EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ES.1 The District, The People, and Their Claims

The Hauraki inquiry district comprises the southern part of Tikapa Moana — the Hauraki Gulf — and its islands, the Coromandel Peninsula and the lower Waihou and Piako Valleys. It is the home of many iwi. Some, such as Ngati Hako, Ngai Tai, and Patukirikiri, trace their origins in part from before the arrival of the famous waka. Others trace their origins from those waka, including Ngati Huarere and Ngati Hei from Te Arawa and Ngati Rahiri Tumutumu from Mataatua. From about the late sixteenth century, however, traditional history is dominated by the invasion and settlement of the district by iwi of Tainui origin, collectively known as the Marutuahu tribes. They include Ngati Maru, Ngati Tamatera, Ngati Whanaunga, and Ngati Rongo-u. During the course of the Marutuahu conquests, Ngati Paoa also entered the district, as did a smaller tribe, Ngati Tara (or Ngati Koi). By the early nineteenth century, Hauraki was occupied by an intricate patchwork of groups, predominantly of Marutuahu descent, intermingled with groups of earlier occupants, and all having many connections through intermarriage and shifting alliances. In the mid-nineteenth century, tuku of land were made to three hapu of Ngati Porou at Harataunga and Mataora, and to a section of Ngati Pukenga at Manaia.

The first Treaty claims were lodged by the Hauraki Maori Trust Board, constituted by Act of Parliament in 1988 as a body corporate representing most of the above tribes. As research proceeded, many of the groups named in the 1988 Act (or sections of them), and others not named but connected with the named tribes, lodged separate claims. The Marutuahu tribes also lodged a claim, bringing additional evidence about their collective interests and those of the constituent iwi. There were 56 claims in all, including eight that lapsed or were withdrawn, or that related mainly to lands outside the inquiry district where Hauraki tribes also have customary interests.

Details of these claims can be found in the main body of the report. All relate to the process of colonisation under the British Crown, the extraction of the resources of the region (notably gold and kauri) and the purchase of all but 2.6 per cent of the land in the inquiry district. Our report traces the history of colonisation as a connected narrative, while discussing chapter by chapter the Treaty issues arising in each phase of the Crown’s interaction with Hauraki iwi and giving our findings on claims of breach of Treaty principles. In this summary, we present only our findings on the most important issues, or those most common to the various claimant groups. For findings on matters particular to only one or few claims, we refer readers to the main body of the report.