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Our History

December 1850

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December 1865

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December 1867

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December 1872

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December 1895

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December 1916

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December 1921

1 10

December 1954

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September 1958

25

December 1962

14

April 1971

9

March 1987

31
Tūhoe in 1850

1 Dec 1850

Who are Tūhoe? What is a Tūhoe? You tell me! Where were Tūhoe back then? How did they acquire the whenua and the mana over it? Before the Crown began confiscating land, te rohe pōtae o Tūhoe / Te...
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1865 - 1867 War and Confiscation

1 Dec 1865

WAR AND CONFISCATION: EASTERN BAY OF PLENTY 1865 - 1867 Was Tūhoe land confiscated because they fought at Waikato in 1864? No – The Crown confiscated land at Waikato, Taranaki, and Tauranga after the war of...
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WAR AND CONFISCATION: EASTERN BAY OF PLENTY 1865 - 1867

Was Tūhoe land confiscated because they fought at Waikato in 1864?

No – The Crown confiscated land at Waikato, Taranaki, and Tauranga after the war of 1863–1864 was over but did not punish any other districts for that fight. 50 of our warriors were sent to Ōrakau in April 1864 to support the Kīngitanga in the defence of their lands. This honoured a connection between Tūhoe and the Ngāti Maniapoto leadership. Many Tūhoe opposed joining that fight, saying “kia tawharautia a Mataatua,” so only a small tauā went and it suffered heavy losses (3 dead) in the Kingitanga’s last stand at Ōrakau.

Was Tūhoe land confiscated because they fought at Te Tapiri in 1865?

No – We were not challenging the Crown when we fought at Te Tapiri in May 1865. We were defending our lands after they were confronted by Ngāti Manawa kāwanatanga at Te Tapiri. It occurred when we were escorting Kereopa and other Pai Marire teachers out of the district, ing them back to Taranaki after Pai Marire followers were involved in the killing of Reverend Volkner at Opōtiki in February 1865.

Ngāti Manawa wanted to detain Tūhoe’s manuhiri for the Crown, and blocked our path at Te Tapiri. This challenge was met by Tūhoe and Ngāti Manawa was defeated. Ngāti Manawa retreated but quickly returned with Te Arawa kāwanatanga commanded by Crown officers. Our Tūhoe ope withdrew to Te Harema but the Crown left them alone as its fight was not then with Tūhoe.

The Crown made a proclamation of peace in September 1865 and said no more land would be confiscated because of the wars that had been fought.

Why did Crown forces invade the northern part of the district in September 1865?

In July 1865 the Crown official James Fulloon (a whānaunga of Tūhoe) and three other men were killed by Pai Marire at Whakatāne for breaching an aukati. The Crown wanted to arrest the suspected killers of Fulloon and Volkner. Tūhoe were not among the 33 suspects sought.

In September 1865 the Crown proclaimed martial law in the Whakatāne and Opōtiki districts, just days before its troops invaded the district via Opōtiki to find the suspects and put down any resistance. This was not Tūhoe’s fight, and our only involvement was to assist the Crown with some information about the location of Kereopa, but the Crown’s forces failed to capture him.

Why did the Crown confiscate Tūhoe land in 1866?

In January 1866 about 450,000 acres of land in the eastern Bay of Plenty was confiscated because the Crown deemed some local iwi to have been in rebellion after it invaded the district in 1865. The confiscation included about 125,000 acres of Tūhoe land from Ōhiwa down to just above Waimana and Rūātoki, but Tūhoe were not the targets of the confiscation as the Crown did not deem them to be rebels, not yet anyway.

The Crown’s Compensation Court was supposed to investigate claims by Māori who had not been in rebellion and return their land to them. Crown Commissioner Wilson ignored Tūhoe claims and allocated their land to other iwi in out of court deals at the end of 1866. Large reserves were made for so-called rebels from other iwi, but whenua was not returned to Tūhoe.

How did Tūhoe respond?

Despite the injustice of the confiscation Tūhoe remained at peace for a time. The Crown began surveying the northern confiscation line across the Waimana valley in December 1866.

Tūhoe rejected a call by Whakatōhea in February 1867 to join their fight against confiscation. Instead, they established two defensive aukati; one along the Waiotahi River between them and Whakatōhea, and the other along the Crown’s confiscation line. Some Tūhoe tried the Crown’s process of claiming their lands in the Compensation Court but their claims were wrongly dismissed in September 1867 and the claimants, including Makarīni, were seized at Puketī and held captive without trial indefinitely in Te Ana o Muriwai. Other Tūhoe began to violently resist the Crown survey. In May 1867 a few Ngāti Huri men attacked a survey party at Ōhiwa, and then joined the Whakatōhea fighters in the Opōtiki district who killed two military settlers. Other Tūhoe kept to peaceful resistance, reoccupying confiscated land at Opōuriao in September 1867. No matter what they did, the land remained unjustly confiscated.

WAR AND CONFISCATION: WAIKAREMOANA. 1865-1867

Why did the Crown invade Waikaremoana in 1865 and 1866?

Crown forces (mainly Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu kāwanatanga) repeatedly attacked Waikaremoana from December 1865 to March 1866. They were pursuing Pai Maririe (‘Hauhau’) fighters fleeing from defeat at Turanga (Gisborne). Tūhoe had nothing to do with this fight but many of those at southern Waikaremoana were attacked and killed along with the Pai Marire refugees. Hakaraia Te Wharepapa was one of the rangatira killed while defending his land.

For the first time the Crown used its ‘scorched earth’ policy in Te Urewera, destroying 10 Tūhoe kāinga and all cultivations, food stores, livestock, horses, and waka to ensure total suppression of any resistance.

Prisoners were killed, including the elderly rangatira Rangikumapuao killed at Onepoto.

What happened to the Tūhoe survivors at Waikaremoana?

Many fled across the lake to escape the fighting but the repeated attacks and scorched earth tactics made it difficult to survive.

In May 1866 Tūhoe were among several hundred Māori in the area who surrendered to the Crown. Some of the captives (including Eria Raukura) were exiled indefinitely to the Chathams in terrible conditions. This was so they could not interfere with plans to confiscate our land under a new law: the defective East Coast Land Titles Investigation Act 1866.

Was Tūhoe land confiscated at Waikaremoana in 1866?

Not quite, but the Crown set in place the legal machinery to confiscate the land from Tūhoe later on. The East Coast confiscation law passed in 1866 was difficult to implement, so the Crown preferred to do a deal with Ngāti Kahungunu kāwanatanga. In April 1867 they agreed to give the Crown the Kauhouroa block (42,000 acres) near Wairoa, and in return the Crown withdrew its claims on all land up to Waikaremoana that was owned by rebels.

As Tūhoe at southern Waikaremoana were now deemed to be rebels, this meant their land could be confiscated and awarded to Ngāti Kahungunu kāwanatanga. This confiscation was not completed until 1875, but a lot happened before that. I konei e mēhia ana ko ngā Tūhoe e noho ana i te taha tonga o te moana o Waikaremoana he Iwi whakatumatuma, nā tēnā ka murua o rātau whenua ka whakawhiwhiā kia Ngāti Kahungunu kāwanatanga. Heoi, nō te tau 1875 i tutuki ai tēnei murunga, ēngari arā noa atu ngā whiu i pā ki a Tūhoe.

 

 

I murua anō ngā whenua o Tūhoe nā tana whai wāhi ki te pakanga i Waikato 1864?

Ehe – I murua e te Karauna na whenua o Waikato, Taranaki me Tauranga i muri mai o te pakanga i te tau 1863-1864, ā, kāre ia i whakawhiu i wētahi iwi kē. Kōatu i te 50 te ope tauā o Tūhoe i takahi i te ara ki roto o Ōrakau ki te tautoko i te o Te Kīngitanga e whawhai ana ki te pākeha. I konei ka kitea te tūhono rangatira ki te rangatira o Tūhoe me Maniapoto. Ko ētahi o Tūhoe i tohe ki tēnei karanga i runga i tana whakataukī kōrero “kia tāwharautia a Mataatua,” ā, he rōpu iti (30 tāngata) i haere ka hinga i Ōrakau.

I murua ngā whenua o Tūhoe nā tana whai wāhi ki te pakanga i tū ki Te Tapiri 1865?

Ehe – Kāore rā tātau i whawhai ki te Karauna i Te Tapiti i te marama o Mei 1865. E whawhai ana kē ki ngā kūpapa o Ngāti Manawa kāwanatanga. I pupū ake tēnei nā runga i tō tātau ārahi atu i a Kereopa me ētahi o ngā Pai Marire ki waho o tō tātau rohe, kia hoki ki Taranaki. Nā runga i te whakapae nā te Pai Marire a Te Wākana i kōhuru i Opōtiki i te marama o Pēpuere i te tau 1865.

E hiahia kē ana a Ngāti Manawa ki te mauhere i a Tūhoe hei kawe atu ki te Karauna, i Te Tapiri, ka pakangahia e Tūhoe, ka oma a Ngāti Manawa, ngaro atu ana. Heoi, ka hoki mai anō i te taha o Te Arawa kāwangatanga me ētahi hōia o te Karauna, tērā ka hoki whakamuri a Tūhoe ki te Pā o Te Harema, heoi, ka whakeke te karaunga nā te mea kāre ko Tūhoe tāna e whai ana.

I te tau 1865 i te marama o Hepetema, nā te Karauna te kōrero kia hohou i te rongo, whakamutua te muru whenua, kua ea i ngā pakanga o mua.

He aha ai i urutomo hia e te Karauna te taha raki o rohe i te marama o Hepetema 1865?

I te marama o Hūrae i te tau 1865 ka rangatū te ope tauā o te Karauna ki te kimi i te kai kōhuru o James Fulloon (he uri nō Tūhoe tētahi wāhanga ōna) ētahi atu, i mate i ngā ringa kōhuru o te Pai Marire i Whakatāne i kō mai o te aukati. E hiahia ana te Karauna ki te mauhere i te hunga e whakapae ana nā rātau i kōhuru a Fulloon me Te Wākana. E 33 ngā tāngata whakapaehia ana nā rātau i kōhuru, ēngari harakau nei he Tūhoe. I te mārama o Hepetema 1865 ka whakaheke te Karauna i tana ture ki runga o Whakatāne me Opōtiki, ka whakaeke ngā kāinga nei ki te kimi ia rātau, hāunga a Tūhoe e harakau nōnā te pakanga nei. Ko tāna he tuku kōrero ki te Karauna ki hea kitea ai a Kereopa.

He aha ai murua e te Karauna na whenua o Tūhoe i te tau 1866?

I te marama o Hānuere te tau 1866 kōatu i te 450,000 eka i murua e te Karauna i te taha rāwhiti o te rohe o Mataatua. Nā te whakapae a te Karauna he whakatumatuma o ētahi iwi i tana whakaeke mai ki roto i te rohe i te tau 1865. I uru katoa mai 125,000 o ngā whenua o Tūhoe mai Ōhiwa, ki te Waimana me Rūātoki, heoi ē harakau ko Tūhoe tēnā e mēhia ana he whakatumatuma i taua wā, waiho tonu.

Heoi ēhara i te mea i he mea rangahau hia e te Karauna te hunga e whakapae hia ana e rātau he whakatumatuma. Tāhorehore ana te Kai Kōmihana a Wilson ki ngā tono a Tūhoe, ā, whakawhiwhia ana ō rātau whenua ki iwi kē i te pito o te tau 1866. Korekore ana e hoki he whenua ki a Tūhoe.

He aha te whakahoki a Tūhoe?

Ahakoa te āhua i tau ki runga i a Tūhoe, mauri tau a Tūhoe ki te pupuri i te maungārongo i waenga i ā ia me te Karauna. Kātahi ka hīmata ngā mahi rūri a te Karauna ki te rohe o te Waimana i te marama o Tihema 1866.

Kāore a Tūhoe i tautoko i tā Te Whakatōhea tohe ki te pakanga mo ngā whenua muru. Engari whakaritea ana e ia ōna aukati ki te awa o Waiōtahi me te aukati ki te rārangi o te Karauna. I whakamātau ētahi Tūhoe ki te tono mo ō rātau whenua ma te Kooti Kapeneheihana i te marama o Hepetema 1867, ēngari auware ake. Ko ētahi o aua tāngata ko Makarīni, tērā i ātetehia ana i Puketī, ka mauhere hara kore ki Te Ana o Muriwai. Kātahi ka tohe a Tūhoe ki ngā mahi rūri a Karauna. I te marama o Mei 1867 ka pakangahia e ētahi uri o Ngāti Huri te ope rūri a te Karauna i te takiwā ki Ōhiwa, ka hono atu ki te ope whawhai o Te Whakatōhea ki Opōtiki. Ko ētahi o Tūhoe i mauri tau ki te maungārongo ki Opōuriao, ahakoa te rongomau i puria, i riro tonu te whenua.

He aha ai i urutomo hia a Waiakaremoana i te tau 1865 - 1866?

Ko ngā hoia a te Karauna (he Ngāti Porou, he Ngāti Kahungunu kāwanatanga te nuinga) i urutomo ki runga o Waikaremoana i te marama o Tihema i te tau 1865 me tau 1866 i te marama o Maehe. E kimi ana i ngā Pai Marire (Hauhau) tērā i marere mai i te pakanga i tū ki Tūranga. Kāore a Tūhoe i whai wāhi atu ki roto i tēnei pakanga, ēngari patua ana ngā Tūhoe e noho ana i te taha tonga o Waikaremoana, ā, me ētahi Pai Marire i marere mai ki konei.

Ko Hakaraia Te Wharepapa tētahi o ngā rangatira i kaha ki te pakanga mo tanawhenua ka mate.

I konei e kitea ana te whakamahia ana e te Karauna tana Ture ‘kaupapa haepapa whenua’ ki roto o te Te Urewera, whakamōwai ana i ngā kāinga, māra kai, whata kai, kararehe.

Kohuru hia ana ngā mauhere, me te rangatira a Rangikumapuao i Onepoto.

I aha hia ngā morehu o Waikaremoana?

He nui ngā tāngata i marere ki rāwahi o te moana, ēngari nā te kaha whiu o te ture haepapa whenua, me uaua ka ora.

I te marama o Mei 1866 he nui ngā Tūhoe me ētahi Māori i tūohu ki Te Karauna. Mauherehia ana rātau (Ko Eria Raukura tētahi) ki Wharekauri ka mate atu. Nā te ture hou i puta ai i tērā wā arā ko te Ture 1866 East Cost Title Investigation hei muru i ngā whenua o te Maōri.

I murua anō ngā whenua o Tūhoe i Waikaremoana 1866?

Kaua i taua wā tonu, ēngari i āta hangaia e te Karauna tana rautaki muru katoa i ngā whenua o Tūhoe. Nā te Ture hou nei i raru ai te Karauna, nō reira i tahuri rātau ki te whakamina i a Ngāti Kahungunu kāwanatanga. I te marama o Aperira i te tau 1867 i whakaae rātau ki te koha i te whenua o te Kauhouroa (42,000 eka) i te Wairoa, nā tēnei i whakakorehia rātau to rātau raupatu haere i te whenua o Waikaremaoana, arā o te iwi whakatumatuma.

 

1867-1871 Scorched Earth and Te Kooti

1 Dec 1867

SCORCHED EARTH AND THE PURSUIT OF TE KOOTI, 1867–1871 Why did the Crown invade Te Urewera again and again from 1869 to 1871? Crown forces (most of which were Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, and Whanganui...
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1872-1875 Confiscation at Waikaremoana

1 Dec 1872

How was the southern Waikaremoana land confiscated? The Crown’s 1867 agreement with Ngāti Kahungunu kāwanatanga failed to lead to the confiscation of the southern Waikaremoana land from Tūhoe, because the...
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1872-1895 TE WHITU TEKAU

15 Dec 1872

What happened to Tūhoe between the 1871 peace compact and the Urewera District Native Reserve compact in 1895? Tūhoe tried to uphold the peace compact, but the Crown gave it little thought and did not leave us to...
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1895-1921 Urewera District Native Reserve

1 Dec 1895

Urewera District Native Reserve, 1895-1921 Why was the Urewera District Native Reserve (UDNR ) established? The foundation for the UDNR was laid when Premier Seddon (‘King Dick’) and Native Minister James...
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1916 Invasion of Maunapōhatu

1 Dec 1916

Invasion of Maunapōhatu, 1916 Why did the Crown invade Maunapōhatu in 1916? Armed police invaded Maunapōhatu in April 1916 to arrest Rua Kēnana on liquor licensing charges and a charge of having resisted arrest...
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1921 - 1927 Urewera Consolidation Scheme

1 Dec 1921

Urewera Consolidation Scheme, 1921–1927 What was Urewera Consolidation Scheme? Consolidation schemes were a Crown solution to titles that were turned into a mess because of its policies. Consolidation schemes...
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1921–1971 Waikaremoana

10 Dec 1921

Waikaremoana, 1921–1971 What happened to the Waikaremoana block in the Urewera Consolidation Scheme? Not one share in the Waikaremoana block was sold to the Crown before the Consolidation Scheme started in...
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1954 & 1957 Urewera National Park

1 Dec 1954

Urewera National Park, 1954 & 1957 How did the Crown get the land for the Urewera National Park? The Crown was awarded the Urewera A block (482,000 acres) at the end of the Urewera Consolidation Scheme. The...
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1958 Tūhoe Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board

25 Sep 1958

1958 Tūhoe Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board What was the Tūhoe Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board? The Tūhoe Waikaremoana Māori Trust Board, the Trust Board became Tūhoe’s first Iwi Authority....
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1962 Tūhoe Tribal Authorities

14 Dec 1962

1962 Tūhoe Tribal Authorities What are the Tūhoe Tribal Authorities? Established over 50 years ago, Tūhoe Tribals were created to represent the collective forum of marae and hapū within their area.  A...
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1971 Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe

9 Apr 1971

Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe What is Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe? Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe is the cultural and sporting event on the Tūhoe calendar.  Tūhoe from near and far immerse themselves in their Tūhoetana. ...
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1987 Treaty of Waitangi Claim

31 Mar 1987

Tūhoe and the Treaty of Waitangi Tribunal Tūhoe made its first claim to the Waitangi Tribunal on the 31st March 1987 under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. This was the WAI 36 Claim by James Wharehuia Milroy, Tamaroa...
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