Aunty Yvonne spoke about her identity as Ngāti Tukorehe and the advise her grandfather gave her: “Humbleness is mana, as long as we know who we are.” With her is daughter Tina Wehipeihana Wilson. Photo / Supplied
Aunty Yvonne spoke about her identity as Ngāti Tukorehe and the advise her grandfather gave her: “Humbleness is mana, as long as we know who we are.” With her is daughter Tina Wehipeihana Wilson. Photo / Supplied
Aunty Yvonne - Yvonne Wehipeihana Wilson - got her opportunity to speak to the Waitangi Tribunal on her marae of Tukorehe in Kuku, just south of Levin this week.
In preparing for the hearing, Wilson asked why the iwi needed to tell their story to the Tribunal. She got various answers but for her, “History needs to be corrected for our Tukorehe people. The Tribunal and the Crown have the ability to do that.”
Wilson has spent her whole life in Kuku and she spoke to the Tribunal about this life and outlined the issues faced by her and Ngāti Tukorehe.
She appreciated the Crown will not fully compensate Tukorehe for their losses, but she is hoping this process will enable them to reclaim their tino rangatiratanga and provide resources to invest in future generations.
Being a “Kuku Kid”, one of her concerns was that the area might possibly lose its name.
On Wednesday, historian Te Kenehi Teira gave an explanation of Kuku and told the Tribunal it was another name for the kererū (wood pigeon). He further outlined the spiritual significance of the kuku and other birds including the ruru or morepork. In the old days when forest covered the land from the mountains to the sea, pigeons were far more common in the area.
Former MP Sir Doug Kidd.
Another “Kuku Kid” and possibly more famous then Aunty Yvonne is the former MP Sir Doug Kidd.
Like many, he is taking an interest in the proceedings via YouTube live coverage. He grew up in Kuku and when Ngāti Tukorehe first lodged their claim, Wai 1913, it was delivered to Kidd in a woven kete.
Wilson is supported by other members of the iwi. These include her daughter Tina Wehipeihana Wilson, the first Māori woman to serve as trade commissioner in Taiwan. Tina’s daughter, Arihia Hall, is a slam poet who, at the beginning of the hearing, recited her poem regarding issues the tribunal was to hear about.
This is the 13th sitting of the Waitangi Tribunal, which will hear the grievances of a confederation of iwi that comprise Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tukorehe, Ngāti Kauwhata, hapū of Te Reureu and Ngāti Wehiwehi. The confederation occupy the Manawatū/Horowhenua/Kāpiti area and are generally known as Ngāti Raukawa, or Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, to differentiate themselves from their relatives Ngāti Raukawa, who occupy the area around Tokoroa, Putāruru, Maungatautari and east towards the Kaimai/Mamaku Range.
This is one of the larger Treaty of Waitangi claims to be heard and commenced in 2020 in Manawatū and progresses south to its conclusion in Ōtaki later this year. The original claim was lodged in 1989 by kaumātua - Whata Karaka Davis, Ngārongo Iwikatea Nicholson, Te Maharanui Jacob and Pita Richardson. They have now all passed on.
These iwi migrated to the Manawatū/Horowhenua/Ōtaki area alongside Ngāti Toa, Te Āti Awa and other iwi during the early 19th Century. They represent an estimated population of some 30,000 descendants who affiliate to 21 marae stretching from Bulls in the north-west, Te Reureu in the north-east to Ōtaki in the south-west.
