At 2am on Saturday, uri of Ngāpuhi gathered in the darkness at the rūnanga offices in Kaikohe.
After final check-ins, a briefing and karakia, the ope piled into two 50-seater buses to make the long journey to Ngāruawāhia, where the historic hui called by the Kīngitanga was taking place.
By the time they arrived at Tūrangawaewae Marae at 8.30am, it was already hot and muggy. Aunties and uncles, mums and dads and their whānau descended from the buses, stretching their legs after the long drive.
Hui-ā-motu, called by the Kīngitanga in response to the Government’s perceived “anti-Māori” and “divisive” policies, drew more than 10,000 attendees from across the motu, including representatives from iwi ngā hou e whā. All gathered in the common goal of kotahitanga.
Ngāpuhi wasn’t the only iwi to bring a large contingent to the hui. Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, Tūwharetoa, Tūhoe, Te Arawa, Ngāti Whātua and Ngāti Maniapoto were all there in strong numbers.
But for Ngāpuhi, their attendance in such force was especially significant. It suggests a growing sense of shared purpose in Māoridom. A moment of kotahitanga.
But when the Kīngitanga movement was established in 1858 to provide a collective voice in negotiations with the British Crown, Ngāpuhi chose to represent themselves and have their own iwi and hapū motuhake. A firm independence of Ngāpuhi identity and opinion has persisted. They were not obliged to come to Ngāruawāhia when Kīngi Tūheitia’s invitation was issued in December.
So when Ngāpuhi arrived, it was with a sense of occasion.
It came as no surprise that Ngāpuhi were very well dressed, adorned in pounamu and bone taonga, iwi-branded kākahu, pōtae and woven wool blankets showcasing intricate Māori designs.
Noted Ngāpuhi academic Hone Sadler. Photo / File
Not all uri of Ngāpuhi had come on the buses. Many had driven from Tāmaki Makaurau, where it is estimated that some 60 per cent of Ngāpuhi’s 165,000 population live.
Their kaikōrero, Hone Sadler, was dressed in a cream suit and wielded a carved tokotoko.
Speaking to the crowd on the paepae, he acknowledged Kīngi Tūheitia and the king’s relationship to Ngāpuhi.
“E te mokopuna ō Rāhiri, tēnei a Ngāpuhi, kua tae mai i runga i tō tono, nā reira, ka mihi nui atu rā.”
(“Descendant of Rāhiri, this is Ngāpuhi, who have arrived here at your request. Thank you very much.”)
Specifically, he referenced Rāhiri, the tūpuna of Ngāpuhi, to acknowledge the king’s whakapapa links to Ngāpuhi. The comment was met with laughs from many sitting on the pae.
Sadler also spoke of Ngāpuhi’s mātauranga (knowledge) of Te Tiriti and He Whakaputanga. It is what the iwi bring to the table in these national conversations, he said.
And Mātua Hone is correct. Ngāpuhi are the kaitiaki and first signatories of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. They have consistently maintained that they never ceded sovereignty, a position now supported by the findings of the Waitangi Tribunal and thousands of pages of evidence.
The stage two tribunal report on their Treaty claim was handed to Ngāpuhi in December. More than 10 years in the making, it is based on 26 weeks of hearings and more than 500,000 pages of evidence, relating to 415 individual Treaty claims.
While Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith has said previously he is committed to settling Ngāpuhi’s claim, a target date has not been set. Goldsmith is the latest in a long line of ministers to have made similar commitments to settling with Ngāpuhi.
Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Kotahitanga without compromise
Hinerangi Himiona, kaimahi mo Ngāpuhi nui tonu, left Te Tai Tokerau the night before the hui, travelling with her daughter, three other wāhine Māori and their whānau. They stayed in Tāmaki Makaurau for the evening before setting off in the morning.
“Absolutely amazingly positive and beautiful and full of hope and love.”
While many of her whānaunga up north don’t recognise the king, her mahi with iwi across the country has given her a greater appreciation of the Kīngitanga and Waikato Tainui, Himiona says.
She is grateful for the Kīngitanga and the amount of organisation that went into pulling Hui-ā-motu together.
“My own personal experience, and certainly my perspective, is that Ngāpuhi, at some point, we need to work with other iwi. We need to align, we need to collaborate, to become a unified Māori voice.”
What she is talking about is kotahitanga, the main message to emerge from wānanga at Hui-ā-motu. The message was carried through to Rātana celebrations this week.
Kotahitanga is a well-established concept in te ao Māori. Meaning unity, togetherness and collective action, it has been used previously in Māori political movements. The Kīngitanga itself was seen as kotahitanga, but more recent examples include the establishment of the Māori Battalion and the Māori Women’s Welfare League.
Himiona says coming together as iwi doesn’t mean anything needs to change at home.
“We’re still going to have our own things, but actually we are much stronger together as ngā iwi o te mōtu.”
A wero for the new Government
After Sadler finished speaking on the paepae, Ngāpuhi’s voices came forward, singing a waiata composed specifically for the occasion.
Their voices carried strength and unity. Unbeknown to the thousands of people watching in-person and online, they’d had only a few rehearsals.
Written by Mutunga Rameka, Himiona says the waiata firstly spoke of Ngāpuhi’s response to the Kīngitanga’s call for unity, secondly a commitment to “fight the Government for the work that they’re doing to damage Te Tiriti and He Whakaputanga because we are the kaitiaki”. Lastly, the waiata asks for people to come together at Waitangi this year.
“Bring your contribution to our hākari so we can feast,” she says.
For Ngāpuhi, Te Tai Tokerau is their tūrangawaewae.
Now it’s their turn to host iwi from across the country. As the mauri is passed to Waitangi, the echoes of Hui-ā-motu linger, and Ngāpuhi and the Kīngitanga will unite in laying down a wero for the new Government – kotahitanga in action.
