Abstract
Kaumaatua of the Te Koeti Turanga hapuu (sub-tribe) of South Westland have expressed concern that the mana of their Kaati Mamoe ancestors has been trampled on and their identity subsumed through union with the Kai Tahu tribal confederation. The history of the Kaati Mamoe iwi in the South Island has been marginalised by the subsequent arrival of a number of hapuu of the Ngaati Kahungunu in the seventeenth century. The conflict which ensued following this gradual migration has traditionally been interpreted as marking the end of a Kaati Mamoe identity in the island. Complexity has been added to this situation as a result of European colonisation in the nineteenth century. The purchase by Pakeha of vast tracts of land in the South Island, and the failure to exempt the reserves promised, put pressure on the takata whenua's land base and resources. The Crown's refusal to acknowledge and redress the grievances of South Island Maori over the last hundred years has obliged the Kaati Mamoe to unite with the Kai Tahu. This process has served to further marginalise their identity, in this case in the southern rohe of the West Coast.
The method that I have used in this work draws upon a number of disciplines. Oral history and written records of the Te Koeti hapuu form the central sources and to this extent this work may be desribed as being written from a Kaati Mamoe perspective. I have undertaken a review of the material recorded by European collectors of South Island Maori tradition in order to ascertain the status of the Kaati Mamoe from the sixteenth century through to this century. I have examined the records left by sealers, surveyors and government agents in order to understand the way in which their reports have shaped the European view of South Westland Maori. And finally a review of the archaeological record has been included in order to provide information about the everyday material life of the ancestors of the South Westland hapuu.
A number of conclusions have been reached in this thesis. Firstly that the peace arrangement at Popoutunoa which has been viewed by Kai Tahu as marking the end of a Kaati Mamoe identity is not necessarily the view of many Kaati Mamoe descendants. The historical record shows that a number of individuals continued to fight the Kai Tahu due to tribal differences while others continued to live alongside Kai Tahu in peace. As throughout much of Aotearoa, the importance of the hapuu as a source for an individual's identity in Maori society prior to European colonisation has been over-shadowed. In the case of the South Westland people union with Kai Tahu, which was vital in the face of the loss of land, has been interpreted as the loss of their affiliation and identity with Kaati Mamoe.