Māori Land Boards

Māori Land Boards (also called Maori Land Councils initially) were administrative bodies in New Zealand. The system was a major instrument of land alienation, whereby Māori lost customary title to their land during the first half of the 20th century.[1][2]

History

Māori Land Boards when first established were partly made up of elected Māori members.[3] The Maori Land Boards had initally been proposed by Richard Seddon in 1888.[4] Māori landowners vested their land in the boards, which would then lease that land out on their behalf.[5] This converted customary ownership to freehold, though partition orders remained the responsibility of the Māori Land Court.[6]

They were created by the Maori Land Administration Act 1900.[5] This act was introduced just two days after the Maori Councils Act 1900 which was about Māori health.[4] The legislation faced reservation by Wi Pere, Tūkino Te Heuheu, Henare Tomoana and Mohi Te Atahikoia of the Tu Kotahitatanga movement but was passed anyway.[4] The legislation was drafted by Apirana Ngata and expedited by James Carrol (Native Lands Minister). Ngata did not think the inherent principle was workable but thought it was good that Māori had turned from 'protest to the worthwhile goals of land management.'[4] Carrol quickly established the Maori Land Boards, with six started by 1901.[4] By 1904 the Maori Land Councils were at a standstill as Māori realised it did not deliver the autonomy they thought it would and there were protests in 1905.[4]

The Maori Lands Settlement Act 1905 changed the idea that Māori had any self-governance over their land and the Maori Land Boards established under this act gave the native minister authority to take land off Māori deemed 'not required or not suitable for occupation by Māori.'[4]

The Maori Land Boards of 1905 had a reduced mebership of three and only one had to be Māori. From 1913 the boards no longer had Māori membership with just two members, the judge and registrar of the Land Court.[3] The boards were granted permission to lend money for development in 1926.[5] The land boards were abolished in 1952.[7]

References

Bibliography

  • Bennion, Tom (July 1997), The Maori Land Court and Land Boards, 1909 to 1952 (PDF), Waitangi Tribunal, retrieved 7 January 2026
  • Hill, Richard S. (2004). "Maori Land Boards". State Authority, Indigenous Autonomy: Crown-Maori Relations in New Zealand/Aotearoa 1900-1950. Victoria University Press. pp. 78–81. Retrieved 6 January 2026 – via New Zealand Electronic Text Collection.
  • Loveridge, Donald M. (December 1996), Maori Land Councils and Maori Land Boards: A Historical Overview, 1900 to 1952 (PDF), Waitangi Tribunal, retrieved 7 January 2026 – via Environment Court of New Zealand

Citations

  1. ^ Loveridge 1996.
  2. ^ Hill 2004.
  3. ^ a b Taonui, Rāwiri (2 June 2017). "Administering Māori land". Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Keenan, Danny, "The Future Sons of Britain?: The Dissolution of Customary Autonomy 1890-1819", Huia histories of Māori : ngā tāhuhu kōrero (2012), pp. 216–217, retrieved 17 February 2026
  5. ^ a b c Kawharu, Ian Hugh; McLintock, A. H. (1966). "MAORI LAND TENURE - Maori Land Boards". An Encyclopedia of New Zealand – via Te Ara.
  6. ^ "Whenua and Māori Land". Archives New Zealand.
  7. ^ Bennion 1997, p. 74.
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