time after the Waikato war when some refugees from Waikato were given a temporary shelter, but they were ultimately driven off because they desecrated the burial places, where it is now asserted their ancestors were lying but which were in reality the burial places of the ancestors of N' Tahuna and N' Te Hiko [hapu of Ngati Paoa], by digging gum there; that of the settlements and cultivations mentioned by Piripi Whanatangi some are in existence, others are not, many of those pointed out by Piripi are not at the places he points out but in other parts of the block, and that he only knows them by name and has no knowledge of the locality; that neither N' Hua no any of the Waikato tribes have lived on this block, nor on any part of the neighbouring land west of the confiscated land boundary, which at one time formed a part of this block. ...
With regard to Piripi's attempted survey after the death of Tarapipipi, had he persisted in going on with that survey he would have been killed.
Wini Kerei in support of his claim shows that from the time of Tauhakiri down to the present moment, when they—N' Tahuna, N' Hiko and the others—are actually residing on the block in large numbers, their occupation has never been broken. It is asserted and proved, as far as proof of such things can be had at this time, that even during the Ngapuhi invasion, when all Hauraki fled to Waikato, this land was never totally abandoned, an old chief Te Kuta with a few attendants remained, and, dying whilst the main body of the people were away, was buried on the land; that previous to the Ngapuhi invasion they occupied and cultivated, and after the return of the tribe from Horotiu they again settled on the land and have continued to reside there to the present day, With Kerei himself being a resident on the land since 1855; that when the feast to celebrate peace with Waikato was held at Matamata in 1842, the people of this land attended that gathering, bringing with them pigs and other produce from the land in dispute, and that up to the present time their ownership has never been seriously disputed.
It is plain enough from the nature of the two claims that one of them must be wrong. There is no question here of any intermingling of tribes on the same land. The occupation of one is incompatible with that of the other. The N' Hua claim that the boundary of their land runs from the Taiaha a Huakatoa at the southern end through certain named points to Tikapu at the northern end, and that none of the hapus of N' Paoa ever owned west of that boundary, whilst the other side claim that the boundary between Waikato and Hauraki ran through Moerangi considerably to the west of this block, and that none of the Waikato tribes ever owned east of that boundary.
We have carefully considered the evidence given on both sides, and are of opinion that whilst that in support of the claims of N' Tahuna, N' Te Hiko and the other hapus joined with them is clear, consistent and straight to the point throughout, giving a fair and unshaken account of the grounds of claim and the descent of everyone for whom the claim is made from the source on which the claim is grounded, displaying a minute and accurate knowldge of every part of the land and of every event connected with the ownership from the earliest times to the present, such as only the true owners could possess, the other side, N' Hua and their associated hapus, fail in all the points necessary to sustain their claim.
We therefore dismiss the claim of N' Hua and those others joined with them, and award the land to N' Tahuna, N' Te Hiko, N' Rauwhea, N' Ringatahi, N' Koura, N' Parengaherehere, and Te Matetokoroa, represented by Wini Kerei Te Whetuiti, who will hand into Court a list of the owners showing the relative interests it is proposed to allot to each.'5
In handing in lists of owners, Ngati Paoa first sought a division of the block into two parts, a Hoe o Tainui North block, which would be restricted, and a Hoe o Tainui South block, which would not be restricted. Each would then be subdivided further into:
— Hoe o Tainui North 1 (Hunui), to be awarded to Wini Kerei Te Whetuiti and Mihi Riki Tarapipipi of Ngati Tahunaraukawa,
15 Hauraki Minute Book 25 pages 9o-102. Supporting Papers #J3o.1-13.
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