Ngāti Hikairo tono: let’s change the map

Ngāti Hikairo youth are asking Ngāti Maniapoto to correct the map of their rohe.

Ngāti Hikairo iwi are to host a hui Monday to discuss Treaty of Waitangi claims with Ngāti Mahuta (Kāwhia), Ngāti Maniapoto and Waikato iwi. The hui is at Waipapa Marae in Kāwhia at 10am.

An important part of the hui will be a tono to Ngāti Maniapoto to change the online map of their rohe as it currently includes two Ngāti Hikairo marae – Waipapa and Mōkai Kāinga. A screen shot from the Maniapoto website is attached. It should not include lands on the north side of Kāwhia Harbour.

Ngāti Maniapoto made a ‘tono’ to Ngāti Hikairo at the Waipapa marae poukai on Sunday, to discuss a later visit by the Minister of the Treaty to Kāwhia. This tono was agreed by Ngāti Hikairo and announced at Monday’s poukai at Maketū. As Ngāti Mahuta and Waikato are attending, Ngāti Hikairo believe this as an opportunity to express whanaungatanga with all present based on the ties of whakapapa that bind all Tainui peoples.

‘Our meeting house Taku Hiahia embodies our close relationships with Waikato and Maniapoto and we’ll be presenting an overview of the whakairo / carvings to the hui, and how they connect us as iwi’

‘Te Pūtahitanga Rangatahi o Ngāti Hikairo will take the take about our rohe, and their map, to Maniapoto on Monday, kanohi ki te kanohi.

Ngāti Hikairo will confirm its boundaries as debated by parliament in 2008. In the debate, Ngāti Hikairo reaffirmed that the northern side of Kāwhia harbour is under the mana of Ngāti Hikairo.

‘We want the iwi attending the hui on Monday to respect these boundaries. Waikato are our northern neighbours, and with Maniapoto to the south, the mana of Ngāti Hikairo over its lands, and of the moana, are paramount to us.

The hui represents a unique opportunity for Ngāti Hikairo to talk about our whakapapa connections, our connections through marriage, and how we can tautoko each other in the future, as we have always done. As they said in the Treaty, ‘He iwi Kotahi tātou.’

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