LibGuides: Māori Land Law: Foundational texts

Foundational texts

These foundational texts focus on Māori land law, which supplement databases, journals and other resources.

An Illustrated History of the Treaty of Waitangi by Claudia Orange
ISBN: 9781927131046
Publication Date: 2015
Broad context of Māori land law.

Te Ao Māori and ngā tikanga Māori

Lex Aotearoa: An Heroic Attempt to Map the Maori Dimension in Modern New Zealand Law
Williams. (2013). Joseph Williams “Lex Aotearoa: An Heroic Attempt to Map the Maori Dimension in Modern New Zealand Law” (2013) 21 Waikato LRev 1. Waikato Law Review : Taumauri., 21, 1–34.

Māori Custom and Values in New Zealand Law (MZLC SP9) by Law Commission
ISBN: 187718764X
Publication Date: 2001
This project originally commenced in 1994 at the suggestion of the Honourable Justice Durie, who at that time was Chief Judge of the Māori Land Court. Justice Durie was of the view that some knowledge of Māori custom would greatly assist judges in carrying out their judicial functions.
A Glimpse Into the Māori World: Māori Perspectives on Justice = He Hīnātore ki te Ao Māori
ISBN: 0478501567
Publication Date: 2001

The Great Muru
Veteran, T. (1919). A Taranaki Veteran “’The Great Muru” (1919) . The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 28(2) 97-102.

Māori ideas of land

Māori Land Law by Richard Boast
ISBN: 0408716916
Publication Date: 2004

Colonial ideas of land

Discovering Indigenous Lands by Robert J. Miller; Jacinta Ruru; Larissa Behrendt; Tracey Lindberg
ISBN: 9780199579815
Publication Date: 2010
Indigenous Autonomy and Justice in North America by Mark Bennett
Publication Date: 2004
Bennett. (n.d.). Mark Bennett “Indigenous Autonomy and Justice in North America” (2004) 2 NZJPIL 203. New Zealand Journal of Public and International Law.

Māori land history

Waitangi Revisited: Perspectives on the Treaty of Waitangi by Belgrave, M., Kawharu, M., Williams, D. V.
ISBN: 9780195584004
Publication Date: 2005
Belgrave, M., Kawharu, M., Williams, D. V., (2005). Appendix: The Treaty of Waitangi. In Waitangi revisited: perspectives on the Treaty of Waitangi (2nd ed.) (pp. 388-393). Oxford University Press.

'Vague Native Rights to Land': British Imperial Policy on Native Title and Custom in New Zealand, 1837–53
Hickford, M. (2010). “Vague Native Rights to Land”: British Imperial Policy on Native Title and Custom in New Zealand, 1837–53. The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History., 38(2), 175–206.

The New Zealand Wars and the Victorian Interpretation of Racial Conflict by James Belich
ISBN: 9781869408275
Publication Date: 2015
Belich, J. (2013). Introduction. In New Zealand Wars and the Victorian Interpretation of Racial Conflict (2015 ed.) (pp. 15-26). Auckland University Press.

Māori land purchases

Pre-emption, the Treaty of Waitangi and the Politics of Crown Purchase
Belgrave, M. (1997). “Pre-emption, the Treaty of Waitangi and the Politics of Crown Purchase” (1997). The New Zealand Journal of History, 31(1), 23–37.

The Pursuit of "Mana"? A Re-evaluation of the Process of Land Alienation by the Maori, 1840-1890 by Angela Ballara
Ballara, A. (1982). Angela Ballara “The Pursuit of Mana? A Re-evaluation of the Process of Land Alienation by Maoris, 1840-1890” (1982) The Journal of the Polynesian Society., 91(4).519.

An Empire of Variations: Problems of Settlement and the Property Rights of Indigenous Populations
Hickford, M. (2011). An Empire of Variations: Problems of Settlement and the Property Rights of Indigenous Populations. In Lords of the land indigenous property rights and the jurisprudence of empire (pp. 40–109). Oxford University Press.

Māori land confiscation

Raupatu: The Confiscation of Māori Land by Richard S. Hill; Richard Boast (Editor)
ISBN: 9780864736741
Publication Date: 2010
Boast, R., & Hill, R. S. (2009). 'An Expensive Mistake': Law, Courts, and Confiscation on the New Zealand Colonial Frontier. In Raupatu: The Confiscation of Māori Land (pp. 245-287). Victoria University Press.

Native Land Court (1865-1909)

Māori Land and Land Tenure in New Zealand: 150 Years of the Māori Land Court
Richard Boast “Māori Land and Land Tenure in New Zealand: 150 Years of the Māori Land Court” (2016) 22 NZACL 77. (n.d.).

Political incorporation of Māori

Treaty Events 1800-49
Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

Raupatu: The Confiscation of Māori Land by Richard S. Hill; Richard Boast (Editor)
ISBN: 9780864736741
Publication Date: 2010
Boast, R., & Hill, R. S. (2009). Strands from the Afterlife of Confiscation: Property Rights, Constitutional Histories and the Political Incorporation of Maori, 1920s. In Raupatu: The Confiscation of Māori Land (pp. 288-353). Victoria University Press.

Legal Research and Writing Skills Hub

The Legal Research and Writing Skills Hub will guide you through the legal research and writing process, including finding and using case law, legislation, and secondary sources for New Zealand and other jurisdictions.

Have any questions?

If you have questions about library services, you can:

Ask us