October 05, 2021
John Mitchell leaves historic legacy
The chair of Wakatu Incorporation says the late John Mitchell has left a major legacy for the people of Te Tau Ihu.
Dr Mitchell died last week of cancer aged 80.
Paul Morgan says his memorial service at the weekend on the whenua near his birthplace in Mapua was a chance to celebrate a life of scholarship and service.
He first encountered the academic turned tomato grower in the early 1980s when Dr Mitchell was advising the Anglican Church on a land dispute with Wakatū, and urged him to switch sides.
Dr Mitchell subsequently immersed himself in marae and tribal life, including serving on the incorporation and the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission, and with his wife Hillary started recording the Māori history of the region for use in claims and a series of books.
“We are a very fortunate rohe because we are a rohe that has a substantial written history now and all that work, and we’re talking 40 years nearly, was the basis for compiling our evidence for the many courts Wakatū has been in and that great archive will be held with us for the generations in the future,” Mr Morgan says.
He says the research will be in use next year when Wakatū is again in the High Court over the Nelson Tenths.