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An Epitome of Official Documents Relative to Native Affairs and Land Purchases in the North Island of New Zealand

Mr. Commissioner Johnson to the Chief Commissioner

Mr. Commissioner Johnson to the Chief Commissioner.

Waikato.Reporting on his mission. Land Commissioner's Office,
Auckland, 6th October, 1854.

Sir,—

I have the honor to inform you that I have returned from Waikato, whither I had proceeded to endeavour to arrange for the blocks, which have been partially negotiated on that river, in accordance with your letter of the 26th August last.

In obedience to your request, I not only carried the goodwill and advice of our ally Te Whero-whero with me, but also a young chief named Seth, a relation of his, and an influential body of Natives from Pukaki and Ihumatao, being mostly composed of the sellers of the land; but, notwithstanding these measures, I regret to state that I was unable to obtain possession of any part, or finally to complete any of the purchases on the river. The difficulties are of two distinct natures, being 1st, those attending the claims of different tribes to the same piece of land; and 2nd, the obstructions opposed by a confederated body of chiefs in Waikato, who have laid a tapu preventing the sale of the country within certain boundaries. The lands partially purchased at Wairere and the Koheroa are encumbered with the former difficulty, and the other purchases are within the line of the country tapued by the Waikato chiefs. On arriving at Tuakau, the sale of the Wairere by Waata Kukutai was first discussed, and I should say from what transpired that Waata had no claim over the land. Tomo of Ngatipo, Paul of the Ngatikahu, and Pikiho of the Pokeno tribe, were admitted to be the rightful owners, but I could not get them to join in a sale. The Pokeno tribe offered to sell their claims, but the limited extent, and large expectations of the sellers, did not warrant me in making a purchase subject to a conflicting claim by the. Ngatipo. Nini, one of the chiefs of Ngatitipa, was present; he stated that he regretted very much that Waata should have sold land belonging to Ngatipo, and recommended that the money be returned. This, of course, I did not feel justified in accepting, in case it might furnish a dangerous precedent; but I informed him that Waata must explain his conduct to yourself.

The Koheroa was next examined, and the claims of Ihaia and party who sold to the Government seemed so well supported, that I fully anticipated the completion of this purchase, and we accordingly proceeded to the ground and traversed the boundaries and marked the extreme northern end, which page 348 is a narrow neck of land. The Koheroa is a peninsula in the swamps which form the beds of the Mangatawhiri and Whangamarino tributaries of the Waikato, and might contain about Eight thousand acres of dry land. In addition to the former instalment, I offered the parties concerned a further sum of Three hundred pounds, and although they expressed dissatisfaction at the smallness of this amount, and stated their determination of endeavouring to procure your sanction to giving them a larger sum, I have no doubt but that they will accept it.

The counter claim of the chief Atua of Ngatipo, however, presents an obstacle even to the adjustment of this claim, and the Ngatitamaoho must, by promising to admit Te Atua's party in the final payment, procure his withdrawal of his demands (if they cannot do so without), before I should feel inclined to recommend the payment of any more money on this account. From all I have been able to learn, Te Atua's claims are not well grounded, and I believe that they were, at one time considered finally extinguished by the sale of the Koheroa to Mr. Marshall, and the only reason for admitting his claim at all appears to be that the purchase may turn out not to have been finally completed by Marshall.

All the other purchases named in the margin* are encumbered with the second class of difficulties, viz.: the tapu of the country by the Waikato chiefs in which the said lands are situated; the sellers to the Government have all valid claims, more or less but they are to blame, inasmuch as they knew at the time of sale that they were unable to give possession of the land. The whole of the south bank of the Waikato from Taupo and the north bank, from its confluence with the Whangamarino and up that river to its source, is placed under a tapu. Our party were followed by the Waikato tribes, to the number of one hundred and fifty men, and were absolutely prevented crossing the aforesaid boundaries. Their arms were left at Mere Mere, and as I had good reason to believe that our proceeding to take possession of the lands would have ended seriously, I at once desisted from the attempt.

That this movement is nothing new, and has not been brought about by the late transactions of this department, you will perceive by an extract of a report which I had the honor to make to the Government in June 1853, enclosed herewith, but I would not conceal the fact that this confederation is gradually assuming a more extended influence and a bolder demeanour. The Anti-European feeling they profess to have, I am inclined to think, is not real, but merely put on to increase their number, as that plea always gets the adhesion of discontented individuals of every tribe, the true cause of the movement being the following: Nga tangata o waho, or the Natives of Manukau, Te Whero-whero, Katipa, Wetere, Moses, Isaac, Aihepene, Poharama, and their respective, tribes, all lived originally in Waikato, or had possessions there. After the settlement of Auckland commenced, they gradually frequented less and less the Waikato, and have now permanently settled in the neighbourhood of the town, after selling the districts round Waitemata and Manukau, and as the Waikato chiefs assert, did not give them a fair share of the payment which their joint origin entitled them to receive. Nga tangata o waho, or the men living at the sea, in contra-distinction to those residing up the river, have not all their claims in Waikato in one block, or in one district, but they are scattered over the length and breadth of the river banks, and the Waikato chiefs, independently of the sacred feeling with which they view their native stream, are also afraid that if they allow Auckland Natives to sell their claims, they will also sell those of the Waikato chiefs with them, in the same manner as is alleged has been done with the Waikatos' property in the region of Auckland.

They also see that to separate the claims of those who wish to sell, from those of the party who wish to retain their land, is a task which they cannot carry out, and their claims are so intermixed that they could hardly do so even with the assistance of Europeans; and the only alternative they have of securing their rights is to prevent the Natives living near Auckland selling any land at all in the Waikato.

A bitter quarrel is gradually rising between these two parties, and, unless carefully guarded against, may end in an appeal to arms. I would recommend that no further attempt be made to obtain possession of the lands in question through the influence of the parties who have sold, but that fresh negotiations be entered into with the Waikato chiefs at Waikato, as anything emanating from Auckland will not be listened to for a moment, and the parties who have now sold and failed to give possession can be excluded from the new arrangement. The Waikato chiefs do not value so much the lands which have been partially sold, but giving them up involves a principle which will decide the right of the men of the coast to Waerenga, a valuable tract of country between the Waikato and the Thames. After our public meeting, which was rather noisy, I had several friendly interviews with the opposition, and learnt from them that, if an officer was stationed in the Waikato to negotiate for land, a satisfactory adjustment might be come to, and that, if the proposals of sale originated with themselves, they would not be so averse. They also informed me that they did not wish to prevent the sales at Whaingaroa and the West Coast but merely those, in the central parts of Waikato and along the river banks.

I have, &c.,

John Grant Johnson,
District Commissioner.

Donald McLean, Esq.,
Principal Land Commissioner, &c.

* Mataheka, Rangitoea, Parekakariki