Connection to land through whakapapa is premised on mana inherited at birth from the atua. These fundamental principles have supported land claims in the Native Land Court since 1865 and were of importance to Ngāti Kahungunu women in the late 19th century. Yet, exactly how whakapapa and mana informed cases for wāhine Māori has been difficult to examine, due to the omnipresent patriarchal workings of the Native Land Court and its comprehension of customary principles. This article highlights the interconnected relationship between whakapapa and mana, wāhine Māori and the Native Land Court in Hawke’s Bay and adds to a more balanced gendered scholarship of the Native Land Court.

This article argues that William Pember Reeves's history of New Zealand, The Long White Cloud: Ao Tea Roa, published in 1898, played a pivotal role in establishing and promulgating the national ideology proclaiming New Zealand to be a model of social equality, by failing to mention how the resources of the nation were transferred from its indigenous population into colonist control. This ideology denied knowledge of the racist policies of successive New Zealand governments which deprived Māori of their lands and resources and sponsored inequality, primarily through legislation implemented by the Native Land Court