August 08, 2013
Camps new business for Iti
No guns, no Molotov cocktails and no spies. That’s the rules for the training camps Tame Iti plans to run in Te Urewera.
The Tūhoe activist, who is still on probation after serving nine months of a 30 month prison sentence for weapons charges stemming from what police said were military-style training camps, says his new business is about teaching teamwork, motivation and communication skills.
He says it will give paying participants and insight into what drives Ngāi Tuhoe as it looks to the future after its treaty settlement.
"They’ll learn about eeling. They’ll learn about culling possums. It’s a fitness thing so you’ve got to be reasonably fit to be part of that. We will fly you in a helicopter to the location, give you a powhiri, and then we will introduce you to the next 24 hours of activities, so you will probably have about two hours of sleep and that’s about it," he says.
Mr Iti says the camps will create work for locals both in looking after the manuhiri and running sessions.
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