April 17, 2023
Maniapoto marks gift of railway line
Crown officials arrived via steam train for a ceremony commemorating the turning of the sod for the railway line through the Maniapoto rohe 138 years ago.
As part of the ceremony last Saturday, the 112 kilometre throughway, Te Ara o Tūrongo, will be symbolically returned to the tribe’s post-settlement governance entity Te Nehenehenui.
Maniapoto negotiator Glenn Tootill says the railway was the first breach of the Aukati line established by Maniapoto after the battles of Rangiaowhia and O-Rākau in 1864, making April 15 a critical date for the iwi.
He says it’s a chance to remind the crown of how it failed to uphold its side of the agreement, and the contribution those tūpuna made to the nation.
“We still to this day fight for things they wanted around mana whakahaere and things like that but we thought it was important that we acknowledge that in their time they allowed that main trunk railway line to go through and so in our time we wanted to acknowledge them as well and recognise what they laid out for future generations so gifting it back to the people of New Zealand was we thought really important,” Mr Tootill says.