March 17, 2017
Ngati Hikairo redrawing Kawhia map
Kawhia-based Ngati Hikairo has called a hui with neighbours Ngati Maniapoto, Ngati Mahuta and Waikato to discuss Treaty of Waitangi claims.
It’s upset that an online map of the Maniapoto rohe includes two Ngati Hikairo marae on the northern side of the harbour, Waipapa and Mokai Kainga.
Runanga secretary Tony Spelman says Ngati Hikairo is an iwi in its own right, and was recognised as such in the late 1800s alongside other King Country iwi.
"We were named as an iwi in Te Rohe Potae. We've unfortunately been in some tension with Waikato and Maniapoto until recently because there has been difficulty in acknowledging us in that way. It has been historically in the recent times easier to call us a hapu of both Waikato and a hapu of Maniapoto but, that really doesn't cover us in terms of the Rohe Potae interest that we've always had and always will have until we resolve them." he says.
Tony Spelman says Ngati Hikairo is pursuing a foreshore and seabed claim to the northern side of Kawhia Harbour, and it has other land claims on the go.
The hui is next Monday at Waipapa Marae in Kawhia.
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