Press Release – An Iwi reclaims its mana

Kāwhia Moana

Kāwhia Kai

Kāwhia tangata

Ngāti Hikairo will provide evidence to the Waitangi Tribunal at Waipapa marae next Monday outlining the crown’s treaty breaches against the tribe after the signing of the treaty in 1840.

Prior to this, Ngāti Hikairo had invested in ships and mills importing and exporting local produce as far abroad as America with regular trading routes to and from Australia. At the time, Kāwhia was a busy commercial port with Ngāti Hikairo in business with the first wave of European businessman; Ngāti Hikairo owned the ships, the harbour, the waterways and the surrounding lands.

The business status of Ngāti Hikairo before the treaty was signed can be likened to a well-established commercial enterprise today situated in Auckland’s CBD on the waterfront and as sole owners of the harbour enjoying the best vistas the Waitemata harbour has to offer.

However, with the advent of the crown’s land grab and the cultural genocide that followed Ngāti Hikairo lost their:

• Lands

• Mountain

• Harbour

• Waterways

• Commercial enterprise

• Cultural and tribal pedagogy

• Self-determination and their independence as an Iwi

173 years after the treaty was signed, Ngāti Hikairo stands before the Waitangi Tribunal next Monday with a raft of claims to re-establish their status as:

• An independent Iwi with mana whenua in Kāwhia, Opārau and Waipā

• An independent Iwi with mana moana and mana awa

• An independent Iwi with mana and recognised relationships and partnerships with the crown and its associated agencies.

ENDS

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