Listen Now: 
A Bay of Plenty hapū leader has been named a patron of a group blocking the management of an Auckland mountain by mana whenua iwi.
Pouroto Ngaropo maintains Ōwairaka-Mount Albert is named after the Ngāti Awa ancestress Wairaka, who lived for a time in Tāmaki Makaurau.
Auckland iwi have other explanations for the name, including that it was a contraction by early Pākehā visitors of Te Wai o Rakataura or Te Ahi Ka o Rakataura, which refers to the ancestor also known as Hape.
Honour the Maunga spokesperson Anna Radford says Mr Ngaropō has deep ancestral, spiritual and cultural connection to Ōwairaka.
She says his appointment as patron alongside retired academic Sir Harold Marshall, is a fourth-generation Mt Albert resident, reflects her organisation’s ongoing evolution and maturity as it continues its effort to stop the Tūpuna Maunga Authority removing exotic trees.
With the move to Alert Level 2, the group had re-established its base on private property immediately outside the entry gates at the top of Summit Drive, outside the area administered by the authority.
!["p_facebook"]("/site/uma/images/story_img/facebook.jpg")
& !["p_twitter"]("/site/uma/images/story_img/twitter.jpg")
Copyright © 2020, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
RELATED NEWS
