Tēnā koe e te rangatira e noho mai nā i runga i tēnā taumata whakahirahira, e whakatutuki nei i ngā kaupapa me ngā moemoea a te iwi Māori. Tēnā hoki koe e whai ake ana i ngā tapuwae o te hunga rongonui i mua atu i a koe. Ara hoki ko Ta Te Rangihiroa, Ta Maui Pomare, Ta Timi Kara, te matua i a Ta Apirana Ngata me ngā mea o muri ake nei i a Matiu Rata, a Kòro Wetere me etahi atu.

He mihi he tangi ano hoki ki te hunga kua mene atu ki te po otirā kua huri atu ki tua o te arai. Haere atu rā, haere atu rā, e moe i te moenga roa. Kati kā hoki mai ki a tātou o te ao tangata e takoto nei i roto i te ao hurihuri – tānā tātou katoa.

I te timatanga i tipu ake te purongo nei i ngā tono a ngā uri o ngā hapū o te rohe mai ngā Kuri a Whārei ki Wairākei. No muri tata mai i whakatakotoria ano hoki etahi atu iwi o ratou ake tono i mua i te aroaro o te Taraipiunara.

Enclosed is our report Te Raupatu o Tauranga Moana. It covers raupatu claims to the Waitangi Tribunal in the Tauranga Moana district of the western Bay of Plenty. The claims covered in the report have been filed with the Tribunal on behalf of the various hapu of Ngati Ranginui, Ngai Te Rangi, Ngati Pukenga (or Tawera), Waitaha, and Marutuahu. The report covers only the period up until 1886, when the confiscation of the district and return of some of the land to Tauranga Maori was complete. A further report on post-1886 events may follow. This two-stage approach has been undertaken to assist the Crown and claimants move toward a negotiated settlement of the Tauranga claims.

In 1864, forces of the Crown attacked Tauranga Maori at Pukehinahina and Te Ranga. Following protracted peace negotiations, the Crown confiscated the Tauranga district under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863. All the allegations of Treaty breach reported here stem from these initial acts of the Crown. We find that the Crown’s military operations against Tauranga Maori and the confiscation of any of their land was in breach of several principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

The Crown has long maintained that, following the raupatu, Tauranga Maori were relatively well treated and suffered little or no prejudice as a result. In the Tauranga Moana inquiry, the Crown accepted that the confiscation of some 42,000 acres at Tauranga