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Waikato Tainui elders gathered at Auckland International Airport before dawn this morning to invoke the ancient rituals to clear the land for the tribe’s second hotel on the site.
Manurewa kaumātua Rangi McLean says a representative of King Tuheitia was there to put a seal of approval on the joint venture with Accor Hotels, and to emphasise the connections between the Māori kings and the airport land.
"There used to be a pā there called Maungataketake. That's where the ancestor of our king lived, Potatau. the second Māori king, Tawhiao, lived in Māngere as well. Tawhiao made the statement that when they started clearing away he felt sad because they were clearing away the pā site. But this is a pā, a visual pā I would say, rising up out of the ground again, and it's going to be named Te Atairangikaahu," he says.
The five star, 250-room hotel is expected to be completed in two years, and the existing Novotel will be incorporated into the airport entrance.
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