Saturday's installation ceremony for the new vicar included frequent reference to Kakakura.
The congregation that filled the church included the prominent seating of members of the Parata family. The speakers, including the current Bishop of Wellington, the Rt Reverend Justin Duckworth, spoke directly to the late Kakakura featured in the stain glass memorial high above the altar.
It was a fascinating juxtaposition of history's relevance to today's reality. Kakakura, who was born on Kapiti Island and raised at the Kena Kena Pa by the Waikanae Estuary, was later a large landowner and farmer. He gifted large chunks of land including the land for the church.
His generosity facilitated the arrival of the railway, contributing to the economic growth of the district. In those days Waikanae was called the Parata Township.
But the reference point for Saturday's installation was Kakakura, the two-term Member of Parliament's, and his court case. In October 1877, the Supreme Court made its ruling on the Wiremu Te Kakakura vs Bishop of Wellington case.
The case was over a block of land in Porirua gifted in 1848 to the Anglican Church for the purpose of a school to educate young Māori. The school was never built and the land was transferred into church ownership via a Crown grant.
In his ruling, Chief Justice James Prendergast said the court could not consider a claim on land based on a native title. He noted the Treaty of Waitangi was worthless because it was signed between a civilised nation and a group of savages. Since the Treaty was not incorporated into domestic law it was "a simple nullity", he said.
That was back in 1877, here we are in 2020 and the relevance of that history was being aired in a Waikanae church on a Saturday afternoon in the presence of members of the Parata family.
This reconnection of the relevance of local history comes at a time of a national debate on the need for the national school curriculum to include New Zealand history. That change will be introduced in 2022.
New Zealand is also caught up in the global protest against the dominance of oppressive colonial culture sparked off by the death of George Floyd in the US. The issues are echoing in New Zealand. Local authorities across the country are already caught up in this national debate.
Saturday evening I was at the Paekākāriki Bubble Breakout event. Together with local kaumātua Karl Webber, we gave out certificates of appreciation to a whole host of individuals, local organisations and businesses who had pitched in to help keep the village connected and safe during the recent lockdown.
Organised by the Paekākāriki Community Board, the event was a great community happening as only Paekākāriki can deliver.
Paekākāriki proves the point that there is something to be said for small communities. The ability to pull together during times of crisis is a given. The challenge for larger urban centres like Paraparumu lies in our capacity to urban-design numerous organic neighbourhoods. The Covid-19 response proved its value.
