Ngati Ruanui (which includes Tangahoe and
Pakakohi) resisted the opportunity to sell land at the time of
European settlement and, in the 1850s, made a pact with other
Taranaki iwi and those elsewhere to oppose further land sales. By
1860 no Ngati Ruanui land had been sold and Ngati Ruanui provided
active support to Te Atiawa and Nga Rauru resistance to land sales
in their respective rohe, particularly the sales of the blocks at
Waitara and Waitotara. Resistance to the survey of the Pekapeka
block at Waitara was deemed an act of rebellion by the Crown and
when the Crown commenced hostilities in the province in 1860, Ngati
Ruanui entered the war on the side of the non-sellers. This phase
of war ended in 1861.
Fighting broke out again in 1863 and spread to
south Taranaki. Here the Crown troops occupied the land without
formal confiscation or purchase. Confiscations were proclaimed
later in 1865, including the confiscation of 352,000 acres of Ngati
Ruanui and Nga Ruahine land. This area included most of the land
within Ngati Ruanui's rohe. Land was proclaimed confiscated from
those the Crown considered to be "loyal" as well as those viewed as
"rebels". War continued, and in a series of scorched earth
campaigns involving the destruction of villages and crops the Crown
hoped to reduce the fighting ability of those considered rebels.
These campaigns led to much loss of life and property for Ngati
Ruanui.
At the end of the war in 1869, 233 Pakakohi
men, women and children of Ngati Ruanui surrendered following
promises they would not be killed. Ninety-six were tried for
treason and 74 sentenced to death. The latter sentences were
commuted to three or seven years imprisonment in the South Island.
Conditions were harsh and 18 of the men died before the release of
the prisoners three years later.
The compensation process for confiscated land
provided for in confiscation legislation was inadequate and ignored
customary forms of land tenure. By 1880 no compensation awards had
been implemented. The West Coast Commissions were appointed in the
1880s to remedy this situation and fulfil Crown promises.
Meanwhile the purchase of land continued, both
within the confiscation area (where often money was paid but no
deed drawn up) and outside the confiscation boundary, without a
full investigation of customary title. Very few reserves were
promised to land sellers in this period and none had been created
by 1880.
Ngati Ruanui people were involved in the acts
of passive resistance organised by prophets Te Whiti and Tohu in
response to the confiscations and lack of reserves. The Crown's
invasion of Parihaka in central Taranaki in 1881 followed, with
armed Crown troops numbering more than 1500. More than 1500 men,
women and children were expelled from the settlement (including
those from Ngati Ruanui), crops were burned and homes
destroyed.
The West Coast Commissions finalised the
return of limited land to iwi in Taranaki in the mid-1880s. The
land returned was done so under individual title and placed under
the control of the Public Trustee. Much was farmed by settlers
under perpetually renewable leases. Additionally, because of the
ability of the Public and Maori Trustees to alienate certain types
of land, over 60% of the land was sold by 1974. Title amalgamation
in 1963 meant owners no longer had specific interests in customary
land but in all reserves throughout Taranaki.
The subsequent investigation of the
confiscations by the Sim Commission of 1926-27 was limited. The
Commission recommended an annuity of 5000 pounds to compensate all
of the iwi of Taranaki for the confiscations. A one-off sum of 300
pounds was paid to compensate for the loss of property at Parihaka.
The compensation was enshrined in the Taranaki Maori Claims
Settlement Act 1944 which states that Maori had agreed to accept
the sums as full settlement for the confiscations and the actions
of the Crown at Parihaka. There is no evidence iwi agreed to this
and the settlement sums, as with the rents on reserved lands, were
not protected from the effects of inflation.
Ngati Ruanui - A History by Tony Sole
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