Tainui to meet at sacred spot

Today was strategically chosen by hikoi organising group Iwi Have Influence as a day of protest.

It marks 31 years since 500 police and Army personnel evicted Ngati Whatua o Orakei hapu members and supporters from Bastion Pt after a marathon 506-day occupation for its return.

Bastion Pt - Takaparawha - will be a starting point for that iwi for the hikoi. But land significant to Tainui, the city's other major tangata whenua grouping, will also feature in the hikoi.

Maori coming from South Auckland will stop today at the Auckland Domain and gather beside a hill named Pukekaroa. Maoridom's first monarch, King Potatau Te Wherowhero, lived there during the 19th century.

Because of his mana and power, his friendship was cultivated by Governor George Grey and other leading Pakeha before his death in 1860.

Iwi leader Te Warena Taua said it was important to make sure Maori reconnected and drew strength from the Domain because it was a physical reminder of the tribe's mana whenua status - and their right to representation within Auckland.

"He [Te Wherowhero] had that old saying, beware the hem of my cloak. If you imagine looking at a cloak and you lay it out you will see there's a whole area covered by it. If you consider Waikato being at the top of that cloak and then the outskirts as you come into Tamaki being the hem, that whole huge area is where we belong."