Ōrakei kaumātua return home, decades after settlement was razed by the Crown
Wednesday, 19 January 2022
It’s been 40 years since Kathleen Tia Grey returned to Ngāti Whātua land to stay, after the Crown evicted occupants of the central Auckland settlement in 1951 and then torched it.
She was one of 10 kaumātua that will move into the new whare at Atareta St, a development by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei’s commercial arm, which was blessed during a dawn service on Wednesday.
In 1951, the Crown took possession of the last remaining papakāinga, homes built on ancestral land, nearby at Ōkahu Bay.
The settlement was razed a year later ahead of a visit by Queen Elizabeth II because it was considered an eyesore and potential disease hub.
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Families were forced out into small state houses, and some whānau were forced to leave their tribal land.
Grey was 3 years old when Ōkahu settlement was razed to the ground.
She doesn’t remember much of the eviction but recalls a feeling of sadness in her home. She’s been living on Waiheke Island ever since.
“It was a heartbreaking time,” the 75-year-old said.
“It’s always been my desire to come back home. When I had my own mokopuna, that urge was stronger.”
Atareta St, two kilometres above where the old Ōkahu settlement was, was the new papakāinga and was now attracting a cohort of kaumātua back home.
Grey said despite staying on Waiheke, she’s tried to stay connected to her hapū as much as possible through tangi and other events.
Her older brother was also a new resident at Aratea St.
“I tried to come back here, looked at buying homes nearby, but it was too expensive. When the opportunity came to apply for one of the new whare, I was very happy. I am very lucky to finally come back.”
Kaumātua Matepurua Maihia, 73, said the opening of the new homes on Wednesday was a special day for them.
He challenged the trust to keep the momentum going and build more warm, affordable homes for future generations.
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust deputy chairman Ngarimu Blair said the new kaumātua homes was another milestone of the recovery of their people.
“In 1951, this generation of kaumātua were very young when their parents and grandparents were evicted from our village at Ōkahu Bay,” Blair said.
“Since that time we’ve been in a housing crisis, so to be able to add another 10 houses to another 175 that we have in our village, another 10 houses for our special elders, is really satisfying but also emotional.”
He said there were 35 more houses planned in the future, a mix of homeownership and rentals in the village.