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September 05, 2022
Totara of Ngāti Wai Haydn Edmonds dies
Adam Gifford
Posted On September 5, 2022
Ngātiwai has been hit by the death of its former trust board chairperson Haydn Edmonds after a long illness.
Mr Haydn steered the Taitokerau iwi through a long period of development, building up its fisheries, property and education interests and refurbishing the Bland Bay Camping Ground which was returned to the iwi.
He also backed the revitalisation of te reo Maori in the rohe.
However, his efforts to achieve settlement of its historic treaty claims was undermined by the hapu-centric rebellion which affected neighbours Ngapuhi, with progress stalled since 2017 when the Waitangi Tribunal recommended negotiations be paused and the deed of mandate rewritten.
Mr Edmonds was also a stalwart of the Labour Party, chairing the Te Taitokerau electorate committee for many years.
He will lay at his Kensington home before his funeral service at the Latter Day Saints Whangārei chapel on Tuesday morning, after which he will be buried at Punaruku next to his parents in Waikaramihi.
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