Maori sovereignty group targets businesses

A Maori sovereignty group has apparently surfaced in Masterton, warning some businesses they are squatting on Maori-owned land.

Letters were hand-delivered to several businesses yesterday under the common seal of Te Tangata Whenua Sovereign Council claiming that the businesses were sited on Maori land and that the occupiers had been squatting there for decades.

No demands were made for money, as it is alleged has happened in Gisborne.

The letters were headed Te Ihinga O Te Ra, c/- Masterton District Council, and dated March 9, causing several of the targeted business owners to comment that they had obviously been in someone's possession, but undelivered for weeks.

A Masterton businessman said he thought it was likely the media coverage of the Gisborne incidents had re-ignited interest in the letters and whoever was involved in Wairarapa had decided to finally deliver them.

"I'm not taking it too seriously, to be honest," he said.

It is known that Masterton police have been informed of the letter deliveries by at least some of the recipients.

The letter told business owners the land they were on was Maori land and that "without knowing this" all the people on the land were technically squatters and had been for 160 years.

- WAIRARAPA TIMES-AGE (MASTERTON)