Maori Land Issues :: essays papers

Maori Land IssuesIts a known fact that shoot down issues have al agencys been a major topic at bottom Maori and Pakeha race relations in New Zealand.The disputes go back to the 1800 when the Treaty of Waitangiwas signed in 1840. According to the second article of theTreaty, land could only be sold to the Crown if the ownerswished to sell them. Disputes over the governments attemptsto buy more land at very cheap prices that were below the valueof the land was one of the many reasons that led to the New ZealandWars in the 185os and 1860s. As a result of the wars, under the NewZealand Settlement Act in 1863, 800,000 hectares of Maori land wasconfiscated by the government as a punishment for those tribes whoopposed the government. Bitterness over the land the Maori people lostand sorrow over the people who lost their lives do an ugly scar inthe history of race relations in Aotearoa.With the Native Lands Act in 1862 individual purchase of Maoriland was allowed. Although the confis cations caused bitternessand fury among those affected tribes, the work of TheNative Land court led to far more land being lost, and thisaffected all tribes. The Native Land Court was set up in 1865with the intention of getting rid of the communal ownerships ofMaori land which was called individualisation so it could besold more easily. The Court had the think effect land salescontinues at an increasing rate. By 1911 only 10% of NewZealands 66 million acres remained in Maori hands. In 1900James Carroll, the first Maori Minister of Native Affairs,passed a notable piece of legislation a Maori LandAdministration Act which set up a Council which was based onCarrolls taihoa (wait and see) delaying policies. In the Council,Maori owners were in majority, to administer the lease of Maori land.The Council leased but sold very little land and this caused settler discontented and in 1905, the Council were replaced by a Europeandominated Boards. By the end of the Liberals time in offic e in 1912,a tho 3 million acres of Maori land had been sold.Also Sir Apirana Ngata worked with James Carrolls on the MaoriCouncils Act in 1900. After the Act failed to help Maoripeople, Ngata decided that the best way he could change lawsand policies that affected Maori was through parliament. In1905 he won the seat for Eastern Maori. As an MP Ngata could