The Ngai Tahu Maori Law Centre, the only only one of its type in the country, will hold its first open day in Dunedin tomorrow.
The centre held several clinics in Invercargill and Christchurch each year, but this would be the first time it had held a public open day at its Stuart St office, manager Joy Smith said.
The centre dealt with more than 150 inquiries each year, with most questions relating to succession of Maori land, she said.
"We get people coming in who think their grandparent may have had some Maori land and they want to know what's the next step they should take."
Clients could use the service to file for succession, establish a Maori land trust, or change the status of land, she said.
Set up in 1993 by Ngai Tahu, the free service also helped people with other iwi affiliations, but every client would need some knowledge of their whakapapa.
"If we have a grandparent's name, particularly from Ngai Tahu, we are able to work out someone's whakapapa pretty easily."
The centre, which employed the services of three lawyers, spent a significant portion of time researching Maori Land Court claims to find land entitlements.
The number of owners for blocks of land tended to expand every generation, and it was not uncommon for a small block of land to go from 300 owners in the late 1800s to more than 5000 owners today, she said.
One of the nicest parts about the job was helping people trace their whakapapa and discovering land to which they might be entitled, Mrs Smith said.
"Sometimes, people come in here and tell us they think they could be Maori because grandma was Maori - they don't think `if she was Maori, then I definitely am'."
The open day will be held tomorrow at the Ngai Tahu Maori Law Centre at 258 Stuart St from 11am to 2pm.
