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Bay Chronicle : May 16th 2013
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Thursday, May 16, 2013 Raw history revisited Historic day: Waitangi Tribunal judge Craig Coxhead accepts the challenge (wero) laid down by Te Kauri McPherson at Te Rawhiti Marae on Monday. Go to baychronicle.co.nz to watch the Waitangi Tribunal judges' arrival at Te Rawhiti Marae. By HAMISH MacLEAN The hapu want to get past the grievance,...begin the healing process and move on to settling with the Crown -- getting acknowledgment that things were wrong, and then building the economic base, improving education, improving housing, and getting employment -- all the things we want for our people. Pita Tipene JUDGES on the Waitangi Tribunal need to feel the pain Pakeha cau- sed to Maori in the Bay of Islands, Te Kotahitanga o nga Hapu Nga- puhi co-chairman Pita Tipene says. The tribunal returned to the Bay of Islands this week when Maori were given the chance to tell stories of the past in the areas where they occurred. Site visits in the Eastern Bay of Islands on May 13 gave judges a tangible opportunity to learn the history. It s for the tribunal to see, hear and feel the pain of the people, Mr Tipene says. Monday s trip took the tribunal from Opua to East Cape and back through Rawhiti, Waikare and Karetu. You can read books and hear people giving evidence but you just can t beat being there and seeing it -- it s all about feeling it, feeling it in your heart and your whole being. The settlement process is not simply about payments from the Crown to iwi, Mr Tipene says, it s about healing. Ngati Manu (Karetu), Te Kapotai (Waikare) and Ngati Kuta/ Patukeha (Rawhiti) were among Maori accompanying judges and relaying their history. It s great for the hapu to get together from the little ones all the way to the kaumatua and kuia. We re all learning it, feeling it, our- selves, Mr Tipene says. Otherwise someone can go and settle on our behalf, make a deal with the Crown for $200 million and none of this happens, it just washes over people, nobody really knows what the grievance was, he says. The first speaker pointed to the pa of Pomare, opposite Opua. The British anchored off the site in 1845, fired on it, clapped the chief in chains , took him down to Auckland and burned the whole pa and chased Ngati Manu into the bush . Mr Tipene says it s important for the tribunal to hear the story from Ngati Manu. And for other hapu to hear their stories also. This helps with healing and with the moving on, he says. This is a grievance process, he says. The hapu want to get past the grievance, get it out of their system, begin the healing process and move on to settling with the Crown -- getting acknowledgment that things were wrong, and then building the economic base, improving education, improving housing, and getting employment -- all the things we want for our peo- ple. The judges visited more than 60 traditional sites of significance in the bay. Socio-economic issues and alien- ation of land were highlighted the- mes. British soldiers sought to destroy pa and kill their inhabi- tants -- ostensibly to bring peace to the Bay of Islands years after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi -- these war atrocities should be recognised as crimes against humanity, Mr Tipene says. Hearings will continue at Waitangi this week until Friday. The Whangaroa taiwhenua hearings begin on July 8. The Waimate-Taiamai taiwhenua hearings begin on September 2.
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