Acres of Problems
Although there is one other cause of the formation, the land issues regarding The King Movement started long before the establishment took place thereby making it the most essential reason for the creation of the Kingitanga. Particularly after the Treaty of Waitangi had been signed in 1840 as the british crown was given pre-emptive or sole right of purchase of Maori land. For this reason, the europeans were aggressively purchasing Maori land. Initially boundaries were set near Waikato and Taranaki to stop the Pakeha from purchasing land- Chiefs including Te Rauparaha tried to oppose land sales i.e. the 1843 Wairau Affray, however as there became a growing number of Pakeha who began to outnumber the Maori there were sales with individual Maori or groups who were selling land to the them without the knowledge of the rest of their tribes thus leading to dispute within the Maori. There was also the cultural difference between the Maori and Pakeha as Maori felt land had mana as well as spiritual and practical value while the europeans only saw it as landscape; forests, farms, mines and cities_. Which is why Maori felt it would be better if they had more control over their own lands therefore formulating a proposal to acquire their own King.
This passage, from the biography of Jane Maira Atkinson written by historian Frances Porter in 1989 shows how from when the Europeans first settled in New Zealand they had always wanted more land thus purchasing it from the Maori and therefore causing the Maori to retaliate as they no longer wanted to sell.
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From the beginning of settlement there, they had been badly served by various agents of government over land buying:'The want of land - open, available, accessible land - when hundreds of thousands of acres lie waste and unprofitable around, is the great misfortune under which we labour' |
Essay's written by historian, Sorrenson also convey how Maori were opting for The King Movement due to land issues, as he says "The founder of the King movement were in fact opposed to selling their land on any terms whatsoever... the King movement was not a result of the administration's failure to govern the Maori- by of fear that the European government would by its very nature deprive them of their lands."