Nau Mai! Welcome!
Māori Land Help
Our Hope Is To Provide A Foundation of Knowledge
If you or someone you know is a Māori land owner and don’t know where to start, you are not alone.
Being a Māori land owner is far from easy. Although everyone has their own personal journey of being a land owner, there are aspects that are universal, and knowing more about these can ease some of the frustration and despair.
Through working in this important area, we have realised how complex and imperfect this system is, and how hard it is to find even basic information about Māori land ownership.
We do not know everything, but we really hope that sharing what we do know gives you a foundation.
Kaua e Whakamā. Kia Tū, Kia Toa!
The Māori Land Court is not like a normal court and only deals with Māori land. As all changes in ownership go through it, it’s important to know its processes, terminology, and how to contact your court for help and information.
People usually become official Māori land owners in one of two ways, but there’s more than one type of ownership. You can access scholarships or land money without being an owner, but you won’t have the same rights.
Māori land blocks differ by size, land use, number of owners and management structure. Land blocks change over time and can also be reclassified as general land, which means you may have more land in your name but not know it.
Most people don’t simply find out they’re an owner and that’s it for the rest of their lives. Even if you don’t want to go to hui or become a trustee, there’s still work that’s required if you want to know what’s going on with your whenua.
As an owner, you can decide how active or connected to your land you want to be. It’s also a choice if you want to be an owner.
If you have a pātai, we can guarantee that someone else has also asked it. These FQA include some of the most common questions we’ve had.