The sad story of Ramari Harepeka Poria Herewini is one of many to come out of the broken promise of the Nelson Tenths.

 

Ramari was the daughter of Hare Poria. She was the mother of Mere Rore [Mere Edwina Meades]. She married Hare Rore – for whom kaumātua Rore Stafford is named.

 

Most of the land owned by Ramari was in Motueka, and was taken by the Crown.  It is said that when the Crown sent representatives to survey her lands, she would pull out the survey pegs and throw them at the surveyors.

 

For this reason, Ramari was declared insane and was incarcerated in the Ngāwhatu Mental Asylum in Nelson.

 

She was visited at Ngāwhatu by Alfred Domett, an important provincial politician in Nelson. He determined there was nothing wrong with her. Despite this, when he returned two years later she was still incarcerated.

 

Ramari lost her home, her livelihood and her land and was ultimately held in the asylum for three years before being released.

 

In the 1892 hearings, Ramari was one of the most prominent evidence providers for Ngāti Rārua, naming the people who were original owners.

 

In 1893, the Native Land Court named her as one of the original owners of the Tenths Reserves.

 

Sadly, we are not sure where Ramari is buried.

 

This extract of her words comes from the Mackay Compendium, a two-volume compendium compiled by Alexander Mackay when he was the Native Commissioner in the South Island, and now held in the National Library.