Waitangi Tribunal Hearings in Tauranga on 12 & 13 October 2006

The Hauraki Maori Trust Board is presenting its claims in the Tauranga Moana District Waitangi Tribunal Stage 2 Hearings. These are being held in Tauranga commencing on Monday 9 October 2006. Other iwi and hapu will be presenting their case earlier in the week. Over two days on Thursday 12 October and Friday 13 October 2006 Hauraki will present its case concerning taonga and the Athenree Forest.

If you would like to attend and support the Hauraki case in Tauranga on the 12 th and 13 th October please ring the Trust Board office in Paeroa on 0508468288 for further details.

Background

The 2004 Waitangi Tribunal report Te Raupatu O Tauranga Moana into the land confiscations at Tauranga confirmed that Hauraki iwi had direct customary land interests in the Katikati – Te Puna Blocks near Athenree, Bowentown and Katikati. The landscape of this area is full of the signs of Maori occupation and settlement and our own Hauraki stories recount the deeds of tupuna, the sites they used to live at and important places of significance.

The Waitangi Tribunal report of 2004 concentrated only on confiscation issues and earlier this year they decided to come back and look at all the more recent issues that Maori wished to raise since the 1860’s confiscations.

For our part, we have been concerned for many years that our taonga in the Katikati- Te Puna land blocks have been alienated and taken from us and that our waahi tapu ( or sacred places) have been destroyed. This is a process that has continued for years and continues to take place today.

During the preparation for these hearings the Waitangi Tribunal directed that Hauraki undertake research concerning the identification and repatriation of cultural property in the Katikati – Te Puna Block area.

The Taonga Claim

No Maori in the Tauranga region was left unaffected by the pattern of confiscation and the practice of colonial history. Because of our kinship and whakapapa linkages all iwi to a greater or lesser extent, wherever they were living, suffered the same fate.

Hauraki have in the past and continue to assert ownership over taonga wherever such are located now. This ownership arises out of the relationship between Hauraki people and our tupuna who fashioned, used and possessed such taonga. Most of our taonga are now located in the Auckland Museum, Waikato Museum and there are some in Te Papa.

Newly found taonga become the property of the Crown by virtue of the Protected Objects Act 1975 formerly the Antiquities Act.

In The Hauraki Report2006 the Waitangi Tribunal found that we suffered “real prejudice”.

“Taonga were lost, modified or exported illegally ... and … nothing can be done under the law to rectify these past losses… real prejudice has resulted from the desecration, modification and even destruction of waahi tapu sites. These failings were in breach of both articles 2 and 3 of the Treaty” (The Hauraki Report 2006, page 964).

Hauraki will present evidence on taonga specifically related to our customary lands in the Katikati – Te Puna area and what has happened to these taonga since they were alienated from us. A new model focused on the repatriation of taonga, drawn from experiences of other indigenous peoples, will also be recommended.

It is hoped that through the presentation of the Hauraki case, positive recommendations will be made by the Tauranga Waitangi Tribunal to benefit all Maori who were similarly impacted in the Tauranga region.

The Athenree Forest

The Tauranga Waitangi Tribunal report of 2004 also found that Hauraki had a direct interest of at least 50% in the Athenree Forest which is shared with Tauranga Moana iwi. The Tribunal gave leave for Hauraki to present further information on this matter during the Stage 2 hearings.