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December 15, 2015
Land Wars commemoration part of nation building
Waatea Team
Posted On December 15, 2015
Waikato Tainui chair Rahui Papa says the presentation of a 10,000 signature petition to parliament should step up the pressure for a national day of commemoration of the New Zealand Wars.
Iwi caught up in the wars 150 years ago have been holding ceremonies and reenactments, and at each there has been a call for a wider commemoration matching the attention paid to New Zealanders who fought overseas.
Mr Papa says the petition organised by Otorohanga High School students expresses similar sentiments.
"The girls also want to capture something in the New Zealand curriculum that has relevance for us here in Aotearoa. Instead of learning about things like Elizabethan England and all those sorts of things, let's learn about our own history first, let's start to rebuild our nationhood and our camaraderie together, and our country will be the better for it," he says.
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