Tuhoe protesters won't apologise for spitting

Tame Iti

Tuhoe elders who apologised to Waitangi Tribunal officials who were spat at during a welcome ceremony did not represent those who made the protest, activist Tame Iti says.

Tribunal officials were spat and sworn at during a welcome ceremony in the Urewera Ranges area on Sunday as they arrived to hear the tribe's Treaty of Waitangi claim.

Yesterday, elders apologised for the behaviour as they sought to speak about their claim to have the 212,000ha Urewera National Park and other land returned.

"There were some individuals who spoke yesterday and apologised but they do not speak on behalf of the 600 people who made a stance on Sunday," Mr Iti, a Tuhoe artist, told National Radio today.

"It was an awesome day, a day never to be forgotten, they will talk about for the next 100 years."

Mr Iti said the officials represented the Crown -- the "perpetrators" of injustice against Tuhoe -- and the demonstrators' actions reflected their anger.

"I would not apologise, not at all."

Lawyer for the claimants, Annette Sykes, said on Sunday the Crown had practised a scorched earth policy in the area in the 1860s due to the tribe's desire to continue governing itself.

That policy resulted in serious and long-lasting grievances, she said.

The hearing was the latest in a series relating to the Tuhoe claim that have been heard during the past year, an Office of Treaty Settlements spokesperson said.

- NZPA