Williams history the first book to provide the bigger picture of the activities of the Native Land Court details the dramatically adverse impact it had on Maori landholdings.

Welcome to our story, this history. Wherever in the world the bones of your ancestors lie, wherever their ashes may have been dispersed, here you will find traces of them, and of yourself....It is, of course, a story of colonisation and resistance – and a history that has never stopped repeating. Arama Rata The New Zealand Wars of the mid-nineteenth century profoundly shaped the course and direction of our nation's history. This book takes us to the heart of these conflicts with a series of first-hand accounts from Māori and Pākehā who either fought in or witnessed the wars that ravaged New Zealand between 1845 and 1872. From Heni Te Kiri Karamu's narrative of her remarkable exploits as a wahine toa, through to accounts from the field by British soldiers and powerful reports by observers on both sides, we learn about the wars at a human level. The often fragmentary, sometimes hastily written accounts that make up Voices from the New Zealand Wars vividly evoke the extreme emotions – fear, horror, pity and courage – experienced during the most turbulent time in our country's history. Each account is expertly introduced and contextualised, so that the historical record speaks to us vividly through many voices.

Oral histories, legends, and accounts of contemporary life of a New Zealand Maori tribe are presented in this cultural that includes colonial histories of the Native Land Court and traditional histories from the Northern Hawke's Bay.

Exploring an issue of international significance, this collection of essays addresses the reconciliation of the pre-existing, inherent rights of indigenous peoples with those held and asserted by the state. Focusing upon the Maori tribes of New Zealand, topics include the historical origins of the Ngati Apa decision--one of the most controversial modern decisions on Maori rights--how the Foreshore and Seabed Act (FSA) compares with schemes created in other countries with indigenous inhabitants, how the FSA has led to major changes in the country's political landscape, and how it stacks up against international human rights and environmental laws. This detailed study also explores New Zealand's legislation and how it has undermined the rights of Maori tribes, tipping the reconciliation process too far in favor of the state.

This book chronicles the extraordinary story of indigenous activism in the late twentieth century. Taking their claims for justice to law, indigenous peoples transformed debates about national identity and reframed the terms of belonging in settler states. - from the back cover.

‘Us Maoris used to practice slavery just like them poor Negroes had to endure in America . . .' says Beth Heke in Once Were Warriors. ‘Oh those evil colonials who destroyed Maori culture by ending slavery and cannibalism while increasing the life expectancy,' wrote one sarcastic blogger. So was Maori slavery ‘just like' the experience of Africans in the Americas and were British missionaries or colonial administrators responsible for ending the practice? What was the nature of freedom and unfreedom in Maori society and how did that intersect with the perceptions of British colonists and the anti-slavery movement? A meticulously researched book, Outcasts of the Gods? looks closely at a huge variety of evidence to answer these questions, analyzing bondage and freedom in traditional Maori society; the role of economics and mana in shaping captivity; and how the arrival of colonists and new trade opportunities transformed Maori society and the place of captives within it.