October 05, 2015
Mana on display at Whakatohea
A Whakatohea elder says yesterday’s commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Tarata shows the eastern Bay of Plenty iwi is ready to get on and settle its treaty claims.
Ranginui Walker led opposition to the settlement proposed almost 20 years ago, because he says the crown was not talking to the right people and the offer wasn’t high enough.
He says the challenge given yesterday in Opotiki to crown officials including treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson and Governor General Sir Jerry Mataparae shows the tribe is united.
"It was this huge assembly of people in the kapa haka in the challenge to the minister when he came on. It was a most impressive display of cultural strength and recovery and mana motuhake," Professor Walker says.
He says because of the way Whakatohea was put at the back of the queue when it rejected the crown’s initial settlement offer, it should also get compensation for two decades of lost opportunity.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH DR RANGINUI WALKER CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MzM5NTg=
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