Tracing whakapapa or ancestry is not for the faint-hearted – or the time-poor. Colleen Brown (see previous story) was able to validate whānau connections through the “Ngaitahu Kaumatua Alive in the 1848” record, also known as the “Blue Book”. This dates back to 1925, when the Native Land Court established the Ngaitahu Claim Committee to identify beneficiaries after the Native Land Claims Commission ruled in favour of Ngāi Tahu grievances in relation to the 1848 Canterbury Deed of Purchase (Kemp’s Deed). The beneficiaries were defined as those descended from kaumātua who were alive in 1848 with claims related to the deed, as identified by the Native Land Court in 1825 and, later, the Ngaitahu Census
