Hawke’s Bay Waitangi Day event highlights unity and iwi growth

Racheal Wharehinga and Jarvis Harrison with their children Summer (left), Sailor (front) and Reef at Mitre 10 Sports Park. Photo / Gary Hamilton-Irvine

Thousands of people have flocked to Waitangi Day events in Hawke’s Bay in a show of solidarity and to acknowledge the region’s history related to the country’s founding document.

The commemorations were not only about looking at the past but also the future.

A large crowd at Hastings’ Mitre 10 Sports Park was told Ngāti Kahungunu now had almost 100,000 people according to the latest Census - making it the third largest iwi across the motu (country).

“We have a huge future and huge aspirations,” Ngāti Kahungunu chairman Bayden Barber said.

Thousands attended that free Waitangi Day event, hosted by the iwi, under blue skies on Thursday’s public holiday - which featured entertainment, performances and speeches on the main stage complemented by plenty of rides and kai.

Barber said it was a time to “remember our tupuna [ancestors] who signed the Treaty of Waitangi” and to “go forward together as one”.

The Waimarama Marae kapa haka group performing at the Waitangi Day Family Celebration. Photo / NZME

A Hīkoi of Unity (march) was also held earlier in the day near Clive, from Waitangi Regional Park to Farndon Park, close to where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by local chiefs Te Hapūku, Hoani Waikato and Harawira Mahika Te Tatere in 1840.

Tukituki MP Catherine Wedd said it was a special event.

“It was wonderful this morning to walk with my whānau - my four children - from Waitangi Park through to Clive and educate them about Te Titiri o Waitangi and the fact that it was not just signed in Waitangi but right here in Hawke’s Bay as well, a very significant place in our country’s history.”

Napier’s Racheal Wharehinga attended the Waitangi Day event at Mitre 10 Sports Park with her family.

She said she wanted to attend to show solidarity.

Rides were a big hit at the Waitangi Day event in Hastings. Photo / NZME

“I wanted to come just to be a part of it, I suppose, with everything that is going on at the moment [in New Zealand].”

She said it was also a good outing with her and her partner’s children.

Her partner, Jarvis Harrison, echoed that and said “I’m happy I came along to support Waitangi Day.”

Their children - Reef, Summer and Sailor - said they were looking forward to trying the rides.

The event at Mitre 10 Sports Park proved so popular that the wait to get out of the carpark, during the early afternoon, was 35 minutes for some.

Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.