Pipiwharauroa Oct/Nov 2015

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Pipiwharauroa Whiringa-ā-nuku / Whiringa-ā-rangi 2015 Pukapuka: Rua Te Kau Ma Rua

Te Aitanga-ā-Māhaki: Unsettled Eric John Tupai Ruru filed the main Te Aitanga-āMāhaki claim with the Waitangi Tribunal on the 13th of March 1992. The claim relates to various acts and omissions of the Crown, including the siege of Waerenga-ā-Hika, and the wrongful dispossession and confiscation of tribal lands. John Ruru spoke candidly with Robyn Rauna. One of the most memorable findings recorded within the Waitangi Tribunal's Tūranga Tangata Report into our claims is where McLean instructs Fraser in the lead up to the siege and states:

John Ruru, claimant for Te Aitanga-ā-Māhaki Wai 274, Wai 283

"The tribe that more particularly requires to be chastised is the Aitanga-ā-Māhaki residing at Waerenga-ā-Hika. This tribe has fostered and encouraged the Hauhau murderers from the first appearance of Kereopa & Patara at Tūranga immediately after Mr Volkner[‘s] murder up to the present time ... It is evident that no peace can exist until those Natives are compelled to submit to British law and authority." It was confirmation in black and white that there was a steely determination to do what was necessary to try and break us and get our lands. One hundred and fifty years later, despite having a written report that tells us that the Crown had wronged us, and had acted on numerous occasions in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi, we the people of Te Aitanga-āMāhaki still wait for the opportunity to settle our claims. With Ngāi Tāmanuhiri and Rongowhakaata achieving settlement in 2011, Te Aitanga-ā-Māhaki is the last remaining iwi of Tūranga to settle our Treaty grievances with the Crown. It is extremely disappointing for me that we are still waiting. Litigation involving the Mangatū Incorporation, ourselves and the Crown over the Mangatū Forest has held us up.

However, this year the High Court's decision in favour of Te Aitanga-ā-Māhaki and the Mangatū Incorporation was a turning point. The opportunity was open to re-engage with the Crown over settlement, but the Crown lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court meaning we must endure yet more litigation in the new year in June. The 150th commemoration of the siege of Waerenga-ā-Hika is for this reason an especially sad and poignant time for me and my fellow Māhaki Claim Committee members who have been carrying the responsibility of holding the Crown to account through the Treaty claim process. We must endure and wait for the formal acknowledgements and the apologies for what happened at Waerenga-ā-Hika.

Panui: Te Kau

Images of Our Tīpuna Who Were Deported To Wharekauri After The Siege

Pera Te Uetuku, ID No. 303

Rutene Ahuroa, ID No. 318

My whanaunga and fellow settlement claims peer Wirangi Pera, who has walked beside me in the claims process, reminded me of what Te Kooti said about the law. Ko te Ture, tā te Ture he hura. Ko te Wairua, tā te Wairua he hīpoki. Ko te Hāhi, tā te Hāhi he pupuri, he whakarongo. Ko te ritenga tēnei o te Ture o te Kawenata. Or in English, The Law is a divestment. The Spirit is a cover. The Church is an anchor and to heed. This is the meaning of the Law of the Covenant. These revelations that the law dispossess, while faith and the church are a means of protection, rings loud in my ears right now. We are the walking, living memorials to our people that we lost at Waerengaā-Hika.

Hori Puru, ID No. 326 Te Matenga Taihuka, ID No. 321

Those of us living today are uri whakatipu of the Whakarau which makes us more determined to see that justice is done and that we commemorate with dignity the loss of our people at Waerenga-ā-Hika and through subsequent events. Te Kooti Rikirangi, ID No. 517

Karepa Ruatapu, ID No. 902


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