The Evolution of a Legal Title to Land Formerly Held Under Maori Custom and Usage

Abstract

THE HISTORY OF THE LAND LAWS OF NEW ZEALAND Before considering in detail the nature of the occupation and title of Maoris to the land of New Zealand and the custom and usage established by the natives it is advisable to pay brief attention to the more important legislation that has been enacted during the century that has passed since the establishment of British sovereignty in New Zealand in the year 1840 at Waitangi. Only as we have a grasp of the salient features of the actual legislation affecting the Maori and his land can we confidently approach any particular aspect of the native land question, and native custom and usage is of itself difficult of comprehension apart from the European legislation which has applied or obliterated it.

The native land legislation of New Zealand dating from the year 1840 is an interesting revelation of the efforts of the European race to further its own progress in a young country while retaining a regard (truly, sometimes remote) for the rights and liberties of the native race. The life of the Maori was indubitably centred in the soil, which provided his principal means of an independent subsistence. Land has also been the never-ending demand of the Pakeha race in this country. The general aim of native land legislation has been to honour the promise made by the Crown to the Maori race in 1840, and yet to promote the prosperity of the European state. Throughout the period varying emphases have been placed on the component parts of this policy, not always to the advantage of the original native landowners. The Crown has not consistently betrayed its trust but it cannot be denied that at times its efforts for the protection of the interests of the natives in their lands have been spasmodic and even half-hearted. The task of reconciling the rights and demands of Maori and Pakeha has been difficult. Consequently there is an intricacy in native land legislation as it has attempted to answer the problem over the last hundred years.