In the late 1840s, local iwi, led by Te Hapuku, invited the Crown to acquire land, hoping to benefit from the sale and the skills of settlers. They met Donald McLean, the government's land agent, in December 1850 and, on 4 November 1851, he bought the Waipukurau Block for £4,800. McLean bought at a low price and entered into secret deals, which, in 1857, led to fighting in which a number of rangatira were killed. By 1860 land sales had stopped. However, the Native Lands Act 1865 allowed purchase of reserve areas. In the 1870s, Heretaunga Tamatea rangatira established the Repudiation movement to reverse the losses. It failed; by 1900, some 1.2 of 1.4 million acres in the region had been taken. By 1930 only about 6% remained in Māori ownership.Aramoana Beach, Historical and Archaeological Report, Patrick Parsons, Central Hawkes Bay District Council, January 2001 – Waipukurau Library copy"Parliamentary Papers. Correspondence relative to land purchases, District of Napier", Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 5, Issue 316, 16 September 1862, Page 2 retrieved 18 December 2015 In 1896 the Prime Minister was asked to restore Māori fishing rights in Lake Whatumā.
