June 14, 2013
Ahi kaa fires set at Waiotahi
An Eastern Bay of Plenty iwi has lit ancestral fires in protest at its inclusion in the Tuhoe settlement.
Spokesperson Kahukore Baker says Te Upokorehe is a separate iwi, but its ancestral lands, hapu and marae were wrapped into the settlement signed at parliament last week.
She says an ahi kaa roa fire was lit at dawn at Ahiaua, a pipi bed at the mouth of the Waiotahi River near Opotiki.
"The issue of customary rights is critical for us. Tuhoe have been given customary fisheries rights right across our rohe as part of their settlement, so part of today's protest is to put the focus on the harbour and to show that our customary rights have been carried on mai rano so we've got the ahi kaa bnurning, they are the physical representation of the ancestral fires that have burnt forever," she says.
As part of the action Te Upokorehe is recording its customary practices around the collection of kaimoana.