Tuhoe's leap of faith in accepting Crown apology

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Sat, 02 Jul 2011 6:10p.m.

Tame Iti says the Crown and Tuhoe are no longer throwing stones and rocks at each other

Tame Iti says the Crown and Tuhoe are no longer throwing stones and rocks at each other

By Michael Morrah

After more than 140 years of bad relations, the Government has apologised to Bay of Plenty iwi Ngai Tuhoe for historical grievances.

An apology is normally reserved until after claims have been settled.

But the Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson says in the case of Tuhoe, it was appropriate to be up front.

Shotgun blasts echoed through Ruatahuna, as Tuhoe warriors came forward to lay down the challenge.

It was a historical day for the iwi, some of whom held rifles and other weapons.

Considering the past, it may not come as a surprise, Tuhoe ancestors faced more than a century of oppression at the hands of the Crown. Today, it was this oppression the Crown apologised for.

"The Crown is deeply sorry for the way in which Ngai Tuhoe has been treated in the past and also for the failure to make amends, despite the endeavours of Tuhoe leaders,” said Mr Finlayson.

Chief negotiator Tamati Kruger says “it's courageous of the Minister to talk about the regrets of not picking up opportunities in the past for peace”.

A relationship agreement was also signed acknowledging the mana of both parties, and a commitment to settle historical grievances.

Tuhoe spokesperson Tame Iti says the two parties “are no longer throwing stones and rocks at each other”.

“We are coming towards some form of understanding."

That form of understanding broke down last year after Prime Minister John Key pulled out of a deal because of its provisions to hand back Te Uruwera National Park to Tuhoe.

Ownership of the area remains a bottom-line for Tuhoe.

Tuhoe kaumatua, professor Pou Temara, says "we still want the return of the national park, yet realising that's not going to be an easy path".

“We can deal with those issues in the fullness of time as the Prime Minister has said,” says Mr Finlayson.

Tuhoe will remain suspicious of the Crown. In the past rongomau, or peace agreements, have been broken. Today is considered a leap of faith by Tuhoe but tribal leaders agree and are committed to moving forward, for the sake of the next generation.

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Comments

07 Jul 2011 03:52p.m.

Gosh wrote:

Lawl.. fact is we all arrived here by boat. A little common courtesy wouldn’t go astray, especially if you crave respect.

03 Jul 2011 09:02p.m.

Rayray wrote:

Paul, breathe through your nose, you and fellow traveller JJ need to acquaint yourselves with the facts:: 'good old boys' Know your history, of your country TV3: Is 'bitching' offensive under your moderation guide? The only ones 'bitching' here are you chaps. Looking at the faces of the people on Saturday 2nd July at Mataatua marae in buschclad, sodden, grey Ruatahuna, they looked not so much happy as relieved that maybe just maybe after 140 years the Crown would finally come to the Tuhoe heartland and say sorry, and mean it. You are the idiot JJJ (or is it KKK???. ) not Minister Finlayson. Your election year argument just doesn't hold water; how many extra votes will National get by this signing - not one, so the minister is brave, you are the 'idiot'. JJJ, your overheated language - idiots, hoods, suck..on straw' shows more the angry man inside the 'idiot' that is you. Over the past 20 years the one-cop shop at Taneatua has had normal turnover, including two Tuhoe lads who became manned and still man that station. So yet another of your rants shown to be like the writer, 'idiotic'. As for the hotel that burned down, it wasn't arson as you claim, and that was the old Taneatua Hotel, before Te Punawai which has closed. And last time I drove through Taneatua (two days ago) I stopped and filled my vehicle up at the Taneatua service station. Geez JJJ, I've just pulled your arguments to bits, leaving behind but one thing. An 'idiot'. Know the history of your country before you write turgid dross Paul and JJJ. One more thing; Tuhoe will still be here ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred, a thousand years from now. How many governments of this country have lasted beyond three terms, not many. I finish, a pile of real work awaits, me be workin like caucasian... (government) understands the need to

03 Jul 2011 07:59p.m.

sonny wrote:

if its a load of crap redneck Paul, why weren't you at Ruatahuna?..why??..cos you r full of crap wif no balls who knows nothing of Tuhoe history..so why don't you keel over n die!!

03 Jul 2011 08:28a.m.

Richard Mayson wrote:

After the strategic decision not to sign the Treaty of Waitangi and the subsequent persecution by the crown over 171 years, this a a truly great profoundly historical day. For both Tuhoe and the Crown. Perhaps now can put the despicable events of rape and pillage under the British imperial troops with the complicity of a couple of Eastern neighbouring iwi, so eloquently portrayed in in Maurice Shadbolt's book "Season of the Jew", behind us. Likewise the equally despicable role of the Constabulary led by Police Commissioner John Cullen in 1916 and the more recent dawn police raids and abuses in and around Ruatoki in 2007 sanctioned by Commissioner Broad, the SIS and a weak knee'd Labour Government trying to please a vengeful USA President George W Bush and his moronic mantra on terrorism " that you are either for us or against us". Who would have thought it.A conservative National Government whose constituent backing is riddled with Caucasian racists and Maori bashers, taking such a courageous morgal stance. Minister Chris Finlayson deserves congratulations . Now all PM John Key has to do is give Tuhoe back its Urewera park and Whakatane river valley lands back that it stole illegally under the 1896 Act and honour will have been completed. Kia kaha Tuhoe

03 Jul 2011 04:01a.m.

Paul wrote:

What a load of bloody crap, this is 2011, not 1840, get over it. Will this moaning and bitching never cease.

02 Jul 2011 09:21p.m.

jj wrote:

Finlayson is nothing less than a fully pledged idiot wanting to do a deal with Tuhoes Plight.Tame iti the one who spat on the ground in protest, all so fire a rifle off in the middle of the street,Key would not have a bar of it last year,but with it being election year he has sucked on another dirty straw just for those votes.Taneatua is the stamping ground of these hoods,and the amount of police that have been and gone from the police station there, would top all small towns for turn over.They even had a hotel that got burnt down.A service station that ended up closing down.