date 1841.
Newspaper clipping promoting 'Free passage. Emigration to New Zealand'.
News article dated June 19, 1839.

As a result of debt escalating, shortage of funds and failure of the Native Land Court to determine titles on land blocks, the Crown only purchased a small portion of the Pātetere lands. In 1879, the new government decided not to pursue the purchase of Pātetere lands and in January 1880 the Minister of Native Affairs indicated to one group of Auckland financiers and their agents that the Crown would withdraw from purchasing Pātetere once the money it had advanced to Māori had been recouped.

The Government wanted the advances paid to Raukawa and its earlier purchase of the private interests in this land repaid in cash or in land. In calculating what Raukawa owed, the Government included other costs in addition to advances made to Raukawa, including portions of the salaries of its agents and it repeatedly refused to show its accounts to Raukawa.

By 1881, the Crown lifted all restrictions in private dealings on Raukawa lands, leaving Raukawa to predations of large syndicates and speculators. As a result, by the late 1800s Raukawa lands alienated by sale topped 441,703 acres.

20th Century Alienation
Public Works

Raukawa land alienations continued into the 20th century as the Crown applied the Public Works Act.

20th Century Pressure – Pouakani

Video transcript

Nigel Te Hiko:

‘In 1915, the Crown dispossessed another iwi and plonked them in our whenua at a place called Pouakani, at a place that we now know today as Mangakino. So they made the Wairarapa land swaps of the 1890s, they took that land from the Ngāti Kahungunu people there and then in 1915, moved them into our land.

People with no ancestral connection whatsoever to the whenua they plonked them right in the middle of us. They didn’t tell us, they just plonked them there. We’re left with nothing, it just gets worse and worse and worse.

Those are significant moments in our history, as a people. During the 20th century, more stuff happens. It’s not just a thousand years ago, its not just a hundred years ago. Its within our peoples life times.’

In fact, the Public Works Acts in conjunction with the Native Lands Act of the 1880s and 1900s had significant adverse effects on the iwi, the subsequent recovery from these Acts have been a long and difficult struggle.

The 1928 Public Works Act provided for the return of lands no longer required for public works, but later amendments discriminated against Raukawa and other Māori by excluding iwi lands from an offer back clause and allowed it to be used for ‘secondary purposes’. Those lands offered back under the Act were often beyond the financial capacity of the iwi to purchase, thereby prejudicing Raukawa from development of the land.

Raukawa lands along the upper Waikato River were taken under the Acts including various wāhi tapu sites, papa kāinga, urupā and other wāhi taonga within the takiwā. Much of the takings were affected with limited consultation or without notification, which severely prejudiced Raukawa whānau, hapū and the iwi.

River gorge surrounded by bush with a swing bridge and dam.
The Arapuni hydroelectric power station, completed in 1929.

Wairarapa Moana Land Swap
Pouakani

One of the most significant Crown breaches was the loss of Raukawa ownership of what became known as the Pouakani block.

This resulted from various Crown purchasing practices and the works of the Native Land Court. This action meant the loss of 20,000 acres from Raukawa and the land exchanged in 1915 between the Crown and the Wairarapa people.

During the mid-20th century, the Crown undertook significant hydroelectric development along the Waikato River. This included the construction of seven dams up and down the river.

During this time, with the increased infrastructure within what was once difficult to access lands, some Wairarapa people began to settle within the area. The presence of another iwi with no ancestral connection to the land being gifted Crown title of what was once Raukawa lands has been a significant and ongoing hurt to Raukawa.

This hurt compounded the effects of other harms that Raukawa were already suffering such as the loss of tribal identity, language and the diminishing of the iwi economy.

In 1999, representatives of the original owners of the Pouakani Block, (which included Raukawa members) signed a Deed of Settlement to address particular grievances arising from the impact of the Native Land Court and Crown having purchased land in this block. However, this settlement did not address issues associated with the Wairarapa Moana land swap. As a result, issues associated with the Pouakani block had to be picked up again by the RTB and continued into the wider settlement negotiations.

Map titled 'Pouakani (Wairarapa Natives) Block'.
Pouakani (Wairarapa Natives) Block (30,486 acres). ‘The Pouakani Report 1993 / Image courtesy of the Department of Justice’.

Hydro-electricity

Throughout the 20th century, the Crown built several Hydroelectric Power Scheme developments along the Waikato River from Taupō through to Karāpiro.

The first of these was a privately built dam at Horahora in 1913 and then at Arapuni in 1929. In 1947, the Karāpiro Dam was commissioned followed by Whakamaru in 1956.

From a Raukawa perspective, the Crown’s weighting towards national interests rather than the specific interest of Iwi in a fair and equitable manner, resulted in the alienation of significant acres of Raukawa land. The Hydro-Electricity Power Scheme developments submerged Raukawa lands containing a number of Raukawa wāhi tapu, urupā, papakāinga and farmland by altering the flow of the upper Waikato River.

The impact of the Hydro-Electric Power Schemes in the Raukawa Rohe has seen the significant degradation to flora and fauna. It also meant the destruction of Raukawa traditional wāhi and resources including mahinga kai, such as tuna because of the change in the natural flow of the River and build-up of nitrates from surrounding agriculture.

20th Century Pressure – Hydroelectricity

Video transcript

Nigel Te Hiko:

‘You would have heard the story of Nanny Kahu, ...Aunty Kahu and her parents Pairama and Herapeka and how their land was taken so they could build a dam at Ohakuri in 1961. I was almost alive then.

In 1961 they told Nanny Kahu, ...Aunty Kahu’s parents that they had to get off their ancestral lands. Told them “Move!” just like that because they were going to put this dam in and the water would rise to such an extent that they would lose their land, they would lose their house.

Koro Pairama stayed in that house until the day the waters started lapping the banks of the Waikato River at Orakei Korako.

He was still there. The Ministry of Works guys came in and they forcibly removed him This is a 70 year old that they forced into the back of their truck and as they drove him off they set fire to his house. The last thing he saw of his house was that it was on fire. They burnt it down. The land was not touched. They didn’t have to move them.

They’ve got a shop there now! They’ve got a camping ground there now! If they left their house there, they would still be there, but it was like this family these old people were sacrificed for the “betterment” of our community, of our country. This is how our people felt as a result of these things. We were sacrificed for the so called “benefit of the country”.

When these old people were forced off their land, when they saw their house burning. They were told that they had to move to a different town. They were offered to move to Rotorua. They didn’t know anybody in Rotorua, they lived all their life at Orakei Korako. That was the extent of their world.

They then said “Well, we’ve got whānau at Ongaroto if you pay us then we will build a house down there.” The Crown said “No”. They offered them a place at the Working Mens Camp in Mangakino. The camp manager wrote back to the Crown and said “No” he doesn’t want them there because they would be a disruption. In fact, he called them “Cuckoos”. It would be like putting a cuckoo into the nest. You know what a cuckoo does, it takes over the nest. So these old people were left with nowhere.

So they forcefully removed them from their home and they ended up in Taupō at Boothill.

For the first time in their lives, for the first time ever, they had to pay rent. They didn’t know what rent was. They didn’t know that someone was going to end up at their door, was gonna knock on their door saying “You owe me some money for living here.”

Koro Pairama died in hospital and Nanny Herapeka died in a pensioners flat. All they wanted to do was to live out their lives on their land. They received no compensation for that. What was offered to them was barely enough to get them a living. They had lossed their gardens that they could grow their food. They had lost their little tourist industry to supplement their income. So it was very, very sad.’

Miriata Te Hiko:

‘Orakei Korako was a place when I was young, we always spent Christmas and New Years there because we lived in Atiamuri, in Ongaroto, so it wasn’t far for us to go.

So every Christmas and New Years we would go spend time with our kuia and koroua. And then...one day, you know my grandmother came over to see my mum and she said “Oh, we are leaving the old home.” My mum said “You’s can’t because that is where we go all the time”. She said “but we have to.” And then my mum says “Why?” She said “ they need...the house was going to get flooded if we stay there”. My mum said “ what about the mokopuna and us because we always go back there for the holidays”. And she said “but we have to go, we got no choice.”

And mum said “where are you’s going?” and they said that they were going to live in Taupō. “Where abouts?” “Oh the government is going to give us a house.”

It was a beautiful place. I rememeber going back there, but I spent quite a few holidays there on my own. It was lonely for a child because it was just really my kuia and my koro because their younger siblings had gone, moved away.

So it was an emotional thing to see that place go... cos I still remember how..and even today me and one of my brothers were talking about it and we can still remember the āhua, you know, how the place looked in the days when we use to go there, we always use to have a bath, we had hotpools.

(In regard to the people that evicted your grandparents). It was the power people, now I just can’t remember the name at that time. But it was the people that were doing the dams and they said that they had to raise the level of the water and that it would cover the house. One of the Government departments… I just can’t remember their names.

(In regard to the house being flooded, did it happen?) No, because they got a building there now, in the exact place where the house was. So, there is a building there, it is a tourist place where people go there. So, no.

The house could have still stood there and it wouldn’t have got flooded. Yeah, so where they have got the building at the lodge there, is where the old house use to stand.

(In regard to a claim to that area still) No, no because when it was taken, they on-sold it, the government sold the area, so it came under private ownership.’

In addition, while compensation was available and granted to farmers in Karāpiro, Raukawa people who applied for compensation for submerged land were not considered by the Crown as being important and of value to the national interest. This was the case in respect of a Raukawa whānau, evicted from their home and lands at Orakei Korako as a direct result of the building of the dam at Ōhākurī.

In the late 1950s, the government’s hydro-generation scheme extended to include the building of a dam at Ōhākurī, south of the village of Ātiamuri. The government expected that the rising waters of the Waikato River would destroy the tranquil settlement of Ōrākei Korako, where the Wharekawa whānau had lived and worked for generations. The government acquired the land under the Public Works Act forcing the whānau to leave.

Kahurangi stated

‘I was a young woman when my parents were informed by member of the Ministry of Works that the Waikato river would be raised as a result of the dam at Ōhākurī. The officials told my parents that the land at Ōrākei Korako would be flooded and that our house, our home would be destroyed. As a result of the dam being built, my parents were forced to move from Ōrākei Korako. My parents were both elderly at this time.

The compensation offered to them by the government was inadequate to house them and provide for their needs. My parents were offered housing in Ministry of Works camps in Rotorua and Mangakino, however government officials running the camps called them ‘Cuckoos’ because they believed them ‘undesirable to have in their camps’.

My father refused to move from Ōrākei Korako and was taken from his home late at night and placed on the back of a Ministry of Works truck. The last sight he saw was of his home being set ablaze by a government official. He was distraught as driving away he watched his house burn to the ground. My parents were promised a home to move into. This however turned out to be a rental property in Taupō. For the first time in their lives, my parents had to pay rent, a concept that they did not fully understand. They were both elderly, living on a small pension with no other money to help supplement their income. I remember my parents’ heartbreak as they passed away in a home that was not theirs’.

The following timeline charts the progression of Raukawa as an iwi

1840

6 Jan

Henry Williams CMS climbs top of Mt Pōhaturoa. Holds first sermon in the area at Ātiamuri. A whare named ‘Rongopai’ is built commemorating event.

6 Feb

Central North Island Raukawa do not sign the Treaty of Waitangi.

1853

Raukawa ki te tonga chiefs Mātene Te Whiwhi and Tamihana Te Rauparaha seek support for the establishment of a Māori king. Begin a series of hui-ā-iwi to choose a King.

1856

At a hui- ā-iwi at Pukawa, Pōtatau of Waikato is nominated to be king. Raukawa support his nomination.

1858

Pōtatau crowned first Māori king. Raukawa chiefs are among his closest advisors. Paerata warns Pōtatau of the Crown’s intention to build roads and to survey the Rohe Pōtae.

1863

Crown invades the Waikato. Raukawa remain apart from the conflict as northern Waikato refugees flood into the area.

1864

21 Feb

Crown attacks the peaceful village of Rangiaowhia killing women and children. While seeking refuge in a church, the church catches fire with the people trapped inside.

31 March

Crown attacks the unfinished pā at Ō-Rākau. 300 Māori, men, women and children defend pā against 1500 elite imperial and colonial forces.

June

Raukawa join forces with Tauranga iwi to fight at Pukehinahina and Te Ranga. Raukawa continue to oppose Crown during the ‘Bush Campaigns’ along the Kaimai.

1866

Crown introduce Native Land Court in the Raukawa takiwā. Maungatautari land block comes before the Cambridge Court. Raukawa are excluded from the Maungatautari titles resulting in decades long dispute.

1870

Native Land Courts suspended as a result of the presence of Te Kooti within the area. Te Kooti is tracked to Tāpapa, but eludes Crown forces thanks to aid from Raukawa allies. He hides in the Kaimai before returning to the safety of Te Urewera.

1891

Royal Commission into Taupōnui-a-Tia West block orders rehearing of case. Pouakani is reheard (excluding the 20,000 acres awarded to the Crown).

1915

Wairarapa Māori are swapped land at Pouakani 1 for Lake Wairarapa and associated lands. Wairarapa Māori do not move onto land.

1940

Crown commences hydro-electricity development schemes along the Waikato River. Dams are built and lands are flooded.

1950

Maraetai dam and support town at Mangakino built. Wairarapa Māori move onto lands at Pouakani.

1987

Raukawa Trust Board established by Raukawa kaumātua.

1989

Wai 443 claim lodged.

2008

Raukawa sign the CNI Forest Deed of Settlement at parliament.

2009

Raukawa Settlement Trust established. Raukawa receive redress from the CNI deal. -Raukawa sign the Waikato River Co-Management deal at Whakamaru.

2010

Raukawa hold the Puāwaitanga o Raukawa; Raukawa Reconciliation Day with Minister Finlayson and local Member Louise Upston.

2 June 2012

Raukawa sign the Raukawa Claims Deed of Settlement.

2014

Raukawa Historical Claims Settlement Act passes into law.

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