Māori King Tūheitia brings 'kotahitanga' to High Court at Auckland

Thursday, 8 April 2021

This story was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission.

Māori king, Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, along with an entourage from Tainui, were in the High Court at Auckland on Wednesday to listen to evidence being presented on an overlapping treaty claims case.

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei lodged the case in February challenging the Crown's overlapping claims policy and the Marutūahu Collective's claim to land in the Tāmaki Makaurau area.

Kīngitanga followers supporting Māori king (with hat in hands) to a pai mārie, karakia before entering Te Kōti Teitei.

The Kīngitanga said its presence was not a protest or a show of support for one iwi over the other, but rather a stance to show its relationship to all iwi with connections in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII arrives at the High Court at Auckland in a case challenging the Crown's overlapping claims policy.

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Kīngitanga followers at the Auckland High Court waiting to enter High Court with the Māori king on Wednesday.

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'The actual invitation came to hear some of those hononga, some of those linkages between the Kīngitanga and some of whanaunga in Tāmaki Makaurau, notwithstanding Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and our people within Tāmaki Makaurau in general,' the Kīngitanga said in a statement.

'Today was a chance to come, to show and to reaffirm the linkages of the Kīngitanga with all of our whānau in Tāmaki Makaurau.'

When asked who offered the invitation, Rāhui Papa told RNZ: 'Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki issued the invite and the Kīngitanga responded to all whanaunga iwi'.

The iwi of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei has been presenting their evidence over the last 10 weeks and deputy chairperson Ngārimu Blair was in attendance today and said his people had committed to the process.

'We told our people it's a marathon, we've said there will be some things they won't like hearing but at the end of the day this is a last resort,' Blair said.

'We have a strong relationship with the Kīngitanga … we think our relationship will see us through, despite the ups and downs of the Crown's treaty settlement process.'

This story was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission.