December 06, 2021
Ngāti Kahu rangatahi drive model protest
Te Taitokerau MP Kelvin Davis says the resolution of a Taipa occupation is testament to the next generation of Ngāti Kahu leaders.
Mr Davis and Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little travelled to the far north on Friday to tell occupants the crown was buying the coastal site known as Maheatai because of its historical significance to the iwi.
It will be land banked for settlement.
The landowner wanted the whenua to go back to the iwi, which under its current leadership is pursuing a strategy of getting compensation through the Waitangi Tribunal resumption process rather than through negotiations.
Mr Davis says the young people did an excellent job of raising the issues in a way that allowed a resolution.
“The way they brought people together – I know a number of the hapū have been bickering, as we do amongst each other – but they brought people together under the banner of Ngāti Kahu, under the banner of whakapapa quite literally there was a banner with their whakapapa along one side of the tent, connected everyone to everyone, and there was a sense of wānanga, learning, peace, I think it was just beautiful,” he says.