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September 22, 2022
Taiaha delivers message of peace to parliament 137 years late
Claudette Hauiti
Posted On September 22, 2022
Download AudioNgati Maniapoto has presented a historic taiaha to parliament to mark today’s third reading of its treaty settlement legislation,
Maungarongo was first gifted to parliament in 1885 as a symbol of lasting peace but rejected by the politicians of the time, and languished in the Otago University Museum until being returned to the iwi earlier this month.
Rangatira Tom Roa says it will remain in Parliament for five years and then be returned to Maniapoto, depending on whether the settlement has been honoured by the Crown.
“We’ll comeback to parliament and I think at that time we’ll talk about shall we take him home or should we leave him with the Crown. At the present stage the situation is we are going to take him home. Let’s see what happens in five years,” he says.
The settlement includes $165 million in financial redress and an acknowledgement and apology by the Crown for its attacks on Maniapoto independence and aggressive acquisition on its land.
At the 2018 Census the King Country iwi had an estimated 46,000 members.
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