The Long Road
to Redemption for the Crown ...
Haare
Williams heard of the Tuhoe struggle through the many ponderous stories told to
him by Wairemana, grand-daughter of Tutakangahau and felt her pain in episodes
of inter-generational mamae. There was some cheer at Taneatua this week as
Treaty Negotiations Minister; Hon Chris Findlayson announced the government’s
formal apology for the continuous persecution of Tuhoe. $170m some compensation for the bloody wounds held
in silence, grief, rage and fortitude. Maybe
this week, as the cold wind of Okiwa blew across the valley, we felt a flicker
in the light of redemption for The Crown.
He rongo korero noake -
I heard that last week Tame Iti with his Tuhoe kin welcomed into his heartland home
of Ruatoki those who put him into the largest [i]Hinaki’
in the country with a glass of distilled red wine.
I heard that … Tuhoe;
people of “The Mist,” a story of survival.
I was a blessed grandson surrounded by the Tuhoe narrative handed down
from her dad, Taihakoa Poniwahio of Ruatoki and her grandfather, Tutakangahau
of Waikaremoana.
I heard that … Te Kooti and Rua Kenana were their links to the
remnants of their land and the common ties that brought them together. I heard
that … the negative Pakeha (state) constructs of Tuhoe as dissidents who
provided sanctuary for criminals in the Urewera canopy of bush, mountains and
mist. They were painted as a people that
should always be treated with distrust.
I heard that … the intrusions of the state into Te Urewera borders on
trumped up charges of being “… in
pursuit of refugees and fugitives”. I heard that … the forced session of Tuhoe lands around Waikaremoana –
all the way to Ruatoki, Waimana, Ohiwa, Pekatahi and Opouriao happened for
alleged disloyalty.
I heard that … Kenana, the Prophet founded his community on
non-violence, strict hygiene standards, a school, a marae and a temple with compulsory
schooling and church attendances, a savings bank, savings of £31,000, superannuation,
a farming co-operative, and as well a settlement run by his own parliament.
I heard that … Tamaikoha visited officials amongst them PM Richard
Seddon and the courts to fight to protect Tuhoe lands, bush and water.
I heard of … the rape of the land and the mana of a peaceful people
wanting their independence yet forced through poverty to eke out a living
without the resources they once managed to a white legislative hegemony of
looters who came in the guise of missionaries, surveyors, soldiers and
politicians, miners and cattle barons.
They came as the advanced occupying guard – their lust for land was
endemic. Teachers and nurses they
trusted.
I heard that … Te Kaunihera
Whitu Tekau-The Council of Seventy outstanding leaders: Nūmia, Tamāikoha, Tūtakangahau,
Rakuraku, Tamarau, Te Ahikaiata, Te Makarini, Tāpeka, Te Kererū, Poniwāhio, Te
Amo all the way to Tāmati Kruger and Tame Iti.
Historian Judith Binney described them as,
“… actively seeking to protect lands of Tuhoe.”
“… ka tangi ki tēnei taonga e hohou nei i te
maungārongo ki te whenua, whakaaro pai, whakawātea i te whakamomori i uhia ake
nei ki runga ki a Ngāi Tūhoe, kua mahea rā haere whakamua.”
(I grieve, not for
the past but for the future as this taonga laid out on the marae reminds us of the
peace that will come over the land; one that will set us free from the bonds of
grief.)
A tribute by Tuhoe
kaumatua, [ii]Te
Rangi Puke at
Waikirikiri Marae, Ruatoki to Kahurangi Judith
Te Ohomairangi o te Aroha Binney on Monday 30 November 2009 at the launch of her book
‘Encircled Lands 1821-1916’.
I heard that … Knowledge
is emancipating, knowledge is a freedom held in waiata of a long trail of
betrayals that bite deep, but Tuhoe today sees knowledge as a precursor for
healing wounds rendered over 140 years.
The mending is a long way off. The state
cannot salve its guilt in a bottle of distilled red wine from the rich Earth of
confiscated fields in Opouriao for the ultimate redemption can only come from
Earth and from God.
I heard that … the final chapter of this saga is about redemption and
moving ahead as Kruger put it, “… it’ll take time for us to heal
but the state must bear the ultimate guilt.”
I heard that … Tuhoe is
now holding its breath for the state to do the right thing by them. May the battle end, but they ask, “… when
will the war end?”
I heard that … when Rua Kenana, The Maungapohatu prophet stepped
forward to peacefully receive Police Commissioner, John Cullen with ninety-nine
fully armed and mounted police on Sunday 2 April 1916, and his powhiri was
crushed with violence and the deaths of two; his son Toko and a follower, Te
Maipi. What happened in Ruatoki seven
years ago; was this an episode of history repeating itself: Parihaka,
Rangiaowhia, Rangiriri, Pukehinahina, Ngatapa, Bastion Point …
I heard that … the people of Ruatoki still cannot believe that their
sleepy hollow was rudely woken up on Monday 15 October 2007 to a violence that
hovers still in their peaceful corner of Earth.
“I
got up early on Monday and drove to my Kohanga Reo. About 3kms from home, I was stopped by a
strange site that still frightens me.
There was this road block and six cops, well I thought they were cops on
the road, masks covering their faces and armed with machine guns (I
think). I was rudely asked to, “… step
out!” which I did. Then they lined me up
against my number plate and photographed me.
After about an hour, they let me go without answering my questions. I didn’t know that Tame Iti had been arrested
until I got to my Kohanga Reo. So now
we’re terrorists.” (Interview [iii]Te
Umu Mere McGarvey, Tuhoe Kuia, Ruatoki 16 October 2007)
I asked Tuhoe Treaty negotiator Tamati Kruger, “What is the price
for $170m?” His reply, “It’s not the
price but the cost.”
At the heart of our nation is a spirit of goodness, the
light of redemption that Kruger is holding up for us above the gloom from which
shines maungarongo (reconciliation, restitution and redemption), whanaungatanga
(hospitality, generosity and respect), Kaitiakitanga (protection of natural and spiritual
richness), and mana (integrity of both partners of the treaty).
I heard myself say, “… thank you Tamati thank you Tame,
thank you Tuhoe for showing us how naked we look in the wake of a litany of
betrayals. Nga mihi nui ano hoki Chris Findlayson ...”.
He rongo
korero noake - I heard that, tonight as Tame Iti takes a deep breath, a reprieve
from Te Hinaki and the courts, he’ll be celebrating with “Hei Tira Tira-Hey Diddle Diddle …”, he holds above his head a
bottle to celebrate, but you can be sure what he’s holding
up is not a Molotov cocktail.