Te Whakatōhea leader, Te Kahautu Maxwell, opened with a haka before presenting evidence on the histories, grievances and aspirations of Ngāti Ngahere before the Waitangi Tribunal in Ōpōtiki this week.
Terere Marae hosted the tenth hearing week of the North-Eastern Bay of Plenty District Inquiry, Wai 1750, where the Tribunal is examining the impacts of Crown actions on hapū and iwi throughout the region.
The issues under examination include raupatu, land loss, Māori land legislation, public works, environmental issues, and health, social and economic impacts, spanning Crown actions in the nineteenth century through to consequences that continue to be felt today.
Maxwell said the inquiry is an important opportunity for people to put their own case before the Tribunal.
“E taea ai e tērā whānau, e tērā tangata, e tērā hapū, te whakatakoto i āna kōrero, i āna hītōria, i āna nawe, i ōna tangi e noho pōhara nei a Te Whakatōhea.”
At the heart of the evidence is the Crown invasion of the district in the 1860s, followed by raupatu and the consequences for the lands, resources and generations of Te Whakatōhea.
“Mai i te wā i haina i te Tiriti ki konei, 17 o Mei 1840 i hainahia i konei. Ka tau te kerēme [i te tau] 2023, 157 tau e pakanga ana a Te Whakatōhea,” said Maxwell.
Land was taken, relationships with rivers and sacred places were disrupted, and generations were left carrying the weight of what followed. The consequences of that history remain visible in the whenua surrounding Terere Marae.
“Anei te whenua e noho nei i kōrerohia i te rā nei,” hei tā Maxwell.
“Kei tēnei taha, e pai te tipu i te kānga, i te pūhā, ka tapahia te kānga, nā ka tipu mai te pūhā, engari i rāwāhi nā ko ngā [uru] huakiwi, kei ngā Pākehā. Haria mai ngā kaipūtaiao whenua ki [tēnei taha] ki te tētēhi i te whenua, mea i kore e pai ki te whakatipu huakiwi - whenua pōhara!”
But the inquiry is not just about establishing the wrongs of the past. It is also about shaping a way forward and asking what justice for Te Whakatōhea should look like today. Vaughan Payne, who also gave evidence on behalf of Ngāti Ngahere, views a more responsive relationship with the Crown as key to the way forward.
“To really understand how we can work with the Crown to have specific strategies that are Whakatōhea specific,” he said. “We make up 70 percent of the Ōpōtiki population, so having approaches that are specific to us, that are Whakatōhea based with [the] Crown supporting that approach, to me, that would be justice.”
While presenting his evidence to the Tribunal, Maxwell reflected on the words attributed to Te Whakatōhea leader Mokomoko before his execution at Mount Eden gaol in 1866:
“Tangohia te taura i taku kakī kia waiata au i taku waiata.”
Mokomoko was wrongfully convicted over the killing of missionary Reverend Carl Sylvius Völkner in Ōpōtiki. A claim by his descendants is also being heard through the Wai 1750 inquiry and seeks separate redress for the injustices suffered by Mokomoko and the ongoing impacts on his descendants, including a full acquittal.
For Maxwell, Mokomoko’s words symbolise the continuing work of loosening the restraints of that history.
One of the issues Maxwell is asking the Tribunal to consider is what he calls Mana Rangi - the mana associated with the air, frequencies and the relationship between people and their environment. While the concept may be unfamiliar to some, he said Te Whakatōhea needs to look ahead to the natural resources that could become increasingly significant for future generations.
“Kei te haramai te wā. Rau tau ki muri ko wai o tātou ka mōhio ka tākehia tātou mō te wai? Ināianei, kei te haramai te wā mō te hau.”
Another major aspiration put before the Tribunal is the establishment of a wharekura for Te Whakatōhea, by Te Whakatōhea, so future generations can be educated through their own language, tikanga, histories and Whakatōhea identity.
“Koia tētahi tangi i konei, kāre tētahi wharekura i konei. Mā wai e kawe te kauae o Te Whakatōhea me ōna kōrero mō te [whare] tipuna nei, i taku kauae, i te mea kāre tonu Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga e whakaae kia whiwhi wharekura a Te Whakatōhea.”
In 2019, the Crown agreed to allow these historical claims to continue separately through the district inquiry, in parallel with the wider Te Whakatōhea Treaty settlement process. The $132 million Te Whakatōhea settlement was signed in 2023. But for Ngāti Ngahere, the pursuit of justice and truth did not end with settlement.
“Kei hea te mutunga? Ko te pai o tēnei - e taea ai e mātou te tangi ō mātou tangi. Taea e mātou, mei kore e waimarie, ka puta he hua.”
Payne said the ultimate goal was an iwi strengthened by its own identity.
“Becoming stronger as an iwi, based on our Whakatōheatanga, and from that strong base of Whakatōheatanga we can only be successful.”
The focus is now turning from the grievances of the past towards building a pathway that improves the wellbeing of Ngāti Ngahere and Te Whakatōhea as a whole. And for Maxwell, the measure of that struggle will not necessarily be what it delivers for those alive today, but what it leaves for generations still to come.
Two further hearing weeks are scheduled this year, from 19 to 23 October and 16 to 20 November.
