October 29, 2019
Taranaki take time to tell own narrative
One of the organisers of Taranaki’s commemoration of the New Zealand Wars says it’s essential for iwi to tell their own narratives.
Te Pūtake O Te Riri wraps up today with a hākari after a full progamme yesterday of visits to historic sites in the Waitara area and discussions on the impact of the wars on Taranaki iwi.
Wharehoka Wano says the people want to reject the notion they were rebels and troublemakers, and they also want to point out they were not defined by the wars but had a history before them.
"That’s what Te Pūtake o te Riri is about. It’s allowing us to tell our story and tell the truth in our story. In truth there’s healing. At the moment we’re afraid to tell the story as it is and our people are still suffering, we still have our people that are marginalised and any people would be if your land’s taken from you, your language is taken from you, so that’s the honest discussion that we need to have and as it was said by Paraone Gloyne on the paepae, it’s a long game," he says.
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