April 30, 2014
Land wars back on curriculum
An organiser of yesterday’s Gate Pa commemoration says it will ensure the history is more widely known.
More than 10,000 people were at Pukehinahina-Gate Pa for the afternoon part of the event, which included a 500-strong haka powhiri.
Buddy Mikaere says new pou and signage unveiled at the reserve means more people will recognise the place as a place of significance.
The city’s schools have got behind the effort, with school parties visiting the site and pupils taking part in art and essay competitions about the invasion by British forces 150 years ago and the subsequent land confiscations that shaped the city.
"It’s fabulous so that legacy is being passed on. I think it’s something that may have fallen off the school curriculum but certainly here in Tauranga it is going to be back on that curriculum with a vengeance,"
Mr Mikaere says.
He says with settlements for the three Tauranga Moana iwi getting close, it’s a good time for reconciliation and reflection on what happened 150 years ago.
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