Land Confiscation Following the Tauranga Campaign

This sacred land, called Otamataha by many, has seen both great human flourishing and suffering over centuries. The proverb says: "The people fade from view but the land remains."

We're standing where the Anglican Church of New Zealand apologized to Ngā Iwi o Tauranga Moana, especially to Ngāi Tamarāwaho and Ngāti Tapu. The apology acknowledged the church's part in events that led to a betrayal of trust, resulting in the loss of land and a fractured relationship with local iwi. This relationship was tied to the Church Missionary Society, or CMS, using and occupying this land.

In the 1820s, CMS members, including Reverend Henry Williams, visited Tauranga from Paihia. They came as peacemakers, sailing with waka taua of Ngāpuhi to try and deter them from utu. They also traded for potatoes and kumara and took children to Paihia for schooling. Local rangatira invited CMS to set up a mission station. In 1838, Archdeacon Alfred Brown and his family arrived from Matamata, and he stayed here until his death in 1884.

Brown had strong support from leaders like Ngāti Tapu tohunga Matiu Tahu and Ngāti Hauā kingmaker Wiremu Tamihana Tarapipipi Te Waharoa. Many families even took the name Brown or Paraone out of respect.

Brown, for CMS, bought two parcels of land, 1333 acres in total. This was the Te Papa peninsula, which is now the backbone of Tauranga City, stretching from The Strand to Gate Pā. He bought so much land not for personal gain, but because he was concerned about settlers' demand for land, many of whom he felt disregarded tangata whenua and local tikanga. He also wanted to show CMS's long-term commitment. This was a relational transaction based on mutual trust, not a commercial purchase. The land was a tohu, a symbol of a covenantal agreement.

CMS documents state that Te Papa was acquired and held under a trust, to be used for the benefit of the Native race and Church. This pledge was tested when the Crown wanted to develop Te Papa as a military and settler outpost. Bishop William Williams and Archdeacon Brown, both on the CMS Land Board, started calling Te Papa "Naboth's Vineyard." This refers to an Old Testament story where ancestral land was seized. Naboth’s response was, "The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors," for which he lost his life and land. This became a metaphor for many rangatira when their lands were unjustly occupied and seized.

In January 1864, government troops occupied Te Papa and the mission station to stop local Māori from supporting Kīngitanga. This led to battles at Gate Pā/Pukehinahina, Te Ranga, and the Bush Campaign. The government then labeled local Māori as "rebels" under the New Zealand Settlements Act and confiscated about 50,000 acres of Tauranga land. The government’s ambition to develop the Tauranga peninsula as a new township then gained momentum.