Land sales and Te Kerēme
Following the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, there was a flood of European immigration and land sales throughout the country. In 1844, The New Zealand Company, represented by Colonel William Wakefield, purchased more than 162,000 Hectares of land known as the Ōtākou Block/ Otago Block to establish the “New Edinburgh” site (Dunedin/ Ōtepoti today). The sale agreement was signed by 23 rangatira, led by Tuhawaiki, Taiaroa and Karetai, on the 31st of July at Koputai.
We hold a facsimile of documents related to the Ōtākou Block purchase, which includes correspondence from William Wakefield
Between 1844 and 1864, Kāi Tahu went on to sign land sale contracts with The Crown amounting to approximately 80% of Te Waipounamu. Promises by The Crown to set aside “tenths” of all land sold as reserves for Kāi Tahu, ensure access to mahika kai (food gathering) areas, and build schools and hospitals were not honoured. Kāi Tahu sought redress for these injustices for almost 150 years through petitions, protest, and commissions of enquiry. This work came to be known as Te Kerēme - the Ngāi Tahu land claim. In 1986 the Ngāi Tahu Māori Trust Board lodged the Ngāi Tahu Claim with the Waitangi Tribunal.
On 22 October 1849, the first formal statement of Ngāi Tahu grievances against the Crown regarding the South Island land purchases was made by the Ngāi Tahu rangatira, Matiaha Tiramōrehu of Moeraki. His letter can be read in
A compendium of official documents relative to native affairs in the South Island (online access here)
Another important early figure in Te Kerēme is HK Taiaroa (Hori Kerei Taiaroa). HK Taiaroa was the son of Te Mātenga Taiaroa, an important chief at Ōtākou who was one of the signatories to the land sale agreement in 1844. HK Taiaroa represented his people as a Māori Member of Parliament from 1871 and worked tirelessly to fulfil his father’s wish that the promises made when signing land sale agreements would be carried out. A biography of HK Taiaroa can be found in Tāngata Ngāi Tahu = People of Ngāi Tahu and there is an online biography here.
Historian Harry Evison wrote extensively about land sales throughout the Kāi Tahu takiwā, including at Ōtākou, and the subsequent Kāi Tahu land claim. A full list of titles that we hold written by Harry Evison can be found here
One of Evison’s early publications includes chapters by Dunedin-born historian Ann Parsonson about the Otago tenths, and the Princes Street reserve - an area of land on the shoreline at Princes Street (before land reclamation) that was promised to Māori then rescinded.
Local historian Bill Dacker also wrote about Te Kerēme in:
Read about the impact of te Tiriti of Waitangi and consequent land sales on Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou in Ōtepoti.
Further information on Te Kerēme can be found on Ngāi Tahu's Ka Huru Manu site.