Footsteps of a Nation

Social Studies Online

Set One
1841 Land Claims Ordinance stated that lands not actually occupied or used by the Maori belonged to the Crown. This contradicted Article 2 of the Treaty.
1844 Governor Fitzroy dropped the pre-emption clause in Article 2 of the Treaty and allowed private sales to take place.
1846 Governor Grey abolished the Protectorate Department, which had the responsibility of protecting Maori rights, and gave the New Zealand Company the exclusive right of pre-emption.

Set Two
1852 System of Provincial Government was set up. Only males over 21 who had individual title to property of a certain value were entitled to vote. Very few Maori males were able to do so.
1862 Native Lands Act: Designed to break down Maori communal ownership of land. A land court was set up to individualise title. An amendment to the act meant that Maori owners could sell to anyone. This breached the pre-emption clause in Article 2.

Set Three

1859 Te Ati Awa Chief Teira sold the Governor land at Waitara without seeking the agreement of the other chiefs who had an interest in the land, especially the Senior Chief Wiremu Kingi. This was a breach of the Treaty's land guarantee.
1863 Government troops invaded the Waikato.
1863 New Zealand Settlement Act: Over three million acres of Maori land was confiscated to pay for the war.

Set Four
1865 Native Land Court: Maori owners had to spend many months in town waiting to have their cases heard. If they did not show up they lost the right to the land. This caused many of them to build up huge debts and they had to sell a lot of their land to pay for them. Maori owners had to pay for any surveying work that had to be done. Many Maori owners sold land rather than go through the humiliating experience of the Land Court sitting.
1865-1875 Maori lost over 10 million acres of land.

Set Five
1867 Maori Representation Act: Four Maori seats in Parliament are established. This was a response to Pakeha fear that Maori who by now had a majority under the property qualification clause of the 1852 Constitution Act in a number of electorates could gain a majority in Government.
1877 The Treaty is declared a nullity by Judge Prendergast. Legislation was introduced to allow direct purchase of Maori land. This was another breach of Article 2.

Set Six
1880 Maori Prisoners' Act: 200 Maori were arrested in Taranaki for preventing the surveying of confiscated land. They were kept in prison for an indefinite period without trial.
1880 West Coast Settlement Act: Any Maori in Taranaki could be arrested without a warrant and jailed for two years with hard labour if they built anything or in any way hindered the surveying or property.
1881 2500 Government troops invaded Parihaka and Te Whiti the prophet is arrested.

Set Seven
1886 Native Lands Administration Act: Rejected the traditional right of communal ownership. Maori land was given over to small groups of trustees who had the right under this act to sell it.
1887 Native Land Act: Large scale direct purchase of Maori land. Bastion Point, Auckland appropriated for defence purposes.

Set Eight
1908 Tohunga Suppression Act: Penalties were imposed on tohunga (experts in Maori medicine and Maori spirituality).
1918 Maori servicemen who returned after World War I were not eligible for the benefits of the Rehabilitation Scheme. The scheme was only available to Pakeha servicemen.

Set Nine
1953 Maori Affairs Act: If Maori land was not occupied or being used then it was declared "waste land'' and taken by the Government.
1953 Town and Country Planning Act: Prevented Maori from building on their land. This forced many Maori to move from rural areas to the cities.

Set Ten
1927 Sim Commission admits Crown responsibility for the confiscation of land in the 1860s and some compensation is finally paid in the 1940s.
1975 Treaty of Waitangi Act: Waitangi Tribunal set up to investigate claims against the Crown.
1985 The Tribunal's powers were extended to allow it to make recommendations on claims going back to 1840.