Our People

Our people originally lived in the North Island - Te Ika a Maui. In the early 1800s we migrated south and settled in Te Tau Ihu.

Today we are known as “the people of the Heke’. We are the tāngata whenua of the Nelson, Motueka and Golden Bay areas.

In 1841 our rangatira agreed with the New Zealand Company to allow European settlement of parts of our land. They negotiated a Deed of Settlement with the New Zealand Company - a key part of that agreement was the establishment of the Tenths Reserves and Occupational Reserves for the benefit of our Tupuna and their descendants.

In 1893 the Native Land Court identified 254 joint owners of the Tenths Reserves as the descendants of those rangatira who negotiated with the New Zealand Company in 1841 – we are the families who whakapapa back to one of the 254 original Māori owners.

To view a full list of names of the 254 original owners.