For myself, the Ihumātao protest and its leaders are the news story of 2019.
After four years of appeals to local and central government, Heritage New Zealand processes, Environment Court decisions and an ever-growing library of Official Information Act responses, Soul (Save Our Unique Landscape) initiated mass occupation ofthe South Auckland whenua in response to an eviction notice from Fletcher Building in July.
The support it received locally and internationally showed its story and kaupapa resonated widely. A range of leaders and well-known personalities visited the protest site in solidarity, including Joe Hawke, Tame Iti, Stan Walker and TJ Perenara.
As the protest continued to hit headlines, a friend's take on the issue made me smile. Before July, he was unaware of problems engulfing the 33ha piece of land.
"It's kind of crazy, don't you think? Especially when you look at its history — it was stolen land from the beginning. Doesn't seem that complicated when you go back to that."
That friend is a Pākehā male lawyer in his early 40s. I count his understanding of the dispute, or light-bulb moment, as a victory for Soul. While he is only one individual, everyone matters when you are fighting for a cause as "radical" and confronting as Soul's.
So, as the group set up for a fifth year on the frontline, and the Government continues to delay direct involvement in a resolution, it is worth examining why it continues to create contempt among some corners of society.
South Auckland photographer and storyteller Qiane Matata-Sipu at the Makaurau Marae her father built in the 1980s. Photo / Jason Oxenham
The tit-for-tat between Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Soul co-leader Qiane Matata-Sipu in September on RNZ provides particular insight. The interviews, which took place separately, discuss Peters' and Matata-Sipu's respective views over the disputed land and Soul protest group. The interviews followed an announcement from Kīngi Tūheitia that mana whenua groups at Ihumātao agreed the disputed land should be returned.
Peters, who was first to be interviewed, was asked about the announcement and related request from Tūheitia's spokesman for an "innovative and modern solution that does not financially disadvantage iwi".
"From my perspective, I am fascinated with those words — we all are," Peters said in response. "Because the next question is, which you'd expect in any commercial setting, what does that mean?"
He went on to outline how Treaty settlements had dominated Māori and Crown land relations since the 1975 Treaty of Waitangi Act.
"All the way back from 1975 to February 6, 1840 that has been the process," Peters said. "To step up now in 2019 and say the whole script should be changed, with the greatest respect, after all the progress we've made, is not helpful.
"It just is a radical left-wing narrative for which Māoridom has got no chance of progressing in the future."
To clarify, the disputed land at Ihumātao was confiscated from local Māori in the 1860s. It was then sold into private, Pākehā ownership. It has never formed part of a Treaty of Waitangi Settlement, and under current policies it cannot be part of one because it is privately owned.
The occupation of Ihumatao near the Otuataua Stonefields in Mangere, Auckland in October. Photo / Dean Purcell
Because of this, Soul — since its 2015 inception — has said Ihumātao is separate from the Treaty settlement process, viewing it as a "cultural heritage" issue.
Matata-Sipu reiterated this in her RNZ interview . Her perspective on land rights and race relations also contrasted directly with Peters'. Instead of dismissing any potential change from a Crown resolution at Ihumātao, she welcomed it.
"We know in Aotearoa the Treaty settlement process is flawed," Matata-Sipu began.
"We know there is systemic failure in Government, in councils because this is how Ihumātao got to this place in the first place. You cannot tell me that iwi across Aotearoa are extremely happy with their Treaty settlements. The Treaty was never meant to be settled, it was meant to be honoured and if this [Ihumātao] sparks a change in the process and a change in the system moving forward, then change is good," she said.
This year's mass protest at Ihumātao has been years in the making. Disagreements about the best way forward caused divisions in the small Māngere Bridge community, and pitted family members against their own.
As Peters' comments demonstrate, choosing to pursue an outcome outside the current legal framework also attracted derision.
At the heart of it, the founders of Soul have fought, and continue to fight, for the best solution for their people. In doing so, they continue to progress race relations in this country — and for that, we should all be grateful.
