The site of a historic battle of the land wars in South Taranaki is being returned to mana whenua, Ngāruahine by the local council for a symbolic $1.
The 16ha parcel of land near Kapuni was where, in 1868, forces led by Riwha Tītokowaru battled the Crown in what later became known as Tītokowaru’s war or the South Taranaki campaign. The battle saw the death of controversial British military commander Gustavus von Tempsky.
At a meeting on Monday the South Taranaki District Council voted unanimously to return the whenua and another plot at Kaipi Street in Manaia for $1 each, the minimum value for which a property can change hands under New Zealand law.
“It is being returned to its rightful owners. It is a pity the one-cent coin is not still in circulation,” councillor Mark Bellringer said at the meeting, a sentiment backed by South Taranaki mayor Phil Nixon.
“This is a good step forward for reconciliation, and we look forward to whatever it is you do to develop these sites in future,” he said.
Ngāruahine leader Phil Nuku says the land at Te Ngutu o Te Manu was known as a place of peace and sanctuary before it became a battle site and it would be restored, while the land on Maipi Street would be used for an Iwi housing project.
“It’s going to be a place of peace and wellbeing for our children to move forward, not just our children of Ngāruahine but our children of South Taranaki, a place where we can be as one, and in this time of Covid-19, we need a place where we can find that wellbeing,” he said.
The Kapuni section adjoins the Te Ngutu o Te Manu Reserve, which was returned to Ngāruahine as part of its 2014 Treaty of Waitangi settlement.