Ancestral lands were never sold to Pākehā but rather gifted under Māori custom. This was a major point before the Waitangi Tribunal on the final day of a hearing of claims of the respective tribes of the Whangarei district.
Evidence in black and white that ancestors of Ngāti Kahu o Torongare never transacted land sales to Europeans, but rather gifted land under Māori custom.
Tribal leaders say that today the Crown continue to sell off treasures of a land they don't own.
This is the fifth Waitangi Tribunal hearing of Ngāpuhi claims this year alone where they've received the same message. The respective tribes of Whangarei never ceded sovereignty of their homelands.