G.— 7

48

kill the birds out of season in those days, but now the Europeans destroy them at all times. All the kourtu aruhe are destroyed. The custom in former times was only to dig as much as was required. Fern-root was procured by any person, but the whitebait was only caught by the people who owned the land. Eels were free to all to obtain at periods when he mahi haokai was on. The kauru was also protected by rahuis. Tcthitu : There is nothing to live on at Waitaki; some of the other places are better off. All the old mahingakai are taken by the pakehas. Waitaki is not available now to us owing to its having been stocked with trout. The firewood we have was given to us by a pakeha (Mr. McLean). A very small portion of the land is fit to grow potatoes on. In 1848, at the time Kemp's Block was sold to the Government, the reserves set apart then were more proportionate to our requirements than now, because we were able to procure food-supplies elsewhere ; but afterwards, on the country being settled, we were stopped from obtaining birds, fish, and berries off the wilderness land as heretofore, consequently our condition has been getting gradually worse every year, until now we are shut in altogether. Hemi Paiki: The mate that affects us commenced in 1848 through a number of people being unprovided with land. The consequence of this was that those who had a share of the reserves set apart for the Natives had to provide the others with a share of the limited area they possessed themselves. All our mahinga. kai are now gone. The rivers are closed to us, and our reserves are insufficient to support us. The young men are able to procure work at shearing and harvesting, but for a large part of the year there is no work to do. Some of the Natives who have a larger area may be able to get a living off it, but persons who have only a small acreage are unable to do so. Tamati Toko : I have no land (Xci te mate auite kore ivlienua) ; am a descendant of one of the original owners, but have no land. lam living on other people's land. The wages earned at shearing and harvesting soon goes to pay off our debts. Many of us are in debt, even those who have land. All the old mahinga kai are gone, and owing to trout having been put in all the rivers we are unable to catch flounders, inanga, or eels without risking the chance of being fined or imprisoned. Some of us were nearly put in gaol for catching wekas on some of the runs. Donald McFarlane, of Hakateramea, and Mr. Hoare, of Station Peak, turned us off while catching wekas. Put a notice in a newspaper that Natives would not be allowed to catch wekas on their runs; wanted to preserve wekas for game, and to kill the rabbits; but afterwards the wekas were killed on these runs by dogs and poison. Have seim the wekas lying dead on the runs in numbers, but the station-owners would not allow the Natives to kill or catch them ; they threatened to shoot us if we went on their land. All our old mahinga kai are destroyed, and we are left without the means of obtaining the food we used formerly to depend on. Baniera Tuhaha corroborated the statements made by the previous speakers relative to the distribution of their mahinga kai. Tamati Perepuru te Wakateko (Waihao) supported the statement about the insufficiency of the land. Have no family to support me, aud am too infirm to work. Want assistance from the Government. Haimona Mairaki (Waitaki) : Silly, partly paralysed, unable to work. Koukou, or Biria te Weiti, of Waihao, au old woman, mother of Jack Loper (who had a large family of his own to support, about ten in all), wants assistance from Government. About 6-| acres of potatoes is all the crop the Natives have to depend on at W Taitaki. The most of the land is unsuitable for cultivation. Europeans who have tried to cultivate parts of it haye been compelled to abandon the attempt. Names of residents submitted and confirmed. Commission adjourned to Temuka.

Temuka, Feiday, 20th March, 1891. Commission opened at Temuka. Hoani Korehe Kahu welcomed the Commissioner and expressed a hope that the work now proceeding would result in a satisfactory settlement of their claims. The people had waited many years for a fulfilment of them. He drew attention to the loss they had sustained through being deprived of their mahinga kai. In former times their whatas (storehouses) used to be full of food, but now they did not need storehouses, as they had nothing to put in them, through every thing beingtaken from them by the Europeans. Hare Kahu spoke of the manner in which the sale of the land had been effected in former times whereby many persons lost their rights through the country being sold by people who did not own it; and to add. to the loss, a large number of persons had been omitted in the census of 1848, for whom land ought to have been provided in the same ratio as was apportioned to those whose names were included in Mr. Mantell's list. No inquiry was made at the time of the sale as to the rights of the persons who sold the country comprised in Kemp's Block. James Bickus alluded to the sale of the Otakau Block, and wished to be informed if each block was to be dealt with separately. Bawiri te Maire pointed out that several persons whose names were attached to the deed of sale of the Otakou Block had no take to that block, but merely enjoyed certain rights which they were compensated for at the sale ; this was the reason why their names appeared in the deed. The persons alluded to were Kahuti, Korako, Kaikoareare and others. These people had no take to the land. Kokoro alluded to the loss the people had sustained through the manner in which the early purchases had been made. After a number of other persons had spoken to the same effect the proceedings were adjourned till the 21st instant.