Abstract:
This thesis explores the interaction between Maori and Pakeha in the cross-cultural translation of the concept of land.
It focuses on the title investigations of ownership of land by the Maori Land Court on one part of the country - the Matakaoa district of the East Coast (Te Tai Rawhiti). The Land Court investigation of Matakaoa land was however, a culmination of the negotiative process that had occurred between local Maori people and the European settlers (which included the Government) for fifty years.
My account begins with the first exchanges between Maori and Pakeha in the Matakaoa district and proceeds to the last of the major Land Court investigations of title to Matakaoa land.
The Maori view of this negotiative process is in focus.
