February 20, 2017
Elders keen to move Waitangi powhiri
Ngapuhi elders have set in motion a process that could lead to the powhiri for next year's Treaty of Waitangi commemorations being up on the Treaty Grounds.
This year's event was marred by confusion and in-fighting among trustees at Te Tii Marae, limits on speaking rights caused prime Minister Bill English to stay away, and demands that media pay fees of up to $10,000.
Kaumatua Dover Samuels says as a Labour government minister he experienced first hand the turmoil when then-prime minister Helen Clark was refused speaking rights, and things have got worse.
Ngapuhi elders met at the weekend and decided it was time for the wider iwi to bring a sense of dignity and respect back to the way manuhiri are welcomed … with Te Tii bypassed.
"Te Tii seems to be like the flame that attracts the moths of protest and abuse, and aggro, and if you look at the track record of Te Tii Marae since Sir James Henare and since the elders who had control, had mana over the Ngapuhi protocol, that began deteriorating and deteriorating to where now it is being seen as a national circus," Mr Samuels says.
Further hui will be held so Ngapuhi can work out how everyone can once again feel part of the treaty commemoration.
Copyright © 2017, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com