Hundreds of whānau braved the cold conditions at the spiritual home of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei last night to celebrate two milestones - the 45th anniversary of when the government used force to end of the occupation of Bastion Point and the one-year anniversary of the death of the Iwi’s larger-than-life leader Joe Hawke.
Today is a black letter day in Māori and Aotearoa relations. It is 45 years to the day that 800 army and police personnel went to Bastion Point to evict the occupiers. Two-hundred-and-twenty-two people were arrested and their temporary meeting house, buildings and gardens were demolished after police were instructed to shut down the 506-day land protest.
Sharon Hawke, whose father Joe Hawke led the occupation, says the hapu still considers today a commemoration rather than an anniversary, but it’s also starting to focus on the positive outcomes of the action. One-hundred-and-seventy stayed the night.
She said her cousins wanted to camp on the site overnight so they could experience something of what whanau went through during the 506-day occupation.
![Joe Hawke in 2018 with his daughter Sharon Hawke. Photo / Jason Oxenham](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/FMY35DLJZVDPD3BTIAEZFAFIR4.jpg?auth=2294ca9795816e9b48e525809c1204481985b23a63d38a2eb4e4bd54d28c2a04&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)