Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua deputy chair Hayden Hape with wife Stacey Hape and eldest daughter Shayla Hape. Photo / Supplied
Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua deputy chair Hayden Hape with wife Stacey Hape and eldest daughter Shayla Hape. Photo / Supplied
“It’s time to start building our communities,” Ngāti Kahungunu ki Tāmaki nui-a-Rua chairman Hayden Hape believes.
Hape, along with hundreds of whānau from Tāmaki nui-a-Rua and Wairarapa, was at Queen Elizabeth Park in Masterton at the weekend to hear the apology for historical grievances delivered by Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little.
“It was a great day and a beautiful welcoming for everybody,” Hape said.
The Wairarapa whānau hosting the event wanted it to be an interactive day for all. Holding it at the park meant it was central to the pools, miniature train and skate park so there would be activities for the children once the formalities were over.
“[The] grandparents, whilst they may have been listening to the Government, they were able to look over and see their children, their mokos, their grandchildren being happy and it was a great thing to be able to see the future.”
What was also special for Hape was that there were some kaumātua who might not be around next year, but were able to be part of the day.
Ngāti Kahungunu Tāmaki nui-a-Rua kaumātua Cushla King, Leonie Webb, Hine Petera and Kathy Mihaere share a moment with well-respected Kahungunu rangatira Haami Hilton. Photo / Supplied
The apology from Little was part of a Treaty settlement package and included an apology for breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles, such as forced cession of land in 1845, Crown threats to end Pākehā settlement in Wairarapa and Tāmaki nui-a-Rua, the failure to protect Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua from becoming virtually landless, not upholding the spirit of the Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua tuku rangatira of Wairarapa Moana in 1896, and the failure to actively protect te reo Māori.
The settlement package also included financial redress of about $115 million, as well as cultural redress.
Once the apology was done, the whānau were gifted two taonga - one would be for Wairarapa and the other for Tāmaki nui-a-Rua.
Ngāti Kahungunu Tāmaki nui-a-Rua kaumātua Ivan Hape with mokopuna Aaron Hape. Photo / Supplied
Hape spoke at the event, acknowledging those such as Josephine and Theo Hape who had laid the groundwork to put the claim in on behalf of everyone, and acknowledged the service of those who had passed on, as well as those who were the most recent trustees on the board.
“Not only have they been part of the settlement, but they’ve also handed on knowledge,” he said.
“We’ve been fortunate enough to sit alongside them, carry on the passion they’ve had for the settlement.”
Hape said whānau were fortunate enough to see the fruits of that labour now.
“A lot of them dedicated their lives to the kaupapa but never got to see it come to fruition. But they still gave everything they had with very little resource.”
He said his generation needed to be grateful and they were also the generation that had to make sure the settlement grew.
“Our ancestor was a man who cultivated the land and harvested from the sea and he was a man who built communities. That’s what we hold fast to.
“This is a settlement that is for past grievances, but we shouldn’t allow it to be something that creates further grievance.”
Hape said the whānau wanted to use it to build themselves, but alongside their community.
That could include something such as investing in sports and recreation, which would benefit not just “our kids but everyone’s kids”.
He said they would be doing a big drive to ensure that their own people were participating and their aspirations were being heard and captured.
They were facing a different world today, which meant a lot of different challenges. “It’s time to start building our communities. It’s time to start helping everyone.”
Settlement trust chairperson Haami Te Whaiti said the day was an auspicious moment for the iwi.
“This apology is for us all, especially our whānau who started working towards our settlement and this moment all those decades ago.
“It has been a real privilege to carry on their work and to hear this moment in our lifetime.”
