8 February 2002 Media Release

WAIRARAPA KI TARARUA CLAIMANTS STUDY RESEARCH REPORTS

Treaty claimants from the Wairarapa ki Tararua district, north to Dannevirke, have been meeting in Masterton to study the research evidence for their claims.

15 research reports were formally presented to the claimant groups, who questioned the authors in detail on their findings and conclusions.

The reports covered a broad sweep of the history of dealings between the Crown and the Rangitane and Kahungunu peoples of the district since 1840.

Evidence was given about the early agreements between Māori leaders and government representatives, in which land rights were gifted to the Crown as a way of beginning an ongoing relationship of mutual benefit. Reports on the subsequent history of particular land blocks showed that Māori generosity was not reciprocated. Other reports looked at more general issues, like the effect of Native Land Court procedures, which took land from Māori groups and transferred it to individuals; and how the claimants had been affected by economic, environmental and resource management regimes, up to the present day.

The two-day hui was convened by the Crown Forestry Rental Trust, a major funder of claim research, and the Waitangi Tribunal.

The Trust’s research manager, Vincent O’Malley, said the hui was a chance for all claimants in the district to get together, to see how their evidence tied together to form an overall picture of the relationship between Māori and the Crown.

“It was an excellent hui, I thought. The spirit of co-operation among all the claimant groups was really impressive,” he said.

“The research is not finished yet, so there’s still a chance to plug any gaps. For example, the claimants insisted on research being done into Māori language sources in the archives and old newspapers. There were three Māori-language newspapers published in the Wairarapa during the 19th century.

“We’ll be working together with the claimants and the Waitangi Tribunal to complete the research casebook for the Tribunal before the end of June, so hearings can begin in 2003.