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Download AudioA Ngāti Whātua kuia says Joe Hawke’s activism was driven by a sense that Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei had an obligation to manaaki all manuhiri to Tāmaki Makaurau.
The builder turned activist turned MP died on Sunday at the age of 82.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua chair Rangimarie Dame Naida Glavish says Mr Hawke represented his Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei ancestors who founded the city of Auckland when he carried the pouwhenua at the head of the Māori Land March across the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1975.
That manaakitanga was also on display when he lodged the first Waitangi Tribunal claim for customary fishing rights after being arrested collecting kaimoana for a tangi at Te Unga Waka Marae.
He inspired others by example, which is why the 1977 occupation of Takaparawhau Bastion Point took on national significance.
“Ngāti Whātua did not win that on its own. Almost every tribe in the country had a representative with Ngāti Whātua at Takaparawhau, at Bastion Point, and Joe always acknowledged that,” Dame Naida says.
The tangi for Joe Hawke is at Ōrākei on the marae he won back for his hapū.
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