In the second half of the nineteenth century, settlers poured into Aotearoa demanding land. Millions of acres were acquired by the government or directly by settlers; or confiscated after the Land Wars. By 1891, when the Liberal government came to power, Maori retained only a fraction of their lands. And still the losses continued. For rangatira such as James Carroll, Wiremu Pere, Paora Tuhaere, Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, and many others, the challenges were innumerable. To stop further land loss, some rangatira saw parliamentary process as the mechanism; others pursued political independence. For over two decades, Maori men and women of outstanding ability fought hard to protect their people and their land. How those rangatira fared, and how they should be remembered, is the story of Maori political struggle during the Liberal era.

Danny Keenan (Ngati Te Whiti ki Te Atiawa) completed a PhD in history at Massey University in 1994 and became a senior lecturer there in 2004. In 2009 he won a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award to teach New Zealand history at Georgetown University, Washington DC. He has published widely on Maori and New Zealand history. In 2016, Te Whiti O Rongomai and the Resistance of Parihaka (Huia, 2015) received a Nga Kupu Ora Maori Book Award, and his 2009 book Wars Without End Nga Pakanga Whenua o Mua: New Zealand’ s Land Wars — a Maori perspective was revised and reissued in 2021.

Introduction: Maori politics on the eve of the Liberals c.1890 7 1. Before the Liberals Chapter One: Governing Maori before the franchise 1840– 1867 29 Chapter Two: Maori land and politics in Parliament 1868– 1890 62 2. Early Years of Liberal Governance Chapter Three: The Ballance years 1891– 1893 115 Chapter Four: Seddon’ s first steps 1893– 1895 159 3. Politics of Uncertainty Chapter Five: Grappling with Maori self-rule 1896– 1897 175 Chapter Six: Seddon concedes, Carroll succeeds 1897– 1899 195 4. Promises of Autonomy Chapter Seven: Reforming Maori health 1900 215 Chapter Eight: Legislating for Maori land 1900 236 5. Moving Forward, Drawing Back Chapter Nine: Self-rule diminished 1900– 1905 243 Chapter Ten: Reviewing lands left to Maori 1906– 1911 268 Conclusion: The end of the Liberals c.1912 285 Appendix 294 Notes 296 Bibliography 312 Acknowledgements 315 Index 317