A short history of Māori farming through the Ahuwhenua Trophy

Abstract

The Ahuwhenua Trophy was established in 1932 by Āpirana Ngata with the intention of creating an inter-iwi contest for Māori settled on tribal land. During the 1960s interest in the contest declined when the costs incurred were too great for the benefit gained. In 2003 interest in the contest was rekindled with the rapid expansion of the Māori economy. This presentation provides a short history of this contest and proposes that that contemporary development of Māori land andresources coincides with declining personal relationships with this land, and raises the question, what of cultural capital that is attached in some way tothis land?