Alongside the awa comes river of unity in protest over Treaty bill
Thursday, 14 November 2024
As a national hīkoi in response to ACT’s Treaty of Waitangi principles bill wound its way through Hamilton, the contentious legislation was read in Parliament for the first time, setting the scene for a climactic meeting when it reaches Wellington next week.
A bare hundred metres from the Waikato River that forms the heart of the Tainui rohe, a torrent of marchers followed the awa parallel down Victoria St on the fourth day of the hīkoi that began in the far north.
A Waikato-Tainui spokesperson said it was estimated about 6000 people took part in the Hamilton Toitū te Tiriti march from FMG Stadium to Garden Place, waving a sea of tino rangatiratanga and Māori independence flags as they went.
Led by taiaha-wielding warriors and a line of female kaikaranga, those on the march included many children through to kaumātua, and there were songs and chants, such as the words to the haka Ka Mate and the unity song Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi.
The vast majority of marchers were Māori but they were noticeably supported by a solid sprinkling of Pākehā.
The march appeared well-organised and disciplined, with the mood serious as a show of cultural determination by Māoridom to be heard.
Amid the flagwaving marchers, whānau pushing prams and curious onlookers beholding a moment in political history, banter appeared good natured and inclusive.
“Ah, sorry about that my bro,” said one teen as his tino rangatiratanga flag was blown into the face of a watching CBD office worker on the footpath.
“You’re all good mate,” came the reply. “It happens.”
From a loud-hailer on a late model ute came the cry, “Ake, ake, ake,” recalling the words of Rewi Maniapoto at his famous last stand at Ōrākau when he declared that his fight would go on forever and not end with the final shots of the Waikato Wars in 1864.
Further down the street within earshot of streetside cafe came the cheeky request from the same voice to bemused workers, “and two Americanos thanks, do you deliver? Ha ha!”
But despite the mix of song and laughs, it was a serious message that had drawn an estimated further 2000-3000 people to Garden Place to meet their whānau, using haka pōwhiri chanting to escort people into the area.
The combined crowd there heard some fiery speeches, including one where Waikato-Tainui leader Tukoroirangi Morgan branded the current administration as “the most racist government this country has ever seen”.
Speaking to the Waikato Times before his speech, Morgan - the chairperson of Waikato-Tainui’s Te Arataura executive - said he was proud of the turnout in the region for the “hugely important kaupapa”.
“The principles bill undermines and breaches the treaty…having so many people coming here today is a complete and absolute rejection of the bill.”
In his speech to the crowd, he referenced the British invasion of Waikato just over 160 years ago “but the enemy today is the enemy that sits at Parliament and his name is [ACT leader] David Seymour”.
“He comes with the most racist Government this country has ever seen and we must keep fighting to make sure our voices are heard and that the Treaty of Waitangi stands forever and ever and ever.”
The legacy of the treaty must remain “sacred and never to be touched by ignorant people who populate the political parties that make up this Government”.
To Pākehā present, Morgan said: “We welcome your support.”
In Parliament on Thursday, Associate Justice Minister David Seymour argued his bill will give 'tino rangatiratanga' to everyone, and hit back against criticism he has faced for introducing the Treaty Principles Bill.
He called it 'democratization of the Treaty', and said that would be a good thing.
'There are those who say this bill takes us back to the 1950s and earlier, I hear those who seek to stir up fear and division,' Seymour said, speaking over loud heckling from Opposition parties. MPs shouted 'that's you' while Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said he was 'a gaslighter'.
'That is not true. My mission is to empower every person,' Seymour replied.
'All New Zealanders deserve tino rangatiratanga.'
Back in Kirikiriroa, hīkoi leader Eru Kapa-Kingi, the chairperson of Northland iwi Te Aupōuri and son of Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, said the turnout was “the ultimate display of kotahitanga (unity)”.
Participants were walking the talk of kotahitanga “and it is beautiful”, he said.
Local iwi historian Wiremu Puke, from Ngāti Wairere, told the Waikato Times: “I think it’s great to see the unity of not only Māori but tangata tiriti (other ethnicities)”.
The hīkoi and gathering “sends a loud and clear message that the treaty bill and other anti-Māori action by the Government is unacceptable”.
Radio Tainui MC Patara Berryman told the crowd: “We will show them that we are one people.”
Hamilton councillor Louise Hutt was strongly critical of the Government for allowing the bill to get on the legislative agenda, especially since National and NZ First won’t support it progressing.
“Why waste time and resources…on a bill that won’t ever become law?”
Following on from Thursday’s event in Hamilton, the national hīkoi was heading for Rotorua.
Individual marchers, spoken to before Thursday’s hīkoi started, had a range of motivations for turning up.
But a common concern was the fear that the Treaty Principles Bill could somehow lead to the dilution of the strength and relevance of the current Treaty of Waitangi for Māori and others.