May 26, 2015
Treachery started path to treaty
Ngai Tahu and Christchurch City Council want to turn the site of an early 19th century massacre into a national reserve.
Takapuneke on Banks Peninsula between Akaroa and Onuku has been an historic reserve since 2008.
It was an important centre for trade between Ngai Tahu and early European visitors and settlers until 1830, when it was sacked by a war party led by Te Rauparaha, who has arrived in the harbour concealed in the English brig Elizabeth.
The outcry over that action led to the British government sending out James Busby to New Zealand as official resident.
Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu chair Sir Mark Solomon says the events at Takapuneke and the nearby Onawe Pa had a significant effect on British policy and were some of the factors that led to the Treaty of Waitangi.
The council is seeking comments to help it draft a reserve management plan, and it will consult next year of the reserve plan.
Only the Waitangi Treaty grounds now has national reserve status.
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