Land Ownership
There was dispute among the Māori as to who owned the land at atime when even the word ownership had a multitude of meanings to Maori that were alien to the settlers. Originally the area had been occupied by three small tribes (or hapu), Rangitane, Ngāti Apa, and Muaūpoko. They had been conquered by the war like Te Rauparaha of Ngati Toa and the survivors forced to flee during the Musket War. As they had been dispossessed of the land, Rangitane did not mind selling it to the Pākehā. Of course the warlike Te Rauparaha, who saw himself as the owner by right of conquest, objected strongly. Meanwhile the New Zealand Company did not question the vendors' right to sell the land.
Read more about this topic: Hutt Valley Campaign
Famous quotes containing the words land and/or ownership:
“Land of opportunity, land for the huddled masses—where would the opportunity have been without the genocide of those Old Guard, bristling Indian tribes?”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
“They had their fortunes to make, everything to gain and nothing to lose. They were schooled in and anxious for debates; forcible in argument; reckless and brilliant. For them it was but a short and natural step from swaying juries in courtroom battles over the ownership of land to swaying constituents in contests for office. For the lawyer, oratory was the escalator that could lift a political candidate to higher ground.”
—Federal Writers’ Project Of The Wor, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)