Maori Land Issues :: essays papers

Maori Land Issues It^s a known fact that land issues have always been a major topic within Maori and Pakeha race relations in New Zealand. The disputes go back to the 1800 when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. According to the second article of the Treaty, land could only be sold to the Crown if the owners wished to sell them. Disputes over the government^s attempts to buy more land at very cheap prices that were below the value of the land was one of the many reasons that led to the New Zealand Wars in the 185os and 1860s. As a result of the wars, under the New Zealand Settlement Act in 1863, 800,000 hectares of Maori land was confiscated by the government as a punishment for those tribes who opposed the government. Bitterness over the land the Maori people lost and sorrow over the people who lost their lives made an ugly scar in the history of race relations in Aotearoa. With the Native Lands Act in 1862 individual purchase of Maori land was allowed. Although the confiscations caused bitterness and resentment among those affected tribes, the work of The Native Land Court led to far more land being lost, and this affected all tribes. The Native Land Court was set up in 1865 with the intention of getting rid of the communal ownerships of Maori land which was called individualisation so it could be sold more easily. The Court had the intended effect: land sales continues at an increasing rate. By 1911 only 10% of New Zealand^s 66 million acres remained in Maori hands. In 1900 James Carroll, the first Maori Minister of Native Affairs, passed a notable piece of legislation: a Maori Land Administration Act which set up a Council which was based on Carroll^s ^taihoa^ (wait and see) delaying policies. In the Council, Maori owners were in majority, to administer the lease of Maori land. The Council leased but sold very little land and this caused settler discontent and in 1905, the Council were replaced by a European dominated Boards. By the end of the Liberal^s time in office in 1912, a further 3 million acres of Maori land had been sold. Also Sir Apirana Ngata worked with James Carrolls on the Maori Councils Act in 1900. After the Act failed to help Maori people, Ngata decided that the best way he could change laws and policies that affected Maori was through parliament. In 1905 he won the seat for Eastern Maori. As an MP Ngata could