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Lesson 2: Compare Māori land records and parcels

Complexity: foundation
Outcome: a documented comparison between a public Māori Land Court block record and current LINZ cadastral parcels, with each source kept separate.

This lesson deliberately does not ask you to merge the two sources. The main GIS skill is learning that layers and records can overlap spatially without being the same legal or documentary thing.

Before you begin​

Complete Lesson 1 first.

You need:

  • 03_project/qgis-course.qgz
  • the LINZ aerial basemap from Lesson 1
  • NZ Primary Parcels from Lesson 1
  • your chosen public study area
  • a web browser
  • Pātaka Whenua, the Māori Land Court portal
  • 03_project/README.md

If no Māori land block relevant to your chosen study area can be found through the public record, do not invent one. You may choose another public locality for this lesson and return to your original study area afterwards.

1. Open the QGIS project and return to your study area​

  1. Start QGIS.
  2. Choose Project → Open….
  3. Open 03_project/qgis-course.qgz.
  4. Wait for the online LINZ layers to load.
  5. Confirm the lower-right corner shows EPSG:2193.
  6. Open View → Show Spatial Bookmarks if the map is not already at your study area.
  7. Double-click the bookmark you created in Lesson 1.
  8. In the Layers panel, make sure the aerial imagery and NZ Primary Parcels are ticked on.
  9. Save the project.

You should now see​

Your familiar study area with parcel boundaries visible over aerial imagery.

2. Understand what you are comparing​

Before clicking anything else, keep these four ideas separate:

  • a Māori Land Court block record belongs to the court record and may carry block names, identifiers, ownership information, orders and other documentary history
  • a LINZ cadastral parcel is a cadastral spatial unit with its own parcel identifier and survey/cadastral role
  • a Record of Title is another land-record concept and must not be treated as another word for parcel
  • aerial imagery shows visible landscape and occupation at a point in time; it is not legal boundary evidence by itself

The purpose of the lesson is to see these differences in real records.

3. Search Pātaka Whenua​

  1. Leave QGIS open.
  2. Open Pātaka Whenua in your browser.
  3. Use the portal's public land/block search if it is available without sign-in. If the service asks you to sign in for the function you need, use your authorised account rather than creating fictional details.
  4. Search for the name of a Māori land block you know in or near your study area.
  5. If you do not know a block name, use the Pātaka Whenua guide to work from a known locality, district or block-name lead.
  6. If several records have similar names, use the Māori Land Court district and other displayed identifiers to distinguish them.
  7. Open one public block record.
  8. Do not copy ownership or personal information into this teaching project unless it is genuinely required. This exercise only needs the block-level identifiers and source context.

Record these values​

Open 03_project/README.md in your text editor. Under Source notes, add:

Māori Land Court comparison record
Portal: Pātaka Whenua
Block name: [exact wording shown]
Court district: [district shown]
Block identifier: [identifier shown]
Record checked: [today's date]
Purpose in course: compare court block record with current cadastral parcels

Copy the wording exactly. Preserve macrons and spelling. Do not simplify the block name merely to make it match another dataset.

4. Inspect the block record before looking for a matching parcel​

In Pātaka Whenua:

  1. Look through the block-level record sections available to you.
  2. Note whether a map or location context is shown.
  3. Note any block/title identifiers visible at block level.
  4. Note whether the record exposes memorials, orders, minutes, plans or other documentary links.
  5. Do not assume the first map polygon you see is a current cadastral parcel.
  6. Keep the portal open so you can compare the record with QGIS.

The court record is more than a polygon. In real whenua research, the linked documentary record may matter more than the outline displayed on screen.

5. Find the same general location in QGIS​

  1. Return to QGIS.
  2. Use the aerial imagery and familiar landmarks to navigate to the location shown by the court record.
  3. Use Pan Map and Zoom In rather than changing any features.
  4. When the likely area is visible, click the NZ Primary Parcels layer once in the Layers panel.
  5. Select Identify Features.
  6. Click a parcel in the area.
  7. Read the returned parcel identifier and appellation fields where present.
  8. Click neighbouring parcels as well.
  9. Notice whether the court block context appears to relate to one parcel, several parcels or a more complicated arrangement.

Do not force a one-to-one answer where the sources do not support one.

6. Create a comparison table in the README​

Under Method notes in README.md, add this template and fill it from the two sources:

Block and parcel comparison

Court source
- source type: Māori Land Court block record
- block name: [value]
- block identifier: [value]
- court district: [value]
- checked date: [value]

Cadastral source
- source type: LINZ NZ Primary Parcels
- parcel ID(s) inspected: [value or values]
- appellation(s): [value or values]
- checked date: [value]

Observed relationship
- [for example: one court block appears to span several current parcels / relationship unclear / one parcel inspected within the block context]

Important note
Māori Land Court block information and LINZ cadastral parcels are maintained as separate source representations. Spatial overlap or similarity does not establish that the records are equivalent.

Save the README.

7. Open the parcel attribute table​

  1. In QGIS right-click NZ Primary Parcels.
  2. Choose Open Attribute Table.
  3. Find the parcel-ID field you saw through Identify Features.
  4. Find the appellation field where available.
  5. If the table contains many records, use the map selection rather than scrolling randomly through the table.
  6. Close the attribute table when finished.

You should now understand​

The parcel layer has its own identifiers and attributes. They did not come from the Māori Land Court block record, even if some wording looks related.

8. Use imagery as context, not boundary proof​

  1. Keep NZ Primary Parcels visible.
  2. Make sure the parcel fill is transparent as set in Lesson 1.
  3. Turn the aerial imagery on.
  4. Look for visible features such as roads, fences, buildings, riverbanks, tracks and vegetation changes.
  5. Turn imagery off and on a few times using its Layers-panel checkbox.
  6. Compare the visible landscape with cadastral parcel lines.

Record one sentence in the README about what imagery helps you see. Then add this sentence:

Visible occupation or landscape features in aerial imagery are not automatically legal or cadastral boundary evidence.

Save the README.

9. Optional: add a dated Māori Land Court GIS layer​

Only do this section if you have deliberately obtained the dated teaching geometry described on the legacy May 2017 spatial dataset page. If you do not have that dataset, skip to step 10. The lesson is complete without it.

If you do have it:

  1. Put the original downloaded file in 01_source before loading it into QGIS.
  2. In QGIS choose the appropriate Layer → Add Layer command for its file type.
  3. Browse to the file inside 01_source.
  4. Add the relevant Māori land geometry layer.
  5. In the Layers panel right-click the layer and choose Rename Layer.
  6. Rename it:
Māori Land Court spatial representation, May 2017
  1. Double-click it to open Layer Properties.
  2. Choose Symbology.
  3. Give it a transparent or lightly transparent fill and an outline visibly different from the LINZ parcel outline.
  4. Click OK.
  5. Put it above the aerial imagery in the Layers panel.
  6. Save the project.

The date in the layer name is intentional. It stops old geometry becoming apparently current merely because it has been copied into a new project.

10. Optional: calculate GIS area on a local polygon copy​

Do not add a calculated field to the live LINZ WFS service. If you want to practise area calculation, first make a local copy of one or more selected parcel features.

Select a parcel​

  1. Click NZ Primary Parcels in the Layers panel.
  2. Use Select Features by Area or Single Click from the selection toolbar.
  3. Click one parcel in the comparison area.
  4. Confirm it changes to the QGIS selection highlight colour.

Save the selected parcel locally​

  1. Right-click NZ Primary Parcels.
  2. Choose Export → Save Selected Features As….
  3. Set Format to GeoPackage.
  4. For File name, browse to 02_working.
  5. Create or choose:
course.gpkg
  1. Set Layer name to:
parcel_area_teaching
  1. Set the output CRS to EPSG:2193.
  2. Make sure Save only selected features is enabled if QGIS presents that option.
  3. Click OK.
  4. Confirm the new layer appears in the Layers panel.

Add the area field​

  1. Right-click parcel_area_teaching and choose Open Attribute Table.
  2. Click Toggle Editing in the attribute-table toolbar.
  3. Click Open Field Calculator.
  4. Tick Create a new field.
  5. Set Output field name to:
area_ha
  1. Choose a decimal/real-number output type.
  2. In the expression box enter:
$area / 10000
  1. Click OK.
  2. Confirm the new area_ha column contains a value.
  3. Click Save Edits.
  4. Turn editing off.
  5. Close the attribute table.
  6. Save the QGIS project.

This is the area of the copied GIS geometry in hectares. It is not automatically the legal area recorded by a court order, title or survey plan.

11. Save and reopen​

  1. Save README.md.
  2. Save the QGIS project.
  3. Choose Project → Close.
  4. Reopen 03_project/qgis-course.qgz.
  5. Return to your study area using the bookmark.
  6. Confirm the LINZ parcel layer still loads.
  7. If you completed the optional local-copy section, confirm parcel_area_teaching also loads from course.gpkg.

Verify before moving on​

You should be able to explain, without using the phrase “they are basically the same”:

  • what the Māori Land Court block record is
  • what the LINZ parcel layer is
  • why a block may relate to more than one parcel
  • why a visible fence or riverbank in imagery is not automatically a legal boundary
  • where you recorded the exact block identifier and parcel identifier
  • why any 2017 Māori Land Court spatial geometry is labelled with its date

You should also be able to show the comparison note in README.md.

Common problems​

I cannot find a relevant Māori land block​

Do not make one up. Use the Pātaka Whenua guide, try a known block name and district, or use another public locality for this lesson.

Pātaka Whenua shows several similarly named blocks​

Use the court district and identifiers to distinguish them. Record the exact record you actually inspected.

Several LINZ parcels appear within the block context​

That is a valid result. Record a one-to-many or more complicated relationship rather than trying to choose one parcel as “the block”.

The court map and QGIS geometry do not line up perfectly​

Do not move parcel vertices. The sources may represent different systems, dates or geometry quality. Record the discrepancy before attempting any interpretation.

My area calculation is different from a documentary area​

Keep both values with their sources. $area / 10000 is a GIS measurement of the geometry you calculated, not a replacement for a legal/documentary area.

Next: Lesson 3: Label ingoa wāhi.

Test basis: QGIS 3.44 LTR. Last reviewed: 4 September 2026

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