There are many aspects of research into Māori land. Māori landowners, Māori use of land, Māori land confiscation and the Māori view of land can all be researched at Archives New Zealand.
In addition to microfilm copies of the Māori Land Court Minute books, Archives New Zealand holds other records from the Māori Land Court.
The seven Māori Land Court districts are Tai Tokerau, Waikato-Maniapoto, Waiariki, Tairawhiti, Takitimu, Aotea and Te Waipounamu.
Before consulting Māori Land Court records, you will need some basic information on when the land in question came before the Māori Land Court, and in which district the sitting took place.
Other court records transferred to Archives New Zealand in Wellington from the Māori Land Court include:
Archives New Zealand in Auckland holds copies of archives of the Tai Tokerau, Waikato-Maniapoto and Waiariki Māori Land Courts. A variety of records are held including succession registers, subdivision and partition registers, rehearing registers, appeal registers, and title indexes. Some correspondence, application and block files are also held.
THE DEPARTMENT OF MAORI AFFAIRS records contain many records of interest to those researching Māori topics.
Some records relating to land include:
THE MAORI TRUSTEE was initially established under the Native Trust Act 1844 to 'administer lands and money set aside for the advancement and assimilation of the Māori people to the European way of life.' The administration of Native Reserves was passed to the Public Trust Office in 1882. Listings of Māori Trustee archives are contained in the Māori Affairs Department record group series list. Check the index at the front of the series list.
Items or series of interest include: