Flags are flying in the far north as the latest national hīkoi begins, with thousands of people marching down the country to Parliament this week.
After an overnight wānanga in Te Kao, the first leg of the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti began today from Te Rerenga Wairua to Kawakawa. The nine-day march will see thousands heading to Parliament to protest the Treaty Principles Bill and government policies harming Māori.
Far North councillor Tāmati Rākena says, despite the weight of these issues, this movement is being carried in peace.
“Ehara i te hīkoi i runga i te pakanga, i runga i te ātea o Tū. I runga [ke] i te mana me te mauri o tō tātau nei iwi Māori.”
“Ka mutu, i runga i ngā āhuatanga katoa kua pā nei ki runga i a tātou mai i tēnei kāwanatanga.”
(We are clear on our objectives. This isn’t a hīkoi of aggression but rather it represents the hopes and aspirations of our Māori people, given the treatment we’ve had from the government.)
“Te iwi Māori - kaha ki te tohe. A Ngāpuhi, kaha ake ki te tohe mō te kore.
Erangi i runga i tērā tohe, kei konei tonu mātau katoa, otirā tātou te iwi Māori e tohe ana nā runga i te tika me te pono, nō te mea e mōhio pai ana tāua i mua i ngā ture o te Pākehā i tae mai ki konei, ki roto o Aotearoa, i noho tonu tātau ki runga i ngā tikanga a ngā mātua tūpuna. Nā kōia te [w]hakaaro nui kei waenganui i a tātau, ko ngā tikanga o te iwi Māori ka noho hei mātāmua ki ngā ture o te ao Pākehā.”
(Māori are an argumentative people. Ngāpuhi can argue no end! Maoridom as a whole has been drawn here out of a sense of justice. Before European contact we lived in New Zealand under native lore, so the main objective here is to champion tikanga Māori.)
The first activation location was in Kaitāia before moving on to Kawakawa this afternoon.
Activists like Linda Munn were present, reminiscing on the many hīkoi she has been part of.
“It’s 45 years worth of activism. [I] think [my] first hikoi was anti-nuclear,” she says.
“I was a kiddo like some of these kids here on my first hīkoi. I think being here this is our space - Te Rerenga Wairua. This is where all our tūpuna come before they leave our worldly plane.”
The Toitū te Tiriti movement was initiated by Te Pāti Māori last year. Now the reins have been handed to the people.
“Kua rite te iwi ki te kawe i tēnei kaupapa. Waiho mā Te Pāti Māori te taha ki te kāwanatanga, ka waiho ko te mana motuhake ki te iwi mā rātau anō hoki e kawe tēnei kaupapa,” says Te Pāti Māori co-leader, Rawiri Waititi.
(The people are ready to carry out this movement, leaving the political side to Te Pāti Māori and the ultimate sovereignty to the people, that they may carry this movement.)
Mike Te Wake (Te Rarawa) was also present, sharing insight from his elders on matters of the day.
“I rongo au i ngā kōrero inanahi rā a aku karani, o aku mātua te meinga atu, ko tātau [he] iwi mōhio ki te whawhai,” he says.
“Engari tā rātau tohutohu me kī, me tika te whawhai. Me whai rautaki [kia] rongo te whare mīere i ngā nawe, kaua e haere me te riri.”
(I heard what my elders said yesterday. They said we are people who know how to fight. But their instructions to us - you must fight righteously. You must have a strategy, so the government may hear your issues. Don’t go angry.)
The group will stay overnight in Whangārei and tomorrow the movement will go to Tunatahi and Te Rakipaewhenua.