THE CROWN, THE TREATY, AND THE HAURAKI TRIBES, 1880-1980

The first payment on the Piako land, much of it in the form of goods supplied by Mackay, took place at the great Whakatiwai gathering in 1874.86 Forty-eight Ngati Paoa had signed a deed which acknowledged on behalf of themselves and 'all' their tribe:

[T]he receipt by us of £4,500 paid to us by James Mackay Jr ... in part payment for our

lands adjacent to the rivers Piako and Waitoa and on the West side of the river Waihou

(Thames) and some pieces of land in the neighbourhood of Waitakaouru and Pukorokoro

which we have consented to sell to Queen Victoria."

The deed then set out the price that would be paid on each acre ranging from 3/- for the best quality land to 6d for the poorest swampy areas. The Government agreed to undertake the cost of survey and promised to set aside an area for permanent residence and cultivation. The block was proclaimed under negotiation, and over the next five years, Mackay and other agents working on behalf of the Government gave further downpayments and credit, amounting to some £16,500 by 1877. All but £500 of this sum had gone to Ngati Paoa and their kin, Ngai Tai, who had received a small secondary payment on the area.88 Wilkinson subsequently outlined part of the ensuing problem for the Government:

As you are perhaps aware, the Piako block is estimated to contain 200,000 acres and that the amount of advances already made on it exceed £17,000, a considerable portion of which will be found not well secured, and will require careful negotiation to get recognised at the present time as it was advanced some years ago by Mr. Jas. Mackay, and in some cases in large sums to two or three chiefs who are now dead. ... The great difficulty will I think be in the matter of accounts, so many of the Natives who are owners having had little or nothing, whilst others, on account of their rank and influence were paid very large amounts. It is most likely now that the Natives who only had small amounts will object to their land going as payment for advances had by others, and in which perhaps they only indirectly participated.89

Efforts to survey blocks in Piako drew immediate attention to problems with the purchase. In 1880 Hohaia Ngahiwi of Ngati Hua who had received no advances, initiated a survey of their interests for a privately arranged lease. Initially, the Government allowed the transaction to proceed, but withdrew its permission on Te Whetuiti's protest when the survey reached Te Hoe-o-Tainui, and on Whitaker's advice that the prohibition against private deals should remain since a large sum had been spent on the Piako area as a whole.9° Whitaker recommended that the land should be dealt with as one block and that: The time has come when this can be conveniently done and should be attended to without delay.'91

By 1880 the Government was becoming anxious to finalise its transactions. The Native Department had stopped the flow of money and credit to the area in 1879, arguing that it

86 See Mackay in 'Notes of several meetings with the Ngati Paoa Natives,' p. MD 89/148 in MA 13/64 (b). Doc. 4, p. 55.

87 Ngati Paoa Deed, 5 September 1874. NLP 81/167. In Piako special block. MA 13/64 (b).

88 See 'Reports from Officers, Purchase of the Land from the Natives,' AJHR 1877, G-7, p. 1o; NLP 79/355 for payments to Kaihau; NLP 83/54 discusses Ngati Maru payments, in ibid.

89 Wilkinson to Under Secretary, Native Department, 14 July 1881. NLP 81/260. In ibid.

90 See NLP 80/317, 573 and 679; for continuing requests see NLP 83/34. In ibid.

91 See Whitaker minute, 13 November 1880. NLP 80/679 in ibid.

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