Te Paparahi o Te Raki (Northland) District Inquiry

Photograph by Richard Moorsom. View of Waitangi.               Taken from Maiki Hill, where Hone Heke felled the                 flagpole in 1844-1845.

Te Paparahi o Te Raki (Northland) inquiry, presided over by Judge Craig Coxhead, encompasses some 297 individual Wai-numbered claims brought by Ngapuhi, Ngati Whatua, Ngati Wai, Ngati Hine, Ngati Rehua and Te Roroa claimants.
The northern boundary of this Inquiry runs along the ridge of the Maungataniwha Range, which is also the southern boundary of the Muriwhenua Inquiry. The western boundary runs down the Te Roroa and Kaipara Inquiry districts. The southern boundary runs to the North Shore in Auckland and includes Mahurangi and Gulf Islands, this boundary will become more conclusive. The eastern boundary runs down the east coast and includes some of the outlying islands.

Issues

Main issues in the inquiry include:

He Whakaputanga / The Declaration

• How did Mäori and the Crown understand He Whakaputanga / The Declaration? And, therefore, what was the nature of the relationship and the mutual commitments they were assenting to in signing He Whakaputanga / The Declaration?
• What then was the effect of He Whakaputanga / The Declaration at 1835?

Relationship between He Whakaputanga / The Declaration and Te Tiriti / The Treaty

• What, if any, was the relationship between He Whakaputanga / The Declaration and Te Tiriti / The Treaty?

Te Tiriti / The Treaty

• How did Mäori and the Crown understand Te Tiriti / The Treaty? And, therefore, what was the nature of the relationship and the mutual commitments they were assenting to in signing Te Tiriti / The Treaty?
• What then was the effect of Te Tiriti / The Treaty at 1840?

Progress

The Tribunal has held seven Judicial Conferences since December 2005. The conferences on the 30 March 2009 and 18 May 2009 both focused in part on the draft statement of issues for the initial hearings and the participation of Mahurangi, Gulf Islands and Taita Marae claimants in the Inquiry.

Research reports

The following research reports are the main ones that are relevant to the initial hearings.

• Manuka Henare, 'The Changing Images of Nineteenth Century Mäori Society: From Tribes to Nation'
• Grant Phillipson, ‘Bay of Islands Māori and the Crown 1793-1853’
• Vincent O’Malley and John Hutton, ‘The Nature and Extent of Contact and Adaptation in the North’
• Merata Kawharu, ‘Te Tiriti in its Northern Context in the Nineteenth Century’

These reports were commissioned on behalf of claimants and funded by the Crown Forestry Rental Trust (CFRT).