Kahungunu celebrates fisheries conclusion
Ngati Kahungunu played host to Te Ohu Kaimoana and iwi in early September to celebrate its receipt of long-awaited Maori fisheries assets. The East Coast iwi received its allocation of fisheries settlement assets in August when it was approved as a Joint Mandated Iwi Organisation.
Neighbouring iwi, including representatives from Rongomaiwahine, Ngai Tamanuhiri and Ngai Tahu, attended the event at Waipatu Marae that was the culmination of a week of celebrations as part of “Kahungunu Maranga”.
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| Kahungunu representatives waiata during the celebrations. From left, Haami Hilton, Waiora Rogers, Christine Teariki and NKII chief executive Ngahiwi Tomoana. |
“It was a wonderful week of celebrations of Kahungunu,” said Ngahiwi Tomoana, Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated chief executive. “From Kahungunu Maranga to Takitimu Karanga, we celebrated our desire to stand up and be counted through to the call of Takitimu to be a part of the celebrations.”
“The event was to acknowledge all the work that's gone on by everybody in the allocation of Maori fisheries,” says Ngahiwi.
Randy Whaanga and Minnie Westrupp, representatives from Rongomaiwahine, gave their support to the allocation from Te Ohu Kaimoana and acknowledged their iwi's decision to remain within Kahungunu.
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| A sculpture of an “anchor” made from Oamaru stone with a moka tie was presented to Ngati Kahungunu in recognition of receiving its fisheries settlement allocations. |
Included among the guests were Sir Thomas Davis, former Prime Minister of the Cook Islands and that country's former High Commissioner to New Zealand, and Pa Ariki, a representative of Takitimu from the Cook Islands. Po Avae, the official spokesperson of Pa Ariki, said there was a strong and historical relationship between Kahungunu and the Cook Islands through the Takitimu waka.
Ngahiwi says the 1 September event was also a gathering of those who whakapapa to the Takitimu waka. “Ngati Kahungunu might be a large iwi, but we are a small fish in the fisheries water. We value ourselves as Kahungunu and we also value ourselves as Takitimu.”
It was a gathering of the influential representatives of the Treaty Tribes' Coalition – Ngai Tamanuhiri, Ngai Tahu, Hauraki, Rongomaiwahine and Kahungunu. The coalition played an important role in the decade-long debate over development of an allocation model for the fisheries settlement.
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| Te Ohu Kaimoana and visiting representatives welcomed onto Waipatu Marae to celebrate the delivery of fisheries assets to Kahungunu. From left, Charlie Crofts, Ngai Tahu, Peter Douglas, CEO of Te Ohu Kaimoana, Hon Koro Wetere, Te Ohu Kaimoana director and Sir Tom Davis from the Cook Islands. |
Current Te Ohu Kaimoana directors and former Commissioners of the organisation took part in the celebrations. Te Ohu Kaimoana chief executive Peter Douglas said the celebration was a fitting conclusion to the long process of allocation that began in the late 1980s.
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Tiakina ngā rawa hi ika, a tātou kaimoana mo ngā uri whakaheke
Protecting Māori fisheries assets for future generations