Hapuku family descendants Teiti and Jerry Hapuku commemorate the signing of the Treaty. Photo / Warren Buckland
Hapuku family descendants Teiti and Jerry Hapuku commemorate the signing of the Treaty. Photo / Warren Buckland
Teiti Hapuku's ancestor Te Hapuku was one of the signatories of the Treaty of Waitangi, and 181 years after it was signed the occasion was commemorated by the Hapuku whanau at Waitangi Regional Park.
Teiti said on June 24, 1840, Te Hapuku Ika Nui o Te Moana, Hoani Waikato and Harawira Mahikai signed the Treaty of Waitangi on board the HMS Herald at Waipureku, near the mouth of the Tukituki and Ngaruroro rivers.
"It was important to Major Thomas Bunbury to obtain the signature of Te Hapuku as he had signed He Wakaputanga two years earlier," she said.
Flags of the Treaty of Waitangi signatories' tipuna, hapu and iwi were flown at full mast at Treaty at Atea a Rangi Educational Trust at Waitangi Regional Park. Photo / Warren Buckland
"Te Hapuku was attending a hui in Waimarama with his whanaunga Hoani Waikato and Harawira Mahikai, who accompanied him on board the HMS Herald."
She said to commemorate and remember an auspicious part of Ngāti Kahungunu history the flags of their tupuna, hapu and iwi were flown at full-mast throughout the day on Thursday at Ātea a Rangi, as part of Matariki celebrations.
A laser points at the stars at the Ätea a Rangi Educational Trust at Waitangi Regional Park to celebrate Te tau hou Māori-the Māori new year - the time of Matariki. Photo / Warren Buckland
"One-hundred and eighty-one years after the Treaty of Waitangi was signed here at Waipureku, we joined to remember this day. The significance of today is our whakapapa, our history and our korero."
Owen Jerry Hapuku, 80, a local kaumatua known to many as "Papa Jerry" attended the Matariki sighting along with his tamariki, mokopuna and descendants of Hapuku, Waikato and Mahikai, she said.
"For the past 20 years he has joined in the 'Unity Hikoi' at Farndon Park, Clive and this is the first year that the descendants recognise and remember the day it was signed here in Ahuriri," Teiti said.
Celebrating Te tau hou Māori-the Māori new year - the time of Matariki at the Ätea a Rangi Educational Trust at Waitangi Regional Park. Photo / Warren Buckland
"On Thursday the rising of Tama nui te ra fell upon the flag-raising of Hapuku, while the flags of He Wakaputanga and Tino Rangatiratanga swayed ever so gently, which was followed by karakia, himene and history lead by Papa Jerry."
She said although the day the Treaty was signed was not common knowledge, the history pre-Treaty signing and more importantly the impacts post-Treaty signing, would "forever shape our history".
"As the NZ Education Curriculum moves into Māori history, we ngaa uri o Te Hapuku will tell the story of our tupuna (ancestor) to be forever retained and retold, the same way as Papa Jerry has done and continues to do."
