Prior to 1840 there were many land sales in New Zealand where Europeans “negotiated” the purchase of an area of land from local Maori tribes. In some cases the transactions were carried out with a clear understanding between the parties, some documentation or deeds were prepared and signed and a fair price paid. However in many other cases the transactions were anything but fair and there was no clear understanding between the parties. After the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 the British Crown decreed that all land sales would need to be handled through the crown and that all claims to land prior to 1840 would be assessed by Government Land Commissioners. In the event this process was to take many years.
On Great Barrier Island the first “purchase” of land was by an American, William WEBSTER along with Jeremiah NAGLE and William ABERCROMBIE who claimed that they had purchased the whole of the Island. They then proceeded to establish a company to undertake copper mining and timber milling. Ngatiwai continued to live on the island, principally in Katherine Bay area. In 1854 the Lands Commission disallowed the sale of the whole island but granted the mining company a large area of land in the north. (24 269 acres). The crown then purchased the rest of the island from Hauraki Maori. The Ngatiwai were left landless and petitioned the Crown for land on which to live. Six thousand acres were made available as a “native reserve” at Katherine Bay.