>>17843256
they did argue that they had conquered the Moriori, and therefore were entitled to ownership of the land.

> Waitangi Tribunal – Rekohu Report (2001)
> The Waitangi Tribunal is very clear that:
> Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama actively argued in court that they had taken the land by conquest in 1835–36 and were thus entitled to it.

> Michael King – Moriori: A People Rediscovered
> Michael King also confirms that the iwi involved claimed conquest as the basis for land ownership — not just as historical fact, but as a legal argument in court.
> “Ngāti Mutunga’s representatives argued that conquest in 1835 had given them full rights of ownership… This was accepted by Judge Rogan without serious inquiry into customary law or morality.” — King, Moriori, p. 126