ahi mātaotao
1. (noun) cooling fires of occupation - a term used where the customary title to land may be lost through lack of occupation over two to three generations.
Ki te whakarērea te whenua ka mātao te ahi, ka ngaro ngā tika ki te whenua. Hei te tīmatanga ka iti te ahi, kīia ai he ahi tere. Ka tae ana ki te wā ka weto te ahi, ko te ahi mātaotao tērā (Te Ara 2013). / The legitimacy of any claim diminished over time if the land was abandoned and the fire allowed to die out. Initially, the right started to wane and became ahi tere (unstable fire). Eventually the fire was extinguished which was ahi mātaotao (cold fire).
