‘Ko te mana noa iho’: Ko te hīkoi nui te hītori, e pīroiroi nei, i whakawhiti i te Arawhiti Whanga o Tāmaki

Wednesday, 13 November 2024

He rā tino nui mō te Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti i te wā e hia mano ngā kaihīkoi i whakawhiti i te Arawhiti Whanga o Tāmaki hei tautoko i ngā take Māori i te ata o te Wenerei.

Ko ngā whakahohenga i Takaparawhau me Ihumātao i whai i te whakawhitinga arawhiti i mua i te haerenga o te tāruru ki Rangiriri i Waikato.

I tīmata te hīkoi i ārahitia e Toitū Te Tiriti i Te Rerenga Wairua i te Mane, ā, ka haere ki te Ika a Māui i ngā rā e heke mai nei, ki te huitahi i waho o te Pāremata i Pōneke i te Noema 19.

Kua whakamāoritia tēnei pūrongo e tētahi hinengaro rorohiko, ā, kua hihiratia e te kaiwhakamāori a Puna, a Joel Maxwell, nāna te pūrongo i whakapai hoki i mua i te whakaputa hei pūrongo reorua. Nā Straker me Microsoft te hinengaro rorohiko i whakawhanake.

This story, originally in English only, was translated into reo Māori by an AI tool then checked and edited by Stuff kaiwhakamāori Joel Maxwell before publication as a bilingual news story. The AI tool was developed by Straker and Microsoft.

He haerenga e kore rawa e mutu te ngarue i te whenua.

It is a journey that never stops moving the earth.

I te Wenerei, e hia mano ngā kaihīkoi i kōtuiuti ki ngā whakatupuranga i mua i a rātou nā runga i tētahi hīkoi kia whakawhiti ai i te Arawhiti Whanga o Tāmaki, e whirinaki ana ki a rāua anō mō te tautoko, e tohe ana kia haere tonu ki mua i tētahi raina tōtika, i te wā e pīroiroi ana te papa ki raro.

On Wednesday, thousands of marchers joined generations before them in a walk across Auckland Harbour Bridge, bracing against each other for support, pushing ahead in a straight line, as the ground beneath them swayed.

Read this story in English here.

“Ko te mana noa iho,” ka karangatia e tētahi kaiwhakahaere, e whakahau ana i te hunga whakaminenga i roto i ngā hū hīkoi tika, ngā mōhiti, e mau ana i ngā haki Tino Rangatiratanga e tākiri ana i roto i tētahi hau rāwhiti-mā-raki e kore nei e rongo ana i roto i ngā motokā e taraiwa ana i mua.

“It’s just the mana,” an organiser called out, reassuring the crowds in sensible walking shoes, sunglasses, bearing Tino Rangatiratanga flags snapping in a northeasterly rarely felt in the cars driving past.

Kua hangaia e te Hīkoi mō te Tiriti te hītori, i te toru o ngā wā i roto i te tata ki te 50 tau, ka haere te manomano o ngā kaihīkoi i te arawhiti nui rawa o Aotearoa hei tautoko i ngā take Māori.

The Hīkoi mō te Tiriti has created history as, for the third time in nearly 50 years, marchers walked en masse across New Zealand’s largest bridge in support of Māori issues.

I te 1975, i ārahi te Kahurangi Whina Cooper i tōna hīkoi mō te whenua rongonui e haere ana i te motu ki Pōneke mai i Te Hāpua, te koi o te hiku o te ika a Māui, me ngā mano e tae atu ana puta noa i te arawhiti i muri i a ia.

In 1975, Dame Whina Cooper led her famed land march up the island to Pōneke (Wellington) from Te Hāpua, the very point of the tail of the fish of Māui, with thousands streaming across the bridge behind her.

I te Māehe 2004, e 29 tau i muri iho, ka whai haere te hīkoi mō te takutai me te papamoana i ō rātou āhiki.

March 2004 29 years later, the foreshore and seabed hīkoi followed in their footsteps.

Ko tō Kea Perene whaea kēkē tētahi o ngā tāngata taketake, e haere ana i ngā huarahi katoa mai i Te Rerenga Wairua ki Pōneke i te 1975.

Kea Perene’s aunty was one of the originals, walking all the way from Te Rerenga Wairua (Cape Rēinga) to Wellington back in 1975.

I te Wenerei, ko Perene, i roto i tētahi Swandri me te mau i tētahi tohu whakatoi (“Whakarauna kia mōhio ai”) i wehe i te kāinga i te 7.30am me tōna hoa rangatira me ā rāua tamariki tokorua kia hono ki te hīkoi, i a ia rānei e kī ana, “e tū tahi ana ki te ngā tāngata katoa me te iwi Māori”. Nō Kaitaia a ia, engari kei Onehunga ināianei.

On Wednesday, Perene, in a Swanndri and carrying a cheeky sign (“Whakarauna find out”) left home at 7.30am with her partner and two children to join the hīkoi, or as she said, “stand together with the nation and te iwi Māori”. She is from Kaitaia, but lives in Onehunga now.

Ka kaha rāngona te wairua o te hītori - e ngākau whiwhita ana a ia ki te pīkau i te kaupapa, tana kī.

The sense of history was palpable - she was looking forward to carrying on the kaupapa, she said.

Ko te hīkoi, me te tuhononga ki Te Pāti Māori, e ātete ana ki te Pire Matapono Tiriti i mua i te Pāremata.

The hīkoi, which is aligned with Te Pāti Māori, is opposed to the Treaty Principles Bill currently before Parliament.

E kī ana te kaiārahi ACT, a David Seymour, kāore he mea e pā ki te Tiriti tūturu.

ACT leader David Seymour says nothing is going to happen to the actual Treaty.

I roto i tana kirimana haumitanga, i toa a ACT i tā te Pati Nahinara tautoko mā te wāhanga tuku kōrero tūmatanui o te mahi ture, mō tētahi Pire Matapono Tiriti. I te mutunga ka taea te whakakapi i ngā tikanga maha o nāianei - me pēhea tātou e whakamārama ai i ngā whakaaro o te Tiriti - me te tuku i te toru noa iho. He ōritetanga te whāinga i mua i te ture.

In its coalition deal, ACT won National’s support through the public consultation stage of lawmaking, for a Treaty Principles Bill. It could eventually replace the many existing principles - how we interpret the Treaty’s intentions - with a trimmed-down offering of three. The goal is equality before the law.

Kua whakatūpatotia e te Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi ka taea e te pire te whakamutu te mahi ngātahi i waenganui i te Karauna me te Māori, me te Tiriti anō.

The Waitangi Tribunal has warned the bill could end the partnership between the Crown and Māori, and the Treaty itself.

I te Wenerei, ka tohe ki te tonga te huihuinga o ngā mano - kia haere arorangi ai - i runga i te haerenga ki te upoko o te ika a Māui, ki Pōneke.

On Wednesday, a crowd of thousands pushed southward - upwards - on a journey to the head of the fish of Māui, Wellington.

I roto i ngā hīkoi whenua e rua o mua, nā te nuinga o ngā kaihīkoi i whakararuraru ai te piriti.

In both previous land marches, the sheer number of walkers caused the bridge to sway alarmingly.

Kāore i rerekē i te awa whero me te mā, i te pango hoki i ringihia mai i roto i ngā ara ki te raki e rua mai i te 9.30am.

It was no different as a stream of red and white and black poured through the two northbound lanes from about 9.30am.

I te haere ngā kaihīkoi i te piriti nui rawa i Aotearoa, me tētahi wāhi whakarunga o ngā waka e 170,000 e whakawhiti ana i ia rā. I te taumata o tōna pūranga, ka tata tonu ki te tiketike o tētahi whare papa e 55 ngā taumata i runga ake i te Whanga Waitematā. Nō te whakatuwheratanga i te 1959, ka whakatuwheratia hoki te North Shore, e āhei ai te tāone ki te tupu ki te raki.

The marchers were walking the biggest bridge in Aotearoa, with somewhere upwards of 170,000 vehicles crossing it every day. At the peak of its arch, it reaches close to the height of a 55-storey building above the Waitematā Harbour. When opened in 1959, it also opened up the North Shore, allowing the city to push northward.

I runga i te piriti ko Ataahua Poutai-Watts (Ngāpuhi) i haere ki Tāmaki Makaurau mai i Whangārei me tētahi rōpū tekau. I muri i tana uru ki te whakahohenga hīkoi i Kaka Porowini Marae i Whangārei i te rā i mua, ināianei he wāhanga a ia nō te rōpū e whakawhiti ana i te piriti.

On the bridge was Ataahua Poutai-Watts (Ngāpuhi) who travelled to Auckland from Whangārei with a group of ten. After joining the hīkoi activation at Kaka Porowini Marae in Whangārei the day before, she was now part of the group crossing the bridge.

“Ko te nuinga o ō tātou tīpuna kua whawhai ki te rangatiratanga mō ō tātou iwi Māori, mo ā tātou mokopuna, mō ā tātou whakatupuranga ki te heke mai.

“It’s mainly for our tīpuna that have fought for sovereignty for our Māori people and for our mokopuna, for our next generations.

“Mō tātou, me rātou hoki, hei Māori, te hīkoi nei,” tana kī.

“The hīkoi is for us and them, as Māori,” she said.

I whakapaea e ngā pirihimana neke atu i te 5000 te whakawhiti i te arawhiti - koia te iwi whānui katoa o tētahi tāone pēnei i a Ōpōtiki - i te wā i tukuna e ētahi atu pēnei i a Labour MP Willie Jackson i runga i te pāpāho pāpori, neke atu i te 10,000 (te iwi whānui o Hāwera, Taranaki), ka kī te kaiwhakahaere hīkoi a Eru Kapa-Kingi, neke atu i te 25,000 te tau (i te nuinga o te iwi whānui o Tāhuna).

Police estimated more than 5000 were crossing the bridge - that’s the entire population of a town like Ōpōtiki - while others like Labour MP Willie Jackson posted on social media it could be more than 10,000 (the population of Hāwera, Taranaki), hīkoi organiser Eru Kapa-Kingi said the number was more than 25,000 (roughly the population of Queenstown).

Ka hū mai ngā umere i te taha ki te tonga o te aka, i te whakaurunga Curran St, i a Pt Erin, i te huihuinga o te 200 i reira i kite ai i te tuatahi o ngā kaihīkoi i eke nei i te upane o te piriti.

Cheers erupted from the southern side of the harbour, at the Curran St on-ramp, Pt Erin, when the crowd of around 200 gathered there spotted the first of the marchers cresting the bridge.

I te 11am, ko ngā kaihīkoi tuatahi - i tukuna atu rātou i roto i ngā rōpū tata ki te 250 tāngata - e pā ana ki te taha ki te tonga o te aka.

By 11am the first marchers - they were sent across in groups of about 250 people - were touching down on the southern side of the harbour.

I uru a Rose Taite, 40 (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei), ki te hīkoi mai i Tāmaki Makaurau.

Rose Taite, 40 (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei), had joined the hīkoi from Tāmaki Makaurau.

I muri iho i tana whakawhitinga i te piriti, ka rongo a ia i te whakangāwari. He hīkoi uaua, ā, i tino tāngarangara te haere, tana kī.

After crossing the bridge, she felt relieved. It was a hard hīkoi and incredibly wobbly, she said.

“He kaha tōku mana, kāhore noa iho mai i te kite i ngā tangata whenua, engari anō mai i te kite i te tangata Tiriti hoki, he whakamīharo te kite,” tana kī.

“My mana is strong, seeing not just tangata whenua, but tangata Tiriti, it’s been amazing to see,” she said.

Ka uru a ia ki te hīkoi ki Ōkahu Bay, kātahi ko Takaparawhau/Bastion Point. Engari i te tuatahi, i hiahiatia e ia he paku okioki.

She would be joining the hīkoi to Ōkahu Bay, and then Takaparawhau/Bastion Point. But first, she needed a quick break.

I kī a ia me “tūpato a David Seymour, kei te haere mai mātou”.

She said David Seymour should “watch out, we’re coming”.

I ngā rā e heke mai nei, ka huihui te hīkoi, e haere ana i Te Ika a Māui, ki ngā hipanga o te Pāremata i te Noema 19 i muri i te haerenga mai i Waitangi Park, i Pōneke.

The hīkoi, travelling up the North Island in the coming days, will gather on the steps of Parliament on November 19 after marching from Waitangi Park, Wellington.

This is a Public Interest Journalism-funded translation through NZ On Air