October 13, 2015
Maori Land March recalled by veterans
It’s 40 years since the Maori Land March arrived in Wellington, and this afternoon at the National Library four of the marchers – Cyril Chapman, Joseph Cooper, Vivian Hutchinson and David Williams – will remember the day.
Dr Williams says he got involved because of his role on the Citizens Association for Racial Equality.
He says the march brought to the surface the depth of Maori grievance about the loss of land, which most of Pakeha New Zealand thought was an issue of the past.
The Auckland University law professor, who has continued to support and assist with Maori kaupapa, says it was also inspired by the decolonisation of Africa and Asia and the Civil Rights movement in the United States.
"Indigenous peoples in Australia, New Zealand and Canada all asked themselves I guess the same sort of question – 'When do we get a chance for self-determination and how can we raise our voices?' – and I think that's what Matakite and the Land March really put on the agenda," he says.
The 30 days to Wellington panel is part of the National Library’s Not One Acre More exhibition of Christian Heinegg’s photographs of the Maori Land March, , which runs until December.
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