There was an interesting issue addressed at some length in the Waitangi Tribunal regarding Ngāti Mutunga's contention that Moriori had lost their rights to the land and resources under the law of conquest, which was, they argued, active at the time in 1835, prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The counterargument for Moriori was that there had been no conquest as there had never been a war. War was against their law, and still is, and they were prepared to share the land. The contention was that there'd only ever been a kōhuru, or murder. I've mentioned that Moriori wrote to Governor George Grey in 1862, seeking redress, release from enslavement, and the return of their rights. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the lands was not returned to Moriori at that time and it rendered them, effectively, landless.