Tensions flared on the marae ātea at Waitangi today as emotions and tikanga played out between Te Pāti Māori and Eru Kapa-Kingi.
Following an address by Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, his wife Kiri Tamihere-Waititi lead a passionate haka crossing the ātea directly towards Kapa-Kingi.
Earlier, Kapa-Kingi had used his kōrero on the taumata to question the presence of political parties and the Crown on Māori marae - as well as telling Te Pāti Māori to ‘sort itselves out’.
“Taku pātai tonu ki a tātou, he aha tātou e pōhiri tonu nei i te pungāwerewere ki roto i tō tātou whare? He aha tātou e tuku ana i te papa kōrero mā ēnei, kia wātea rā rātou ki te tuku pīnati ki runga ki te marae, hei hākarikari mā te Māori. Anō nei he makimaki tātou.”
“My question to us is, why do we continue to welcome the Crown to our spaces? Why do we allow them to speak at the marae, where they offer peanuts for Māori, like we are monkeys?”
He later said his criticism extended beyond any single party.
“He māmā noa iho ki a au te wero i te Kāwana o te wā, erangi me kaua tātou e wareware, he kino tonu kei ngā pāti katoa.”
Responding on the taumata, Waititi acknowledged the depth of feeling behind the remarks, saying the marae was the right place for such kōrero.
“Kei te rongo atu ahau i te riri, kei te rongo atu ahau i te mamae… me te māia hoki, ki te tū i mua i te aroaro o te iwi."
However, Kapa-Kingi said for him it fell short of what he was hoping for - which was some accountability or an apology.
“Āe, ka nui te tata… engari kīhai i tae ki reira.”
In response to the haka, talking to Te Ao News, Eru Kapa-Kingi said he was confused and trying to process how he should receive it - and added that he took off his sunglasses and hat to fully absorb what was happening.
“Yea I was trying to read that, and I’m still sort of processing what that was, and maybe it’s a hongi, maybe it’s not. Ko te tikanga tuku iho, me kaua e huna. Ki te wero tētahi i a koe, me kaua e huna, so kia ū ki ērā tikanga.”
Speaking to media afterwards, Waititi said apologies should only be made where wrongdoing was clear, noting an ongoing judicial process.
After the haka, Kiri Tamihere-Waititi told Pūkaea’s Kereama Wright, she returned to Ngāpuhi for the first time since tensions between the party and whānau escalated last year, describing the moment as one driven by emotion.
“Me tāku haka, koinā tāku e tuku ana i taku whakahoki atu ruaki te kurī nāna te ruaki e mea ana i pupū ake noa iho i te ngākau hihiko.”
She said her focus remained on reconciliation and the future, rather than public commentary.
“Kāore au mō te tangata e haere ana ki te ao pāpāho ki te tuku i aku kōrero… Tēnei te pāremata o Tūmatauenga, koinā tāku i tēnei rā.”
Roughly translated, saying she is not someone who goes to the media to air my thoughts. Today, this was my parliament of Tūmatauenga.
Tamihere-Waititi also said the priority must be mokopuna and restoring relationships.
“Ko te hiahia o te ngākau kia mātāmua ko ngā mokopuna i mua noa atu i te whakaaro.”
The confrontation comes amid tensions between Kapa-Kingi and Te Pāti Māori leadership.
Last year, he publicly criticised the party, describing its leadership style as “dictatorial” and pointing to internal turmoil and decision-making processes he said undermined tikanga and collective accountability.
Those tensions later escalated to the expulsion of Te Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, a decision now before the High Court, as to determine if she can be reinstated into the party - a judgement on that is expected next week.
Following the haka, Tamihere-Waititi also stood to perform a waiata tautoko for Mariameno Kapa-Kingi after she spoke from the mahau.
