November 19, 2020
Gardening tools help cultivate bond with Rarawa
Far north iwi Te Rarawa has been gifted about 50 taonga collected from land it now owns.
Chair Haami Piripi says the gift further cements the strong relationship the iwi has developed with the Bell family, whose market garden business at Pukepoto it bought last year.
He says most of the stone items had an agricultural purpose and gives an insight to the way the ancestors lived.
He hopes the gift will set an example for other landowners.
"I know there's lots of other families in the area who have found these things and preferred to keep them for themselves and put them away somewhere but those days are gone now. I think its time for people to realise those treasures need to go back to the people. That's where they're best suited. The Bell family has realised that and appreciated the importance of the provenance associated with them," Mr Piripi says.
Te Rarawa now has 600 hectares in market gardening and horticulture as part of its new strategic direction.
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