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OFFICERS IN NATIVE DISTRICTS.

35

P. —No. 3*.

the sword. This is a peaceful invitation. You are selling all your lands here, and if you stay you will live in poverty. I propose to go to Te Kuiti in December next, not because of Tawhiao's invitation, but for reasons already stated. Hori: Let the people decide on this question now, and not leave the matter to a future time. When my land here is all consumed I will go. Wereta : I agree with what Whiti says. If the people wish to go, let them do so. Let the sick and feeble be left here, for Muaupoko, Eangitane, and Ngatiapa to look after. I will accompany Whiti to Taupo and return. Henere Te Herekau : Do not put it in the power of Tawhiao to say to you, you came to Waikato on Tawhiao's invitation. Ihakara Tukumaru : I stand up to speak in reply to the invitation to myself. Ido not see the way clear for me and my tribe to go on this invitation. The letter from Eewi says Whiti wishes to go to Waikato, if you consent. Your going, therefore, O Whiti, is subject to my consent, and that consent I will not give. You are detained here now on my word and on that of the tribe. You are now my prisoner. If you break out of prison, that is your work. This return of Ngatiraukawa has been long talked of. Some went at one time on invitation from Tawhiao. They were hit on the nose, and blood came forth. It was the same afterwards, when the several invitations from Kiwi, Porokoru, Whanui, and others were responded to. These invitations came before the land was taken. The land is now consumed. We are all guilty of killing the land —the Ngatiraukawa, Muaupoko, Eangitane, and Ngatiapa. Still there is enough land left for us to live on. I will not agree to your request, O Whiti, to be allowed to return to Waikato. You are now in prison. I will not consent that my people go at the request of Manga (Eewi). You have had your talk. Now give up this work. So long as I retain a right to the piece of ground on which my house stands, I will not leave this place. Eaukawa have already suffered from obeying your invitations. Hori Te Waharoa : Whiti, you and I are in the same canoe; but I now agree to what Ihakara has said : let us both agree to stay ; we are in fact in prison. Although this land is being sold, do not let this drive us away. Te Whiti : Who has sold the land ? Was it not Eaukawa and Whatanui ? Te Wunu (Ngatiapa) : Where is the land for Whiti to live on ? All this land which you claim is mine. If the pakeha, who is of another tribe, keep him, it is well. If he has any part in the 60,000 acres, or in Ihakara's portion, it is well; but you must not detain him here against his will, and keep him in poverty. Let your talk be clear. Takerei: Ido not agree to return to Waikato on Tawhiao's invitation. Tarapata: You are not invited, O Ngatiraukawa, to go to the Kuiti to fight; it is a peaceful invitation ; do not say men have been killed because they were invited by Tawhiao, but because the inclination of those men was to fight; if you agree to remain here as Henere suggests, you must provide land for your tribe. How is Whiti to live ? Is he to be tossed about from one hapu to another ? Hare Hemi : My first question is to you, O Whiti. What is the meaning of the word Kuiti ? Te Whiti: The meaning of Kuiti is Maori skin. Hare Hemi: Then if that is the meaning, we have the Kuiti here, and there is no occasion to go to Waikato. If you go to Waikato, do so only for the purpose of giving the people good advice ; look after the men of the tribe rather than to the land. I intend to go to Waikato in summer, but I shall return here. You have charged the tribe with selling all their land. I have heard that you are trying to raise money by selling some of your land to Government, and that this money is to obtain supplies for your journey. Whiti: Let this talk cease. Taranaki was the reason why I first went with the sword. Neither you nor the Governor stopped me then, and why should you stop me now. lam going now in a time of peace ; there are Ngatiraukawa there as well as here. It is for you, the Government, to unsheath the sword. Why do you listen to lying men about your land ; I never agreed to part with our lands. Cease selling the land ; there is no evil with me (King party). If there is trouble, the cause will be with you ; the causes of trouble are the sale of lands, lease of ditto, roads which you are allowing to be made through the country, and the telegraph wire. Ihakara: Your word to me, 0 Whiti, in past years, was, " You go seaward and I will go inland ;" we each took our course, and lam satisfied. Stop your ears, 0 Eaukawa, against the words of Te Whiti; If Whiti wishes to go and hear the talk of that place, let him do so, but do not go with him. Huru Te Hiaro, a Eangitane chief, spoke for a few minutes in reference to disputes about land between his tribe and Ngatiraukawa, but said that these disputes were now ended, because both parties were willing to abide by the decision of the Native Lands Court. The talk about going to Waikato ended here. Henere Te Herekau : I have now a subject to bring before this meeting, which has often been discussed privately, but is now for the first time brought before the tribe. 1. All matters of dispute about titles to land shall be submitted to the Native Lands Court, the ruling of which shall be final, and the losing party shall not bear malice or cause trouble on account of an adverse judgment. 2. All murderers, whether chiefs or common persons, shall be given up to be tried by law. 3. If the Maoris at any time feel aggrieved by the oppression of any of the laws of the Government, the matter shall be referred to their representative in Parliament. 4. That the Hauhau form of religion adopted by certain members of this (the Ngatiraukawa) tribe be given up, and those professing it return to the forms of religion they previously professed; churches now out of repair to be restored, and teachers appointed in each village. 5. That certain chiefs of the Ngatiraukawa Tribe be set apart for the purpose of upholding tho laws of the Government, and securing the better conduct of the people in their several hapus. Te Peweti : I stand up to reply to the resolutions.—The Ist I agree to : the 2nd I agree to ; if a man commits murder, whether chief or common person, let him bo tried by the law: as to the 3rd, Ido not know anything about the oppression of the law of the Government. 4th. With reference to this

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