Purchase of Canterbury and North Otago (Kemp�s Purchase) February 1848 Governor George Grey goes to Akaroa with Colonel William Wakefield from the NZ Company (representing potential European settlers). They meet with local chiefs to discuss buying land in Canterbury. They then sail down to Otago to inform Maori there, that the Crown proposes to buy the land between the Matoura River and Kaiapoi (excluding land already bought around Dunedin). A year before this, the Crown had given tribes in Marlborough money to extinguish any right they thought they had to land as far south as Kaiapoi � Ngai Tahu complained that the northern tribes had no right to claim an interest in land south of the Wairau River in Marlborough. April 1848 Grey instructs his deputy, Lieutenant-Governor Eyre, to appoint someone to negotiate the purchase with Maori. Eyre appoints Henry Kemp and gives him instructions to �reserve to the natives ample portions of land for their present and prospective wants�. He is allocated two thousand pounds to pay for the land, which Governor Grey and Colonel Wakefield believe to be a fair price. May 1848 Kemp sails to Akaroa to inform the chiefs there that he would return shortly to negotiate with them. He continues on to Otago and brings back to Akaroa about a dozen Otago chiefs who are to represent Otago Maori who have interests in the land. He also brings back Charles Kettle who is a surveyor for the New Zealand Company. June 1848 At Akaroa discussions are held in front of about five hundred people including all chiefs between Kaiapoi and Dunedin. At this point, the chiefs express dismay at the two thousand pounds offered for the land, saying that they had originally asked for ten thousand pounds and later wrote to Governor Grey saying that they would accept five thousand pounds. The following day (12th June 1848), after being assured by Kemp that adequate Reserves would be excluded from the sale, the Maori chiefs agree to the sale for two thousand pounds. The deed is written in Maori and read out by Kemp. Kettle attaches a map to the deed showing the purchase to be right across the South Island from the Mataura River and Milford Sound in the south, and from Kaiapoi to the mouth of the Buller River in the north. Kemp never sets foot on the extensive tract of land he bought for the Crown, and Eyre effectively sacks Kemp for incompetence. He employs Walter Mantell to finish Kemp�s job by marking off the Reserves that Kemp had failed to do. Mantell is to work with an appointed surveyor, and to mark out on the ground and on a map, the Reserves. Eyre fears that �the existence of innumerable small and irregularly shaped Reserves dotted all over the country� will create difficulties in laying out the land for settlers, and he therefore instructs Mantell to limit the number of Reserves, but still to provide for as much land as he deems sufficient for Ngai Tahu�s present and future needs. Because Ngai Tahu had already signed the deed, they are at a tremendous disadvantage when they request Mantell to set aside certain areas for Reserves. Similarly, Ngai Tahu are guaranteed under the Treaty of Waitangi, access to food-gathering places � this is also largely denied them. Report of the Waitangi Tribunal in 1991 The Tribunal found that there were several injustices done over the sale of Canterbury/North Otago. 1. When the Crown had purchased Marlborough lands from northern tribes, it had included Ngai Tahu�s land down to Kaiapoi in the purchase. When Ngai Tahu complained and subsequently sold their land up to the Marlborough boundary, Mantell had exerted unfair pressure on Ngai Tahu by saying that the land had already been paid for (to other tribes). He told Ngai Tahu that if Ngai Tahu didn�t sign the deed then they wouldn�t get any money, but the Crown would still own the land. The Tribunal found the Ngai Tahu sold their rights on unfavourable terms. 2. Ngai Tahu specified sites around their land that they wanted excluded from the sale. This was not done, but only promised at the time of the sale. 3. Although Mantell and his successor were instructed to set aside Reserves for Ngai Tahu�s �present and future needs�, this was not done. In fact out of the total twenty million acres involved in the sale, Ngai Tahu was left with only 6,359 acres. This represented ten acres per person and was not enough for their future needs. 4. Ngai Tahu had a long tradition as a hunter/gatherer society that stretched from the sea to the mountains. The sale of the land denied them access to these traditional food areas. This was contrary to Article Two of the Treaty of Waitangi. 5. Governors of New Zealand had been instructed by Lord Normanby (of the Colonial Office in England) to appoint someone �to protect the interests of the Maoris� in their land dealings. Governor Grey however had terminated this position by the time of the Ngai Tahu�s land sales, and therefore Ngai Tahu had to rely upon the good faith of the Crown. |