January 11, 2022
PR: Iwi returns ‘home’ after 135 years
Te Arawa iwi Ngāti Tarāwhai have purchased the Lake Okataina Lodge, reclaiming ownership of their ancestral land at Tauranganui.
“Today marks a significant milestone in our journey to reconnect our people with our homelands lost due to the incursions of European settlers and the threat of government action following the devastating Tarawera eruption on the 10th of June 1886,” says Ngāti Tarāwhai Iwi Trust chair Cyrus Hingston.
“Ngati Tarāwhai ‘gifted’ 3,000 acres to the Crown for the Lake Okataina Scenic Reserve in 1921 to halt the threat of our land being taken for public works and the plunder of our burial sites by grave robbers.
“In 2009, seven acres of the original 3000 acres ‘gifted’ as reserve, was returned as part of the Treaty settlement process. However, the lessee on part of that land was given a 15-year term, and then a 33-year right of renewal. This right of renewal was made by bureaucrats while our kaumatua were negotiating in good faith with the Crown.
“It has been a constant battle by generations of Ngāti Tarāwhai leaders who have had to fight through the layers of Government bureaucracy only to end up going to the open market to buy a business that sits on our traditional lands. Our kaumatua scrimped and saved to ensure we would have enough funds to some day acquire this property.”
A ceremony was held today at Tauranganui by the iwi to bless and return the mauri of Ngāti Tarāwhai back to their land.
“We made a commitment to our people to continue the fight to own and manage our major pā sites, our settlements, our fishing grounds, our campsites, our waterways and our forests,” says Ngāti Tarāwhai Iwi Trust trustee Mihaere Kirby.
“Now that Tauranganui is secure, we need to protect our burial caves and urupā from being plundered and stop those who are ignorantly trampling upon our sites of significance throughout our rohe and across our Lake Okataina.
“To all Ngāti Tarāwhai – while we celebrate this important occasion, we also remember that our major pā sites and villages remain in the ownership of either the Department of Conservation or foreign private owners.”
Mr Hingston says the iwi is very happy to return home.
“Now we focus on moving forward, living, working, managing and exercising our mana over the whenua and roto. Kua pai. Kua tutuki te wawata. Kua hoki te kawau aro maunga ki Okataina.”