What is Maori Land?

The information in this section has been prepared to help you understand what the term "Maori land" means. Defining Maori land, however, is complex and technical and requires a legal definition.

The legal definition is stated below under Status of Land. If you require an interpretation of the status of your land we suggest you contact a land professional.

If you are unsure about whether the land you are researching is Maori land or not, contact the appropriate Maori Land Court District to check.

Maori land: A legal definition - Section 129 (ss 1&2) Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993

                   PART VI
                     STATUS OF LAND
  129. All land to have particular status for purposes
of Act---(1) For the purposes of this Act, all land in
New Zealand shall have one of the following statuses:
  (a) Maori customary land:
  (b) Maori freehold land:
  (c) General land owned by Maori:
  (d) General land:
  (e) Crown land:
  (f) Crown land reserved for Maori.
  (2) For the purposes of this Act,---
  (a) Land that is held by Maori in accordance with
        tikanga Maori shall have the status of Maori
        customary land:
  (b) Land, the beneficial ownership of which has been
        determined by the Maori Land Court by freehold
        order, shall have the status of Maori freehold
        land:
  (c) Land (other than Maori freehold land) that has
        been alienated from the Crown for a subsisting
        estate in fee simple shall, while that estate
        is beneficially owned by more than 4 persons of
        whom a majority are Maori, have the status of
        General land owned by Maori:
  (d) Land (other than Maori freehold land and General
        land owned by Maori) that has been alienated
        from the Crown for a subsisting estate in fee
        simple shall have the status of General land:
  (e) Land (other than Maori customary land and Crown
        land reserved for Maori) that has not been
        alienated from the Crown for a subsisting
        estate in fee simple shall have the status of
        Crown land:
  (f) Land (other than Maori customary land) that has
        not been alienated from the Crown for a
        subsisting estate in fee simple but is set
        aside or reserved for the use or benefit of
        Maori shall have the status of Crown land
        reserved for Maori.

How Land Became Maori Freehold Land (from its Maori Customary Land status)

Maori freehold land came into being in two ways:

• Firstly, the Crown set aside land for Maori from the Maori customary land that it purchased for the settlement of New Zealand. Specific Maori individuals were granted Crown Grants for joint ownership of such land;
• Secondly, the Maori Land Court investigated ownership of Maori customary land that had not been alienated and appointed (up to) ten Maori individuals into joint ownership. Ownership of the land was confirmed by the Maori Land Court and title was granted by the Crown.

The Purpose

The purpose of this activity was that the Crown wished to move from the Maori practice of joint customary ownership to the European practice of individual ownership. The reason for this was to make land ownership more certain (from a settler perspective) and this provided confidence that prospective purchasers were dealing with the legal owners of the land.

The 1.3 million hectares of Maori land that remain today are the remainder of those original Crown Grants that have not been sold to non-Maori ownership or have not been converted to general land by its Maori owners.

Application to LINZ

Section 129 provides for a number of different types of status of land. From a LINZ point of view, the status of land will only change from Maori freehold land to general land upon registration of an Order of the Maori Land Court.