In 1870 Tarapipipi had requested that his people be granted land at Hapuakohe, on which they had made cultivations. This request was as a result of an adjustment to the confiscation
line, which meant that their cultivations were included in the confiscated lands (see section of this evidence on Piako purchases).
The question of Tarapipipi's request came up as part of the Piako purchase negotiations in April 1889 (see section of this evidence on Piako purchases).
Following the settlement of the Piako purchase, in July 1889 Wirihana Paho wrote to Wilkinson.
This is a request of mine to you, that is to Government, to give us a larger area of land than we have at present for the purpose of cultivating food. The reason I make this request is because the portion suitable for growing food within the 7000 acre reserve which was arranged by Pohutuhutu (Tarapipipi) and Government in order that we might have a fixed place of abode on the land originally our own within the Government boundary (confiscation line) is very small. I am one of the real owners of this land from the time of my ancestors. When I heard from Te Whetuiti (Wini Kerei) that the land outside the confiscation line had gone into the possession of the Government as payment for advances (on Piako block), all we have left is the 7000 acres. That is why I apply to Government. Most of the 7000 acres is mountainous (or broken). A very small portion only is good land (suitable for cultivation). The good or suitable places where we are in occupation have gone to Government to pay for advances, and there are no suitable places or us to cultivate food on. The boundaries of the additional portion I ask for commence at Hapuakohe, thence along the ridge to Te Ware-o-Patutahi, thence to Te Miro, thence to Paoneone, thence to the station (trig) at Pororua, then goes southwards along the ridge, then descends to the valley to the wooden house (? blockhouse) at Whakapekapeka (Moerangi), and ends there. That position is known by the line (confiscation line). That is the land I ask you for, that is the Government, to give to us. There are some so of us who will occupy it, and the reserve.1
Wilkinson commented on this letter that
[Wirihana Paho] belongs partly to N' Ringatahi, a section of Ngatipaoa (Wini Kerei's people), and partly to Waikato. He has been, and is now, I believe, a supporter of the King movement. He, with old Houma (since dead) and others, caused considerable trouble and anxiety some years ago whilst they were living at Moerangi, through their objection to surveys and everything else that partook of civilisation, or was the means by which the Maoris could become dispossessed of their land. The 7000 acres referred to by the writer is the 7000 acre reserve originally fixed by Tarapipipi and Dr Pollen, and which Wini Kerei and his people retain for themselves out of the 24,000 acres or thereabouts lying between the original an altered confiscation lines in that locality, and which the Crown got in accordance with the settlement of the Piako question arrived at in April last. I dispute the correctness of the writer's statement, viz., that a very small portion only of the 7000 acre reserve is good land. I consider that there is a considerable portion - several hundreds of acres - of good land upon it. There is also the fact that the writer and his companions will most likely be included by Wini Kerei as owners in Te Hoe o Tainui, or Taiaha a Huakatoa block, which will shortly be before the Court, should the latter
1 Wirihana Paho, Tawhirinamu, to Native Agent Alexandra, to July 1889, attached to Native Agent Alexandra to Under Secretary Native Department, 13 Sugust 1889. Maori Affairs Head Office file MLP 1892/8. Supporting Papers #B74.369-380.
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