HWC 357-H07 Wais 349-686-720-778-Nicholls Te Wiremu :: Ngā Kerēme / Hauraki Treaty of Waitangi Claims

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HWC 357-H07 Wais 349-686-720-778-Nicholls Te Wiremu

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HWC 357-H07 Wai’s 349,720,686,778-Nicholls Te Wiremu 29

July-02

August 02

Evidence on behalf of claimants, whanau & hapu of Tamatera

Wai 349 #A15(b) Wai 720 #A5(b)
Wai686#W5(b) Wai 778#A15(b)

Appendices to Brief of Evidence Given

to the Waitangi Tribunal Hearing

in the WAI 349, 720 and 778 Claims

by Te Wiremu Mataia Nicholls

My name is Wiremu Mataia Nicholls. I am a senior kaumatua of Hauraki he

tangata korero on all the marae. My whakapapa covers the majority of tribes and

hapu within the Hauraki rohe. I am advisor to various Councils, e.g. the Waikato

and Auckland Regional Councils, the Thames-Coromandel, Hauraki and the Bay

of Plenty District Councils, on various issues such as those relating to lands,

waahi tapu, water and coastal concerns, and forestry.

2. I am here to represent standards which have been passed to me from my

tupuna. These standards are based upon tikanga which in a sense is like the

Common Law of England. The principle standards in brief are as follows:

(a)

Ranginui - Skyfather - the heavens and everything in them

(b)

Papatuanuku - Mother Earth - all that is upon and within the earth - the

sustenance and nurturing of all life etc

(d)

Tangaroa - Marine life and the bounty of the sea - what is in and under the sea

etc

(e)

Tumatauenga - The laws governing People etc.

(f)

Whakatiri - lightning etc

(g) Ruamoko - Earthquake, earth movement etc.

3. We do not support gold mining because of the disruptive and destructive

nature of the process, and the effects this has on the environment. The intrinsic

value of the environment cannot be compromised in any form especially for

extrinsic human values of monetary gain.

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HWC 357-H07 Wai’s 349,720,686,778-Nicholls Te Wiremu 29

July-02

August 02

Evidence on behalf of claimants, whanau & hapu of Tamatera

I was born in Paeroa 75 years ago. I attended primary school and later the

Paeroa District High School, and spent most of my youth in Paeroa and

Coromandel. I also attended an Army camp at Matata hoping to go overseas, but

was rejected because of my age. Years later I joined the R.N.Z.A.F., completing 8

years service.

Along with the late Huhurere Tukukino I lodged the WAI 100 Claim with

Archibald Wendell; lawyer at his Otahuhu offices. Witnesses were Mrs Kathy

Bowers and Garth Banks. After the death of Huhurere Tukukino I lodged the WAI

349 Claim on behalf of the various hapu and iwi I represent.

It was my great-grandmother Rihitoto Mataia and others who lodged the

Hauraki Goldfields Petitions with the government: No 23/1931, and 347/1934-5.

These related to:

(a)

The acquisition and purchase by the Crown of lands within the Ohinemuri and

Hauraki districts.

(b)

Goldfields revenue in respect of Goldmining rights over all Maori lands within

the district, from Cape Colville to Te Aroha mountain.

Others also lodged a petition (96) 1935.

These grievances are still oustanding, and have never been resolved.

7. My father William Tawhia Nicholls acted as his mother's interpreter and

secretary on many of her transactions. Rihitoto was respected by her people of

Ngati Tamatera and Ngati Hako , and was presented with the O.B.E. in 1936. She

was married to my great-grandfather, Sir William Grey Nicholls, who was a

member of the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives in 1903. He

also represented many kaumatua in their cases before the Native Land Court.

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HWC 357-H07 Wai’s 349,720,686,778-Nicholls Te Wiremu 29

July-02

August 02

Evidence on behalf of claimants, whanau & hapu of Tamatera

In 1956 I went to Auckland to seek employment. There I got married and had

eight children. I bought a home in Otahuhu. In 1974 I joined in the Maori Land

March with my mother-in-law Whina Cooper. The March commenced at Te

Hapua and ended at Wellington. We were welcomed on many marae with

tremendous hospitality. The reasons for the March were the many existing

grievances concerning land and the transactions concerning this, and the fact that

so little land was still held by Maori, and ownership was still being lost.

Evidence given by me in the WAI 349 Claim, amended statement of Claim,

heard on 27

April 2001, pertains to the current hearings also. We attach as

Appendix A, a copy of this Amended Statement of Claim which lists the

legislation which was used as a tool of Crown oppression, cultural and economic

destruction, and colonisation for our people.

10.

Re Block Te Arero o te Huatata No 1: This Block of 20:1:21 acres was

surveyed out for Mataia te Ngahuri and Rihitoto, on behalf of the Ngati Tamatera

tribe, and shown on ML Plan 3456; 4

March 1876. Provision was allowed for a

proposed road through the block, which would take 2:0:25 acres from the total.

11.

The area was re-surveyed and ML Plan 3731 was produced before Judge

Monro at a sitting of the NL Court at Ohinemuri on 7

July 1877. The road was

re-sited and it is unclear from the plan whether the area given, 25:3:20 acres is

inclusive of the road area or not. The road was Gazetted No 122 on 22

Nov.1883, Fol.1638, and entered on Block XVI Waihou Feb 24

1879.

12.

This land was never sold, nor compensated for, but now all of it has been

taken from our possession. Part of the block to the North of what is now Belmont

Rd was formerly occupied by the NZ Railways Road Services bus station. (Pt

126/127/128 Appendix B).

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HWC 357-H07 Wai’s 349,720,686,778-Nicholls Te Wiremu 29

July-02

August 02

Evidence on behalf of claimants, whanau & hapu of Tamatera

The area to the south of the road is where Woolworths' shop and carpark and the

Hauraki District Council buildings are now situated. It is possible that this land

may have been taken under the Public Works Act for Railways reserve purposes.

13.

See Appendix C for a list of Coastal Reserves, previously owned by Ngati

Tamatera which were taken through Gazette Notice on 10

December 1981 and

turned into Recreation Reserves, under the Reserves Act 1977. This was a

unilateral decision taking our lands by a Crown Agency under legislation

14.

Here is a further issue. Waihi Gold Inc are responsible for the removal of

our Waahi tapu at Pukewa, Waihi, through their excavations, and re-locating of

this to their tailings dam of toxic waste situated behind the Ngati Koi Reserve. We

request that the Waitangi Tribunal direct that we be appropriately compensated

for this action, which has been supported by Crown legislation and agency.

15.

Hoi ano ko tenei whakamutunga me waiho ma te Atua. Mana i manaaki

mana tiaki mana i whakatote purapura pai i roto i tena i tena o tatou. No reira tenei

tono ki nga iwi o nga iwi o Marutuahu, Tamatera, me era o nga iwi o Hauraki puta

noa. Hei tautoko tenei pitihana. Apiti hono tatae hono ki te hungamate ki te

hungamate. Tatou te hunga ora kua mahua ki muri hei tautoko o ratou hiahia o

ratou wawata o ratou. No reira tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou moemoea

katoa.

Appendix D: Whakapapa of Te Wiremu Mataia Nicholls.