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Loss of Ngāi Tahu mahika kai through Kemp's Deed
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TitleH. K. Taiaroa speaks to the Native Lands Commission 
DescriptionOn 15 May, 1879, Hōri Kerei Taiaroa (Ngāti Ruahikihiki, Ngāti Rangiwhakaputa), member of the house of representatives for Southern Māori, addressed the Native Lands Commission. In this speech, he outlines several grievances of Ngāi Tahu about what was promised as a result of the Government purchase of 13,551,400 acres of land from Ngāi Tahu for £2,000 in 1848. According to Ngāi Tahu, 'it was the largest of all the Crown purchases from Ngāi Tahu and the least carefully transacted'.
This contested transaction was known as the Canterbury Purchase, or Kemp's Deed in 1948, named after Henry Tacy Kemp (1818 - 1901), the land commissioner acting on behalf of the Crown for this land purchase. As the Ngāi Tahu website states:
'Under the terms of the deed of sale, as well as receiving an undertaking that adequate reserves would be set aside “for their present and future wants” and the provision of schools and hospitals, the Crown promised that all of the Ngāi Tahu mahinga kai areas would be set aside for them.'
By 1879 it was clear that what had been promised for the iwi within Kemp's Deed was not being honoured by the Crown. The promised schools and hospitals did not materialise, and Ngāi Tahu could no longer produce kai across their ancient network of mahinga kai sites throughout Te Waipounamu. Taiaroa, who campaigned throughout his career for these matters to be addressed, speaks passionately about the injustice and resulting impact on the Ngāi Tahu way of life:
'...The Maoris interested at the time thought the whole of their places of residence would be given back to them. They were living scattered about in different places. The Mahinga kai meant the places in which they obtained fern root and where they pursued the weka, paradise ducks and other birds. They used to go and get these things. They go now, but are driven back by the Europeans. Owing to drainage, all these Mahinga kais are lost to Maoris and all the places are dried up except Lake Ellesmere and the birds have been killed by Europeans. When the Maoris come up to the sheep runs they are driven off. These are the reservations that Mr. Kemp referred to in the deed. They are not outside the promises that are unfulfilled in the deed; therefore I say the deed is bad.'
Date15 May 1879SourceAlexander Turnbull Library MapColl-834caq/[ca.1848]/Acc.23675
DescriptionOn 15 May, 1879, Hōri Kerei Taiaroa (Ngāti Ruahikihiki, Ngāti Rangiwhakaputa), member of the house of representatives for Southern Māori, addressed the Native Lands Commission. In this speech, he outlines several grievances of Ngāi Tahu about what was promised as a result of the Government purchase of 13,551,400 acres of land from Ngāi Tahu for £2,000 in 1848. According to Ngāi Tahu, 'it was the largest of all the Crown purchases from Ngāi Tahu and the least carefully transacted'.This contested transaction was known as the Canterbury Purchase, or Kemp's Deed in 1948, named after Henry Tacy Kemp (1818 - 1901), the land commissioner acting on behalf of the Crown for this land purchase. As the Ngāi Tahu website states:
'Under the terms of the deed of sale, as well as receiving an undertaking that adequate reserves would be set aside “for their present and future wants” and the provision of schools and hospitals, the Crown promised that all of the Ngāi Tahu mahinga kai areas would be set aside for them.'
By 1879 it was clear that what had been promised for the iwi within Kemp's Deed was not being honoured by the Crown. The promised schools and hospitals did not materialise, and Ngāi Tahu could no longer produce kai across their ancient network of mahinga kai sites throughout Te Waipounamu. Taiaroa, who campaigned throughout his career for these matters to be addressed, speaks passionately about the injustice and resulting impact on the Ngāi Tahu way of life:
'...The Maoris interested at the time thought the whole of their places of residence would be given back to them. They were living scattered about in different places. The Mahinga kai meant the places in which they obtained fern root and where they pursued the weka, paradise ducks and other birds. They used to go and get these things. They go now, but are driven back by the Europeans. Owing to drainage, all these Mahinga kais are lost to Maoris and all the places are dried up except Lake Ellesmere and the birds have been killed by Europeans. When the Maoris come up to the sheep runs they are driven off. These are the reservations that Mr. Kemp referred to in the deed. They are not outside the promises that are unfulfilled in the deed; therefore I say the deed is bad.'
Date15 May 1879SourceAlexander Turnbull Library MapColl-834caq/[ca.1848]/Acc.23675Connections
CollectionWaihora Whata Rau - the hundred platforms of WaihoraMapMap of Canterbury and Otago reserves for Ngāi Tahu More InformationRead about Kemp's Deed from the Ngāi Tahu perspective hereRead the speech of H. K. Taiaroa to the Native Land Court on 15 May 1879Read more about the life of H. K. TaiaroaSee original source of the image Mantell, Walter Baldock Durrant 1820-1895] :Hand sketch of south part of the Middle Island [ms map]. [ca 1848] on the National Library website
MapMap of Canterbury and Otago reserves for Ngāi Tahu More InformationRead about Kemp's Deed from the Ngāi Tahu perspective hereRead the speech of H. K. Taiaroa to the Native Land Court on 15 May 1879Read more about the life of H. K. TaiaroaSee original source of the image Mantell, Walter Baldock Durrant 1820-1895] :Hand sketch of south part of the Middle Island [ms map]. [ca 1848] on the National Library websiteAttribution
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Loss of Ngāi Tahu mahika kai through Kemp's Deed (15 May 1879). Selwyn Stories, accessed 02/09/2026, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/6580