Wayne Ryburn: Article 6 - Exposing History Curriculum Myths

This is the sixth of a series of eight articles exposing some of the myths about New Zealand's History, now being taught to secondary school students. 

Article 1 can be seen HERE, Article 2 HERE, Article 3 HERE, Article 4 HERE, Article5 HERE.

The Level 5 workbook for Year 10 students on the "Treaty of Waitangi - Te Tiriti o Waitangi" was published and has been in use since 2014. The page numbers and headings in the text are referenced throughout the series of articles. 

Some aspects, especially on the Taranaki and Waikato wars, are also re-taught in greater depth in the History curriculum at Year 13.

The series of articles was written as a critique to the editor of ESA publications, Jo Crichton and the author of the text book, F J Gibson. This critique was sent in October last year - to date there has been no reply.

ARTICLE 6 - EXPOSING HISTORY CURRICULUM MYTHS 

The 5^th Myth: That the government insisted that Waikato Maori sell their land as they were prospering. This section looks at how land was purchased following 1860, and the reason for the Native Land Acts of 1862/65 and the Native Land Court.

With regard to land purchases after 1860, land was purchased from Chiefs as individuals or collective tribal leaders. In 1858 there was an attempt to make individual title by the Native Territorial Rights Bill, but this was disallowed by the British Government. It was done in anticipation of the Native Land Court. This called for Maori land to be divided into individual titles, so those willing to sell land could do so. However customary interests were intertwined, so it was impossible to sell without a consensus.

Governor Browne’s statement in March 1859, that land under dispute would not be purchased, played into Wiremu Kingi’s hand - it gave him a right to veto land sales.

In 1862, the Native Land Court was established, designed to individualise Maori title, a compromise between land held in custom by chiefs who looked after tribal interests based on Maori understandings of custom. Once customary ownership was identified it became an individualised title to a distinctive block of land.

The aim was to purchase land, identify the claimants to purchase land from, and to leave claimants on smaller reserves. This meant the creation of undivided Native title to the land to be either kept, sold or leased, that was recognized by the Crown.

The 1862 Act also waived the Crown’s right of pre-emption, to monopolise land purchases. This had been contentious in the 1840s & 50s. As Maori wanted to sell land to the highest bidder.

The Act also set up the Native Land Court, a court of Maori Chiefs chaired by an European magistrate. Because the Act allowed Maori to deal directly with settlers over land sales, it was in contravention of the Treaty of Waitangi, so required British Government approval. The Act was soon replaced by a new Act in 1865.

The new Native Land Act had many changes made to it. No more than 10 owners would be determined to own land regardless of block size. Judge Fenton stated that this was the result of Maori only wanting their chiefs names on land titles. This collectively dispossessed any other claimants on a block of land, which was corrected two years later in 1867 by JC Richmond the Minister for Native Affairs. When the names of all owners of a block would be required on the title. It became common that the consent of the majority was required for all land dealings except for land leases up to 21 years.

New title to land meant ownership was recognised by the Crown through a certificate of title, while customary rights were extinguished.

As Michael Belgrave noted, this process had come about as colonial land policy had become troubled by the problem of identifying Maori claims to land in order to extinguish them. The colonial government had become embroiled in conflicts over whose claims to acknowledge, and whose to deny. This led to the Native Land Court of 1862 being established but later quashed as previously explained.

Prior to the 1860s the Crown had to recognise and assess various Maori groups who claimed a block of land before purchasing it from them. By turning Maori land into a Crown title it could then be on-sold. From the 1860s on the Native Land Court was used to transform customary land claims to land into individual titles recognised by the Crown. This applied to land being transferred to European ownership, and leased, as well as land retained by Maori - they were not forced to sell land as claimed in the !865 Natives Lands Act on pg 38.

Pg 38-39 Impact on People. What really happened to all the Maori Land?

Some of the points made on these two pages are quite baseless because:

a) The 1852 Constitution act established democracy in New Zealand. All males over the age of 21 who owned, leased or rented property could vote. The first meeting of the General Assembly took place in 1854. It wasn’t until 1865 that the Native Rights Act finally gave effect to Article 3 of the Treaty and Maori declared British subjects that they were then entitled to vote. 

The Treaty itself was never enacted in Parliament, so could never be enforced. Only with the establishment of democracy in NZ with the 1852 Constitution Act, could Article 3 be enacted. The Maori Representation Act created four Maori electorates. This gave voting rights to all male Maori as all were deemed to own land. The act was only a temporary measure but Maori requested that they remain as it gave them access to parliamentary debate. This representation was long before all European males at the age of 21 gained the same right, when one man,one vote was introduced in 1879. This became extended to all women over the age of 21 in NZ in 1893. By comparison indigenous people only received full voting rights in the; USA 1924, Canada 1960, and Australia mid 1960's.

b) 1863 The government insisted that Waikato Maori sell their land but they refused as they were prospering well on it. Another myth is created by this statement. This is inaccurate as there was no insistence to sell land. Those chiefs who tried to sell were attacked for doing so by Maniapoto. The mid 1850’s saw a crash in the Maori economy but only in the Waikato. Other areas were not affected. Waikato tribes almost gave up growing wheat due to a fall in prices. FD Fenton described mills in a state of disrepair along the Waikato and Waipa rivers, with little flour or food being produced during his visit in1857. Attempts to persuade locals to divert to pastoralism went unheeded. The collapse of wheat prices in Australia led to this debacle long before the war in 1863-4.

c) The Suppression of Rebellion Act : Grey’s “invasion” came about because of Waikato and Maniapoto tribes involvement in the 2nd Taranaki War. Further conflict was inevitable due to Kingitanga involvement in Taranaki disputes from 1860 onwards (see earlier notes).

d) 1865 Native Lands Act: As mentioned previously the creation of Native title allowed Maori to keep, sell or lease their land. There was no compulsion to sell and the implication they were forced to sell is untrue. Maori were required to pay for the cost of surveying their land, sometimes the government paid to do it. After 1873 the government paid by having government surveyors fulfill this task. In addition it should be noted that property owners to the present day always pay for the cost of surveying any land for sale.

Wayne Ryburn, an Auckland University graduate, with a thesis on the history of the Kaipara, has been a social science teacher for nearly 50 years.