‘We are all connected’: Indigenous, Pacific leaders unite at Waitangi

Source: Radio New Zealand

Taiātea Symposium at Waitangi 2026 – all photo credits to WAI 262 – Kia Whakapūmau / wai262.nz / projects@wai262.nz WAI 262 – Kia Whakapūmau / wai262.nz / projects@wai262.nz

As Waitangi Day commemorations continue drawing people from across Aotearoa and around the world to the Bay of Islands, Te Tii Marae has become a gathering point for Indigenous ocean leadership from across the Pacific.

Taiātea: Gathering of the Oceans held its public forum on 4 February, uniting more than 20 Indigenous leaders, marine scientists and researchers from Canada, Australia, Hawai’i, Niue, Rapa Nui and the Cook Islands.

The forum forms part of a wider 10-day wānanga taking place across Te Ika a Māui (North Island).

Taiātea Symposium at Waitangi 2026. WAI 262 – Kia Whakapūmau / wai262.nz / projects@wai262.nz

With a focus on the protection and restoration of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, the Pacific Ocean, kōrero throughout the day centred on the exchange of knowledge, marine protection, ocean resilience and the accelerating impacts of climate change.

A key message remained prevalent throughout the day – the moana is not separate from the people, but a living ancestor, and a responsibility carried across generations.

‘Continue that path of conservation, preservation’

Solomon Pili Kaho’ohalahala, known as Uncle Sol, on board the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise en route to Kingston, Jamaica for a summit of the ISA in 2023 © Martin Katz / Greenpeace Martin Katz / Greenpeace

Hawaiʻi’s Solomon Pili Kaho’ohalahala, co-founder of One Oceania, a former politician, and a respected elder, framed his kōrero around the belief that there is no separation between human and nature – we are all one.

For Kaho’ohalahala, being present at Waitangi has been a powerful reminder of the links between past, present, and future.

“Waitangi is a very historical place for the Māori people,” he said. “It is where important decisions were made by your elders. So to be here in this place, for me, is significant.”

“We are talking about historical events that have happened to our people across Oceania, preserved by the elders who had visions to create treaties … decisions that were going to be impactful to the generations to follow,” Kaho’ohalahala said.

“It brings the relevancy of these conversations. They are what we need to negotiate and navigate the challenges we face in the present. The purpose for this is, ultimately, no different to the kupuna (Hawai’ian elder), that this was intended for the generations yet unborn,” he added.

Kaho’ohalahala also reflected on the enduring connections between indigenous communities across oceans.

“To be a part of this conversation from across the ocean that separates us, our connection by our culture and canoes is to help us understand that we are still all connected as the people of Oceania.

“But we need to be able to reiterate that, and understand why we need to emerge from that past to bring it to our relevancy to these times and issues, to continue that path of conservation, preservation, for those unborn.”

‘Our ocean … a living organism,’ advocate says

Louisa Castledine Cook Islands News / Losirene Lacanivalu

Cook Islands environmental advocate and Ocean Ancestors founder, Louisa Castledine, reiterated the responsibility of indigenous peoples to protect the ocean and pass knowledge to future generations.

She said Waitangi was the perfect backdrop to encourage these discussions. While different cultures face individual challenges, there is a collective sense of unity.

“One of our key pillars is nurturing our future tamariki, and the ways of our peu tupuna, and nurturing stewardship and guardianship with them as our future leaders,” Castledine said.

“It’s about reclaiming how we perceive our ocean as being an ancestor, as a living organism, as whānau to us. We’re here at Waitangi to stand in solidarity of our shared ancestor and the responsibility we all have for its protection,” Castledine said.

She said people must be forward-thinking in how they collectively navigate environmental wellbeing.

“We all have a desire and a love for our moana, our indigenous knowledge systems of our oceans are critical to curating futures for our tamariki and mokopuna,” she said.

“We want to ensure that generations that come after us will continue to be able to feed generations beyond all of us. It’s about safeguarding their inheritance.”

Learning about shared challenges

Wuikinuxv Nation Chief Councillor Danielle Shaw with the Coastal First Nations Great Bear Initiative. CFN Great Bear Initiative

Canadian representative Chief Anuk Danielle Shaw, elected chief councillor of the Wuikinuxv Nation, said the challenges and goals facing Indigenous peoples were often shared, despite the distances between them.

“This is [an] opportunity to learn about common challenges we may have, and how other nations and indigenous leaders are facing those challenges, and what successes they’ve been having,” she said.

“It just makes sense that we have a relationship, and that we build that relationship.”

She noted the central role of the marine environment for her people.

“It’s not lost on me that my people are ocean going people as well. We rely on the marine environment.

“Our salmon is the foundation and the backbone of our livelihood and the livelihood of all other beings in which we live amongst. I’m a world away, and yet I’m still sitting within the Pacific Ocean.

“So the work I do at home and how we take care of our marine environment impacts the people of Aotearoa as well, and vice versa. And so it just makes sense that we have a relationship, and that we build that relationship, because traditionally we did,” she added.

Following the public forum, indigenous leaders will visit haukāinga in the Tūwharetoa and Whanganui regions for further knowledge exchanges and to discuss specific case studies.

A sunrise sets over Te Tii beach as Waitangi commemorations commence. Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ

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Months of preparation and a shipping container: The kai at Waitangi

Source: Radio New Zealand

From a granola bar to eye fillet steak, the menu at the Treaty Grounds is extensive in the lead-up to Waitangi Day.

Head of visitor experience Shania Howard says it’s taken months of preparation to get kai ready for the commemorations, and very early mornings.

“We’re talking a shipping container full of food and quite a few chillers being brought in,” she says.

“It’s taken months of preparation to get to this point.”

Howard told First Up that people started heading to Waitangi earlier in the week, with her team having the “privilege” of catering hui and gala dinners before Waitangi Day on Friday.

Breakfast buffets included the usuals – scrambled eggs, bacon and “we’ll chuck some rēwena (bread) in there, some tomatoes…”

Formal dinner offerings include eye fillet, prawns and mango salsa, where smaller and more intimate morning teas offer blueberry muffins, quiches and spinach tarts.

“It’s quite a spread of kai. It can be anything from a piece of fruit and a granola bar right up to fine dining options.”

Howard says she is lucky to get to taste some of the food along the way.

“I am a bit of a foodie so that is a little bit of a lucky win for me.”

The team will be setting their alarms for 3am tomorrow morning to make sure everything runs smoothly.

“It is long days, early starts, everyone looks forward to Waitangi Day tomorrow of course, but it’s for the break as well.”

And it’s all hands on deck – no matter who you are or what you do.

“If you can pick up a tea towel, then you will be all hands on deck”

“If it’s swung your way, you need to pick it up and take it. If some dishes are swung your way and you’re told to put them away, that’s what you’re going to do. And if it’s an aunty, who’s going to say no?”

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Leaders encourage Māori to vote in upcoming election as Waitangi draws near

Source: Radio New Zealand

A pōwhiri for Te Arikinui Kuiini nga wai hono i te po and the Kiingitanga at Waitangi. Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ

With the immenent arrival of government politicians at Waitangi, Māori leaders are encouraging Māori to register and vote in the upcoming election.

Politicians from all parties, including Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, will be welcomed to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds around 11am on Thursday.

Waikato-Tainui executive chair and Iwi Chairs Forum member Tukoroirangi Morgan said Māori needed to be participants in democracy rather than bystanders.

“There 255,000 thousand people, registered voters who are aged between 30 and 18, and they are ready to go. But there are also thousands and thousands of our young ones who haven’t registered and the onus is on our people and our leaders to get out and their grandchildren and our communities, vote.”

Politicians from all parties will be welcomed to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds around 11am on Thursday. Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ

The National Iwi Chairs Forum met with the prime minister on Wednesday, and with the leader of the opposition, Chris Hipkins, the day before that.

Luxon called the talks with the forum “positive and constructive”.

Morgan said the message to the prime minister was that treaty settlements are sacrosanct and should not be meddled with.

“Even despite the fact that there are changes to the RMA (Resource Management Act) and other pieces of legislation you cannot compromise or minimise treaty settlements they are sacrosanct.

“And even the pathway to those who haven’t settled should also be protected.”

Te Arikinui Kuiini nga wai hono i te po (C) and the Kiingitanga are welcomed at Waitangi. Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ

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Watch: Prime Minister speaks after meeting with the Iwi Chairs Forum

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Prime Minister is due to speak to reporters after meeting with the Iwi Chairs Forum, which gave its backing to a court case against a piece of government legislation.

Minister for Māori Crown Relations Tama Potaka said the meeting was “robust” and “interrogative”, but also an “exchange.”

“There needs to be an exchange of ideas, an exchange of investigative queries, but also a sense of optimism and progress, and that’s what we’ve seen [on wednesday].”

Potaka said there were always questions around legislative frameworks and funding.

Christopher Luxon is in Waitangi with a contingent of government ministers ahead of the political pōwhiri taking place on Thursday, which he will attend.

Luxon was keen to talk to the Forum about the weather response and the economy.

Christopher Luxon is in Waitangi with a contingent of government ministers. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

But Iwi leaders are throwing their support behind a Ngāti Manuhiri court case against the government’s amendments to the Marine and Coastal Environments Act.

Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith said this issue wasn’t raised directly. In terms of relations between Māori and the Crown, Goldsmith said “we are absolutely positive on opportunities for Māori to thrive and succeed”.

“There’s a lot we agree on, there’s lots of things we disagree on, but there’s plenty that we can work constructively together on, so it’s very positive.”

Prior to the meeting taking place, Pou Tangata chair Rahui Papa said the key message to the government would be what strategies would they employ to bolster Māori aspirations, instead of legislation which “unpicks” te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Afterward, Tukuroirangi Morgan of Waikato-Tainui said it was a “productive” meeting, saying the iwi leaders were at a position where “we need to get stuff done”.

Despite being election year he said, work needed to continue.

Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

“And the government needs to be conscious that actually working in a much more strategic way to complete action plans, business plans, all of the stuff that we’ve been talking to them for a long, long time should get done.”

Morgan said the Prime Minister was “very committed” to the Treaty relationship.

“We have to try and find creative ways of working with the government in the face of tough economic times, there are still opportunities, and we need to take those opportunities.”

And Aperahama Edwards of Ngāti Wai called the meeting “beneficial”.

“Some of the sensitive things that needed to be discussed were discussed. Some of the pain points that our people have been experiencing were addressed, at least given voice to, and then other matters were spoken to as well.”

Speaking to the mood at Waitangi compared to the last time Luxon was there in 2024, Edwards said there was still “a lot of pain”.

“Our people are hurting, and we’re mindful of that, but there’s also a calm here as well, and an optimism at the thought of what sort of change might be coming.”

Te Arataura chairperson Tukuroirangi Morgan with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. RNZ/Calvin Samuel

Labour, meanwhile, is dealing with the shock resignation of Peeni Henare, who is calling time on his 12-year Parliamentary career.

Henare announced his plans on Tuesday, citing exhaustion and a desire to spend more time focusing on his family and future.

While it was known Henare would not be contesting the Tāmaki Makaurau seat, his announcement he would not be standing at all came in the middle of a joint press conference by the Labour and Green Party leadership.

He told one media platform of his plans before Labour had the chance to put out its own announcement, but Labour leader Chris Hipkins, who initially refused to answer questions about the resignation, denied the announcement had been bungled.

New Zealand First Deputy leader – and a relation of Henare’s – Shane Jones, was now questioning the circumstances around the resignation, and was planning to find out “exactly what has happened”.

As well, local government and diplomatic corps representatives were welcomed onto the Treaty Grounds with a pōwhiri for the Kiingitanga taking place this afternoon.

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Native Hawaiian delegation travel to Waitangi to stand in solidarity with Māori

Source: Radio New Zealand

Ka Lāhui Hawai’i, a Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) group travelled to Waitangi to stand in solidarity with Māori in a call to protect and honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Supplied / Ka Lāhui Hawai’i

Ka Lāhui Hawai’i, a Kanaka Maoli (native Hawaiian) group are standing in solidarity with Māori in what they describe as a “defence of Te Tiriti o Waitangi”.

The 17-member Indigenous Hawaiian delegation were welcomed to Te Tii Marae on Tuesday, marking the beginning of their engagement alongside Māori communities and leaders.

The rōpū say they are present to “stand alongside Māori leadership, strengthen international solidarity, and affirm the deep genealogical and oceanic ties shared by Indigenous peoples of Moana Nui a Kanaloa”.

Healani Sonoda-Pale, spokesperson for Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi, said the world should know what is happening in Aotearoa.

“As Kanaka Maoli, we know what it means to have our lands, waters, and political future decided without us,” Sonoda-Pale said.

“We came to Waitangi so the world can see that Māori are not standing alone, and that Indigenous peoples across the Pacific are watching, standing together, and demanding that Te Tiriti o Waitangi be fully honoured.”

Sonoda-Pale said their struggles are connected.

“And our collective liberation as Indigenous peoples of Oceania are bound to one another.”

The delegation, which was formed in 1987 as a self-determination and self-governance initiative, have also issued a formal Statement of Solidarity calling on the international community to pay close attention to developments in Aotearoa.

“Since coming to power in 2023, the coalition government has passed, or sought to pass, a suite of laws that directly attack Māori rights to their land, language, culture and healthcare, as well as Te Tiriti o Waitangi itself,” their statement said.

“Te Tiriti o Waitangi affirms the independence and rights of Māori to their lands, waters, and all that is held sacred, yet the history of Aotearoa since 1840 has been marked by repeated failures by the Crown to honor these founding promises.”

The rōpū acknowleged Te Tiriti o Waitangi as Aotearoa, New Zealand’s founding document.

“For Māori, however, Te Tiriti is not the source of their rights, but a reaffirmation of rights that exist because they are tangata whenua, the people of the land,” they said.

“Their relationship to their whenua stretches back through the last millennium, during which time tikanga Māori operated, and continues to operate, as the first law of the land.”

The rōpū say Crown laws “do not and can not diminish rangatiratanga derived through whakapapa Māori, tikanga Māori, and their connections to their lands and waterways”.

Ka Lāhui Hawai’i said as a people “facing similar harms” to their own lands and waters they reject any attempt to “weaken Māori rangatiratanga under the guise of ‘good governance’ or ‘equality'”.

“We stand with our Māori ʻohana and call for the full and faithful honouring of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.”

Members of the delegation will be speaking at the Political Forum tent at Waitangi on Thursday.

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Climate change a priority for iwi leaders at Waitangi

Source: Radio New Zealand

The National Iwi Chairs Forum, representing more than 70 iwi, are meeting at Waitangi this week to set priorities for the year ahead. Supplied / National Iwi Chairs Forum

Climate change is a key focus for iwi leaders gathering at Waitangi this week, as coastal communities across the North Island recover from recent severe weather events.

The National Iwi Chairs Forum, representing more than 70 iwi, has been meeting to set priorities for the year ahead, with leaders pointing to the increasing frequency and severity of weather events as a growing concern.

Taane Aruka Te Aho, one of the rangatahi leaders of Te Kāhu Pōkere – the group that travelled to Brazil for COP30 last year – told RNZ that recent weather events across the motu have become a repeating pattern.

“The data shows us that these climate catastrophes are going to keep coming, more frequent, more severe. We’ve seen that in Te Tai Tokerau, in Tauranga Moana, in Te Araroa,” he said.

Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ

On behalf of Te Pou Take Āhuarangi, the climate change arm of the National Iwi Chairs Forum, Te Kāhu Pōkere attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in November 2025.

They were the first iwi-mandated rangatahi Māori delegation to attend a global COP.

At this year’s forum, the rōpū is presenting its findings and what can be taken back to hapū, iwi and hapori.

“One of the key learnings for me was the importance of data sovereignty and data strategies harnessing environmental data to help us in our climate-based decision-making,” Te Aho said.

In the wake of flooding and storms in the north and east of the country, dozens of marae again opened their doors to displaced whānau, providing shelter, kai and serving as Civil Defence hubs.

Te Aho said those responses showed the strength of Māori-led systems of care.

“It’s paramount that we acknowledge our whānau, but also fund our whānau to keep resourcing, because they are the ones opening up their doors,” he said.

“To ensure not only our mokopuna are thriving, but to ensure our people of today can go back to work, that they’re looked after. Pākeke mai, rangatahi mai, kaumātua mai, kei konei te iwi Māori ki te tautoko i a rātou.”

Ōakura Community Hall had been devastated by a slip that smashed through the rear wall and filled the hall with mud, trees and debris on Sunday 18 January, 2026. Muddy water was continuing to flow out the hall’s front doors hours after the slip begun. The hall was only reroofed and renovated about 18 months ago, after a massive community fundraising effort. RNZ/ Peter de Graaf

Last month, the government announced a $1 million Marae Emergency Response Fund to reimburse marae for welfare support provided during the severe weather events, allowing them to “replenish resources and build resilience.”

Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka said at the time, the fund “ensures marae are not left carrying the costs of that mahi”.

“Allowing them to replenish what was used, recover from the immediate response, and continue to build their resilience for future events.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also praised the response from marae.

“Marae have been exceptional in the way they have stepped up to help their communities, providing shelter, food and care to people in need,” he said.

Rahui Papa (pictured right) says emergency centres at marae have been just “absolutely wonderful” following recent severe weather events across the coastal North Island. Supplied / National Iwi Chairs Forum

Pou Tangata chairperson Rahui Papa welcomed government support for marae but said long-term planning was needed.

“Back in Cyclone Gabriel, they talked about a 100-year weather event. It’s come up three or four times within the last few years,” he said.

“And I’m picking that, with my weather crystal ball… it’s going to happen time and time again.

“So comprehensive responses have to be employed. Emergency centres at marae have been just absolutely wonderful. I take my hat off to those communities and those marae that have worked together to really find a way to look after the community.”

Ngāti Hine chairperson Pita Tipene said climate change was one of the key issues being coordinated at a national level.

“There’s no point in planning for something next week and next month if we’re consigning our planet to the changes that are upon us,” he said.

“We only have to look at the devastation around Te Tai Tokerau, let alone Tauranga Moana and Tai Rāwhiti.”

Te Kāhu Pokere outside of Parliament. Supplied/Pou Take Āhuarangi

Tipene also acknowledged the contribution of Te Kāhu Pōkere.

“The young people who went to COP in Brazil and presented back to us said the solutions are in place and led by people. Their messages were very, very clear and the energy and the focus that they bring to those efforts is significant,” he said.

“The National Iwi Chairs Forum comes together because we know we have much more strength together than we are alone. And so coordinating our efforts into areas that will improve the circumstances of our people or protect and enhance the environments of our people, that’s our overall priority.”

Forum members also unanimously backed a legal challenge by Hauraki iwi Ngāti Manuhiri, which is [

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/585812/national-iwi-chairs-forum-backs-court-case-challenging-amendments-to-marine-and-coastal-areas-actt taking the government to the High Court] over amendments to the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act. The changes, made last year, raised the threshold for iwi seeking customary marine title.

Luxon is expected to meet with the forum at Waitangi on Wednesday.

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Minister Shane Jones hails roading upgrades to Treaty Grounds

Source: Radio New Zealand

Shane Jones at Waitangi in 2025. RNZ/Samuel Rillstone

Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is hailing the completion of upgrades to the road to the Treaty Grounds in time for Waitangi Day this year.

Haruru Falls Road has been paved with added guardrails, drainage and earthworks thanks to $1.57 million from the Regional Infrastructure Fund and $400,000 from the Far North District Council.

The upgrade – completed with just days to spare – provides a second paved route to the grounds without the need to go through Paihia.

Jones attended the opening on Wednesday with iwi leaders, trustees of the Waitangi National Trust, Far North Mayor Moko Tepania and other dignitaries.

“Anyone familiar with the road will know that it was a dusty, uneven and sometimes treacherous route because it was partially unsealed,” Jones said.

A further $10.2m from the RIF is helping with upgrades to the grounds themselves, including car parks, toilet blocks, pathway lighting and drainage to protect the Treaty House, due for completion this year.

“The Waitangi Treaty Grounds are a place for all New Zealanders and where much of our country’s history was shaped. It’s a site of national significance and its importance is evident in the more than 160,000 visitors who head to the grounds each year,” Jones said.

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National Iwi Chairs Forum backs court case challenging amendments to Marine and Coastal Areas Act

Source: Radio New Zealand

Iwi Chairs Forum kaikōrero Rāhui Papa says his rōpu fully support the challenge. RNZ / Marika Khabazi

The National Iwi Chairs Forum is backing a court case by Ngāti Manuhiri looking to challenge amendments to the Marine and Coastal Areas Act (MACA).

Hauraki iwi Ngāti Manuhiri are set to take the government to the High Court over changes made to the act last year, which made it harder for Māori to win customary marine title.

Justice minister Paul Goldsmith has repeatedly said the changes restore the act to Parliament’s “original intent”.

The changes have been bashed by former ministers, treaty lawyers, iwi and hapū leaders and even prompted an almost 20,000-strong petition opposing the amendments.

Now, Ngāti Manuhiri want to challenge those changes in the High Court, alleging that the changes limit their ability to exercise of their culture, deny their access to justice, and discriminate against Māori.

In a statement, Ngāti Manuhiri chair Mook Hohneck said the revised test measures customary ownership through Western concept of exclusion rather than tikanga Māori.

“What we’re seeing is not an attempt to uphold the original intent of the law, it is an attempt to fundamentally change the rules with which we’ve engaged in good faith because the Crown isn’t getting its way,” Hohneck said.

“The Crown is stacking the deck in its favour, and is setting a precedent that future governments can constantly move the goal post whenever they see fit.”

The legislation is retrospective, meaning some applicants would need to start the process from scratch.

Hohneck claimed those changes amounted to retrospective interference with ongoing court proceedings, and breached their expectation that their application would be determined under the law as it stood when they applied.

“Our claim seeks declarations that the 2025 law changes are inconsistent with natural justice and the Bill of Rights Act, and are discriminatory against Ngāti Manuhiri.”

“Our settlement with the Crown included a formal apology and commitment to rebuild their relationship with Ngāti Manuhiri, based on the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The Marine and Coastal Area Act amendments cut across that promise and apology,” Hohneck said.

Speaking from Waitangi, Iwi Chairs Forum kaikōrero Rāhui Papa said his rōpu fully supported the challenge.

He told media the current legislation “unpicked” settlement processes and agreements.

“In the case of Ngati Manuhiri, they feel that they had quite a strong and enduring settlement because it was hard negotiated.”

“We absolutely support [it]. If an iwi feels that their settlement, their hard negotiated settlement, is being unpicked some years after the agreement, that just shows the institutional forgetfulness and amnesia of the government to what they actually agreed to.” he said.

There was a similar sentiment from Northland Regional Council chair and Ngāti Hine chair Pita Tipene, who told RNZ support for the challenge from Ngāti Manuhiri was unanimous.

“In terms of Ngati Hine, we will support any measure, any action that protects and enhances our collective rangatiratanga.”

“Whether it is in court, whether it is out in the community, that’s our focus,” Tipene said.

Changes to the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act were made in October last year.

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Te Tiriti o Waitangi Marae welcomes manuhiri once again for Waitangi celebrations

Source: Radio New Zealand

Te Tii Marae chairman Ngāti Kawa Taituha says remembering those who have passed in the last year was a beautiful way to begin Waitangi commemorations. Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ

The iconic Te Tiriti o Waitangi Marae is once again welcoming manuhiri from across the motu after reopening at last year’s Waitangi celebrations.

The marae, commonly known as Te Tii, welcomed iwi from around the country in a pre-dawn pōwhiri on Tuesday morning, one of eleven it will host this week.

The pōwhiri was also a kawe mate, a mourning ceremony where photos of those who have recently died are brought to a marae.

Among those remembered this year were activist Hinewhare Harawira and Ngāti Tūwharetoa Ariki Tumu Te Heuheu. His son and successor Te Rangimaheu was in attendance.

Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ

Marae Chairman Ngāti Kawa Taituha said it was a beautiful moment to welcome Ngāti Tūwharetoa, and the taumata acknowledged the many connections between Waitangi and Tūwharetoa.

“Hepi Te Heuheu opened our whare tupuna in 1977. So that was our connection with Tumu and down to Te Rangimaheu.”

Remembering those who have passed in the last year was a good way to begin the commemorations at Waitangi this week, he said.

Governor-General Cindy Kiro will be welcomed to the marae on Tuesday, a first as she has previously only been welcomed to the Whare Runanga on the Upper Treaty Grounds, he said.

Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ

Taituha said there has been some discussion among Ngāpuhi leaders about moving all pōwhiri back to the lower Marae.

“They’ve seen the beautification of our whare tūpuna, the new carvings, the whole restoration, and it’s kind of a reflection on where we’re at as a people, as a whānau, as Ngāti Kawa, Ngāti Rāhiri, Te Matarahurahu.”

More and more people are gravitating to the marae, he said.

Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ

Although there is still a little bit more work to do, he said, with additional carvings only added to the sides of the doorway of the whare in the last week.

“So there’s a big kōrero with that with the quill… and on the other side is a scroll. And so that’s to acknowledge our documents, of course. He Whakaputanga, Declaration of Independence and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“So it’s just again, adding and enhancing the mana of our tūpuna, the signatories, and then down to us, the descendants and here we are today, carrying out all that mahi of our forebearers. Putting in all the effort to set up our next generation. Obviously, that’s what it’s all about for us.”

A sunrise sets over Te Tii beach as Waitangi commemorations commence. Layla Bailey-McDowell / RNZ

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Mariameno Kapa-Kingi hopes to be back in Te Pāti Māori following court hearing

Source: Radio New Zealand

Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. VNP / Phil Smith

MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi says she hopes today’s court hearing will secure her reinstatement to Te Pāti Māori and pave the way for a reset of the party’s leadership.

Last year, she contested her expulsion from the party and was temporarily reinstalled in an interim judgement. A substantive hearing is now taking place at the High Court in Wellington.

Speaking outside on Monday morning, Kapa-Kingi told reporters she hoped the court could finalise the matter so everybody could move into 2026 “fired up and good to go”.

“I’m hoping that the reinstatement is secure and proper, and then we’ll see what happens from that point. But the reinstatement is key.”

Kapa-Kingi said she was also asking the court to require Te Pāti Māori to conduct a “proper full and open and honest process” regarding its leadership through a special general meeting.

“Good strong leadership is open … it’s about respect. It’s about love. It’s about kindness. It’s about all of those things that that we value as Māori and those things need to be obvious and apparent in the leadership. And I don’t know whether that’s so right now.”

Kapa-Kingi said she had never departed from the party’s kaupapa and was intending on visiting Waitangi for the annual commemorations later this week.

She said she was not sure how the party’s co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa Packer and Rawiri Waititi would be received up north given they had declined to attend a hui called by Ngāpuhi in November.

“We were disappointed and wished that they had turned up.”

Arriving at the court, Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere said he was feeling “pretty chipper”.

“[Let’s] just see how the game goes,” he said. “There’s a lot of things at play, so let’s just await the finding.”

In an interim ruling published in early December, Justice Paul Radich said there were “serious questions to be tried” on the manner in which Kapa-Kingi was expelled from the party.

He said there were “certainly tenable arguments” that the expulsion was founded upon “mistaken facts and procedural irregularities”.

Te Pāti Māori’s lawyers had argued reinstating Kapa-Kingi was likely to “create extreme tension within Te Pāti Māori’s MPs and leadership”.

They argued the national council did have authority to expel Kapa-Kingi as it was the “primary heavy-lifter of hard decisions” in that context.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand