Book Review: The Fate of the Land ... Ko ngā Ākinga a ngā Rangatira

Author: Danny Keenan PhD, (Ngāti Te Whiti ki Te Ātiawa)

Publisher: Massey University Press, 2023.

Reviewer: Brian Turner

This compelling book describes how in “the second half of the 19th century, settlers poured into Aotearoa demanding land. Millions of acres were acquired by the government or directly by settlers; or confiscated after the Land Wars”.

Whilst predominantly the story of land loss during the so called “Liberal Era” (1891-1912), Keenan takes the narrative back to the 1830s when Māori outnumbered Pākeha settlers. In May 1833 Governor Bourke of NSW sent James Busby to Waitangi “to establish a political body of rangatira through whom amicable and lawful relations might be maintained”. Rangatira took up the challenge which led on 28 October 1835 to the signing of ‘He Whakaputanga o Te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tirene’, a ‘Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand’. The declaration, written by Busby contained four articles, one of which “declared NZ to be an independent polity under the governance of the United Tribes of New Zealand”. Keenan notes that “Māori were also seen as the owners of the entire country. Their customary practices, protocols, obligations and principles were to be left intact”.

However by 1840, the hands-off approach of the British had changed. Unregulated land purchases, lawlessness and the threat of uncontrolled immigration and French intrusion encouraged Māori rangatira and the British to formulate and sign the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February 1840. Despite rangatira never ceding sovereignty (Te Rangatiratanga), clearly that was the British intent with Governor Hobson declaring sovereignty over NZ on 1 July 1841. Keenan notes that Busby proposed an autonomous government for Māori but this was rejected by British officials.

So began a long power struggle between Māori and the colonial government over land, health care, education and finance but predominantly land, given the intimate connection of land (whenua) and people. Whenua is the word for one’s umbilical cord as well as land.

Keenan describes how the Māori struggle for control of their land was pursued through both parliamentary process and political independence movements. The latter included the ‘Repudiation Movement’ of 1876 which galvanised Ngāti Kahungunu opposition to the deceptive land purchase practices used by Pākeha in the Hawkes Bay.

The Māori King movement and the crowning of Pōtatau Te Wherowhero in 1858 as the first Māori King was another significant movement against land alienation as was the ‘Te Kotahitanga Unity Movement’ of 1880 (also described as “The Orakei Parliament” by the NZ Herald). Associated with Te Kotahitanga was the Te Aute College Association which gave rise to such celebrated rangatira MPs as Sir Apirana Ngata and Te Rangi Hīroa (Prof. Peter Buck) both of whom tried to use the parliamentary system to achieve justice, as did Dr Maui Pōmare MP and James Carroll MP (Māori-Irish), one-time Native Minister and Deputy Premier. However, the superior numbers and power of the colonial government consistently prevailed.

Liberal Premier, Richard Seddon, tried at times to re-balance the ledger a little but was generally over-ridden by settler pressure. William Lee Rees, a Liberal Pākeha MP (1875-1879) and a lawyer, also tried unsuccessfully to get the government to adopt hapū and iwi committees to manage tribally owned land. In frusration, he described the history of Māori land legislation since 1862 as “a scandal to the colony”.

By the end of the Liberal Era, the original 67 million hectares of Māori land was down to 4 million hectares with most of it in areas of little interest to Pākeha settlers. And with the loss of Māori land went Māori health and limited access to education and finance to better themselves and most importantly retain their mana.

It is a sad commentary on the history of colonial exploitation which laid the foundation for much of the impoverishment that many Māori still experience today. Current Treaty settlements attempt to address the imbalance but are essentially tokenish given the weight of past wrong. Most churches have also benefited materially from that bad history and turning that around is a considerable challenge.

The Fate of the Land is a challenging read but a necessary one for all concerned with justice in Aotearoa-NZ.