Māori Council Franks 1901 - 1906

Māori District Councils in New Zealand were established by the Māori Councils Act, passed on October 18, 1900. This Act was an effort to let Māori oversee aspects of their own affairs: health, welfare, moral well-being, as well as educational and cultural matters. In many respects, their functions were like those of County Councils—so they handled issues like preventing drunkenness and registering dogs—but they didn’t deal with roads or land transactions (there were separate Māori groups for those).

The original 19 Māori Council districts were gazetted on 7 January 1901 and a furtehr 5 were later added bringing the total to 24. The map below shows the North Island councils and notes the three councils in the South Island and the one in the Chatham Islands. Tokerau is also up North but for some reason was left off the map. Waikato is shown as an area but they did not take the opportunity to constitute a Council as there was still bad feeling between locals and the Government from the 1860s land wars and subsequent confiscations.

Early Philatelic Mentions of the Franks

Under Clause 12 of the Māori Councils Act, each Council had to have a seal, approved by the Native Minister, for authenticating documents—and that seal is exactly what was used as a postal frank. Each Council had their own Frank by name although the design was identical, and they were only to be used for Official business. Below one of four known covers or cover fronts with the Council Frank in the top right hand corner.

Māori Council seal of Matatua postmarked 17 OC 04 signed by Powhare the Chairman and with Captain Mair written across in red. Captain Mair was the Superintendent of Te Arawa the neighbouring Council to Matatua.

The official notice states that “On Maori Council Business Only” must appear on the item, plus “Hiiri o to Kaunihera. Ma te Tiamana e Whakapiri,” in the top right corner, along with the Māori Council seal. The letters also had to be signed (franked) by a Māori Council Chairman. Interestingly, the department listed for this authorisation was the Justice Department. In The Mail Coach (Volume 20, No. 6, August 1984, page 253), Colin Capill quotes a Secretary of the Department of Māori Affairs saying “HIIRI O TE KAUNIHERA” is “seal of the council,” and “MA TE TIAMANA E WHAKIPIRI” can be transliterated to mean “with the Chairman’s approval."

Back row.- Hikurangi, Te Whetu, Tieri Te Tikao, Mohowi Hapi (Secretary), Hemi te Uara Rangihoro, Te Kokiri Hemi.

 Front row.- Henare Werahika, Mataha Enoka, Capt. Gilbert Mair (official member), Raureti Paerau (chairman), Keepa Te Rangipuawhe (advisory councillor), Wharetukaki Rotohiko, Te Morehue Te Kirikau, Kiri Tapihana.

 Credit: Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19010524-9-3

The remaining Franks are very scarce with only 43 known to exist - four on cover or cover front. The others are all cut outs. There will be more out there for sure. Only a few years ago there was only known to be one cover and a dozen cut outs, but as you can see this number has grown. A few more examples are shown below.

To learn more and to see a list of the remaining Franks and additional images, please visit the 'full' story by following this link. https://www.nzstampcollection.com/maoricouncilfranks