Kiingitanga hui ‘a big bring it on’

Sunday, 21 January 2024

An estimated 10,000 Māori and non-Māori from around Aotearoa descended onto Tūrungawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāia on Saturday, heeding the call for a nationwide hui, by the Māori King, Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII.

Iwi from across the motu answered Kiingi Tūheitia’s royal decree, mobilising and arriving in force.

The morning, sweltering hot, muggy and cloudy, began with an almighty pōwhiri, as the guests began to enter the marae atea (courtyard), and fill the entire site, and then areas across the street, in the wharekai (dining room) and on the banks of the Waikato River.

Each iwi introduced themselves, cracking jokes and helping set the mood that the hui was welcome for all.

Following the pōwhiri, sessions included national unity, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Te Reo and Tikanga, wellbeing and economy, and a Rangatahi led forum.

Attendance was made up of whānau from different backgrounds and areas of the country, including a small number of gang members.

Attendee Eugene Ryder said it felt good to see iwi Māori come together as one.

“It was obvious from the new government we were going to be challenged, and I guess this was a great first response to being challenged,” he said.

Ryder was passionate about the Government’s proposed gang law reform, which he says will predominantly target Māori.

Attendee Te Aōrere Parore Southon said the atmosphere of the hui was ‘all aroha’.

“If we meet with aroha and move with aroha and flow with it, there’s no need for arguments or anything like that,” she said.

“It’s a big bring it on, if they do want to play in that field, but it’s also a bring it on with aroha.”

Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka said today was a “great day”.

'Absolutely beautiful weather as is well known and Waikato-Tainui, we always have the right weather. And today was a great day for hui tangata ora, rather than a tangi,' he said.

When told many people at the hui feel under threat of the coalition government, Potaka said they have to work on things, however they will deliver “ruthlessly” for Māori.

Kara Puketapu-Dentice, CEO of Taranaki Whānui, delivered a core message of the hui, that would be delivered to Rātana commemorations and Waitangi: that the Treaty was not open to reinterpretation.

“He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti are full and complete documents that provide for a written constitution for this nation. They do not require interpretation or reinterpretation by use of principles,” he told the crowd of thousands.

“Frances Curtis of Te Arawa, said He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti provide the consitutional framework for Aotearoa, and said we will not tolerate any attacks on our tino rangatiratanga, we will unite against the abuse,” he added.

“If the Government does not uphold Te Tiriti, Te Arawa asserted they will cede, and form its own political authority.”

Speaking to the hui, Kiingi Tūheitia said the messages sent today were heard all over the world.

'By turning up, we've sent a strong message,“ he said.

“This is just day one, our time is now, kotahitanga is the way. Those who want to divide us I say this, we're all elite Māori.

'We are elite Māori, elite because of our whakapapa and mana.'

Kiingi Tūheitia said they were only interested in one version of the treaty, the te reo version, that was not open to reinterpretation.

'Don’t look at the courts to understand the treaty, look to the marae,' he said.

'The best practice we can do right now is be Māori - Māori all day, every day. We are here, and we are strong.'