July 25, 2014
Iwi the gift that keep giving
Auckland’s maunga now have new landlords.
Parliament yesterday passed the Nga Mana Whenua o Tamaki Makaurau Collective Redress Bill, which recognises the historical claims of 13 iwi and hapu over their shared interests in the Auckland area, including 14 of the region’s volcanic cones.
Four Hauraki Gulf islands, Rangitoto, Motutapu, Motuihe or Te Motu-a-Ihenga and Tiritiri Matangi, will be vested in the Tamaki Collective for a month.
After that month the iwi will vest the motu back to the Crown as a gift to the people of New Zealand.
Tamaki Collective chair Paul Majurey says there are historical precedents.
"That vesting back of the motu reflects what our tupuna were involved with in the early days of tauiwi coming hewre around the whole motu. We had our people who, through their manaakitanga, were giving lands, tuku-ing lands for churches, for schools, for hospitals and the like, and so we hae a modern manifestation of that manaakitanga that we have," he says.
Mr Majurey says the tupuna maunga contain the histories on the tribes imprinted on the ground, but Mana Whenua are willing to share them with the people of Auckland.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH PAUL MAJUREY CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MjA0NTk=
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