Native Land Court Day
Native Land Court Day, Ahipara, Far North, New Zealand. 1900, Photographer unknown, courtesy of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand (Taafe Collection, 1/2-026780-F).
New Zealand's Native Land Court (later called the Maori Land Court) was established in 1865 to encourage Maori to sell their land to private buyers – usually the Crown.
As Maori land was often communally owned, the Native Land Court's role was to transfer the land into individual titles.