Manawatū iwi dispossessed after land confiscation
Thursday, 3 June 2021
A Manawatū iwi was left one of the most landless in New Zealand after its home was bought without consent, the Waitangi Tribunal has heard.
Week six of the Manawatū ki Porirua tribunal inquiry finished at the Feilding Civic Centre on Thursday, when members of Ngāti Kauwhata, Eddie Taihākurei Durie, Mason Durie and Meihana Durie, spoke about “te pene raupatu”, or confiscation by the pen.
The inquiry is part of the Ngāti Raukawa confederations claim, which states the historical sale of thousands of hectares of land between Manawatū and Kāpiti was not done legitimately.
The claim states the 1866 purchase of the 97,000-hectare Rangitīkei-Manawatū block was done without the consent of the owners, Ngāti Raukawa, which Ngāti Kauwhata is part of.
**READ MORE:
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* Waitangi Tribunal hearings to resume in Feilding
**
Eddie Durie said the Government assumed the right to buy the block, which stretched from Himatangi in the south to Kimbolton in the north.
“I haven’t come across a tribal group that has been so dispossessed and left so landless by a single purchase.”
The Native Land Court’s decision to allow the sale sat outside Māori framework and hadn’t looked at who had customary rights for the area.
“We could not say there was fair and prior consent. It is a case, as we say, where the pen was as mighty as the sword and it achieved the same result as a raupatu (confiscation).”
He said other iwi further north had retained more land than iwi in Manawatū. He was surprised Māori culture had continued with a connection to the land.
Meihana Durie said the iwi had been rendered landless and had suffered in many aspects of its life, including housing and education.
“Generation after generation of Ngāti Kauwhata mokopuna have been subjected to a system that largely fails our people.”
Its marae, Aorangi, south of Feilding, had suffered environmentally, financially, culturally, spiritually and physically.
“The lack of opportunity to create resources to create and grow whānau hapū and iwi wealth meant we were not able to flourish in the way others have.
“It’s time for the Crown to act in a way consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi.”
The iwi’s urupā had been separated from the marae by a rail line and two busy roads, which they had to cross when holding a tangi.
“We’re unable to fully uphold cultural rituals directly as a result of the Crown’s failure.”
He said the nearby Feilding Aerodrome’s flight path went over the marae and the iwi had to ask the aerodrome for consent to build a new ablutions block.
His father, Mason, said the iwi’s mana and integrity had been negatively affected and the injustices of the past needed to be acknowledged and recompensed.
He spoke about how Aorangi Marae was hard to access during rush-hour traffic, while trains and planes regularly went past, making noise.
They also presented the “rangimarie narrative”, which asked the tribunal to find the decision of the Native Land Court to allow the sale of the land was wrong and find that Ngāti Raukawa was in possession of the land.
The next week of hearings, No 7 of 12, is in Feilding next month.