We've put together a brief history and bibliography of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the land sales and claims that followed, up to 1998 when the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act was passed into legislation, with a specific focus on Ōtepoti. Relevant publications available to view at Kohikohika Motuhake Heritage Collections have been listed.

Kāi Tahu is the largest iwi in Te Waipounamu and in Ōtepoti. Kāi Tahu came to Te Waipounamu more than 800 years ago, following Kāti Mamoe and Waitaha, becoming the largest iwi through intermarriage, politics and warfare. The rūnaka situated in the Ōtepoti area are Kāti Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki and Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou 

Below is a selection of texts that discuss Kāi Tahu identity, including before and after European contact. 

• Te Waiatatanga mai o te Atua : South Island traditions (online access here)

• Traditional lifeways of the Southern Māori

• The people of the place : mahika kai  

• Maori Dunedin

• Te mamae me te aroha = The pain and the love : a history of Kai Tahu Whanui in Otago, 1844-1994.

• Under the eye of the Saddle Hill taniwha

• Ko Tahu, ko au : Kāi Tahu tribal identity 

• Tikao talks

• Te poho kanikani o Huirapa = The dancing hall of Huirapa

• Ngāi Tahu : a migration history : the Carrington text 

• Tāngata Ngāi Tahu = People of Ngāi Tahu 

• Te karaka : the Ngāi Tahu magazine  (online access here)

Online resources:

• Homepage | Cultural Mapping Project

• Kareao Home Page

• Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu