Just the beginning

The celebration of the return of Te Ngutu o te Manu was held on the 17th September 2022 with a dawn ceremony for the unveiling of a pou whenua, followed by dedications of mokopuna and tree planting. Celebrations continued at Kānihi with breakfast, entertainment and the official handover of Te Ngutu o te Manu. The day concluded with a hākari celebration.

𝗧𝗲 𝗡𝗴𝘂𝘁𝘂 𝗼 𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗴𝗮̄𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲

Ngāruahine iwi say the historic pā Te Ngutu o te Manu is the first of many properties that will be returned to their original hapū owners.

At dawn on Saturday a carved pouwhenua was unveiled at the historic site in South Taranaki to affirm the mana of Ngāruahine over the land.

The 4-hectare historic reserve was returned to Ngāruahine under its 2016 Treaty settlement. Now the adjoining 16 hectares block – with a rating value of $1 million – has been bought by the iwi from South Taranaki District Council for $1, after a unanimous decision by councillors.

For centuries hapū met at Te Ngutu o te Manu, renowned as a source of rongoā (medicine) and where Riwha Tītokowaru established his pā in the 1860s.

The chair of Te Korowai o Ngāruahine Paula Carr said its final return was just the beginning, with more land to be returned via the iwi into hapū ownership.

“It’s exciting for us because this is part of our strategy to reacquire whenua that used to belong to our people and to return the whenua into the rightful hands, which is hapū.”

“Ngāti Manuhiakai [hapū] are mana whenua over that land so they are the rightful kaitiaki of that whenua, and of course the iwi Ngāruahine plays a role as kaitiaki also, but it is returned to Ngāti Manuhiakai”

Carr said there had been little Crown land on offer for the Ngāruahine settlement negotiators, led by the late Daisy Noble.

“Aunty Daisy was very clear about trying to acquire as much whenua as possible but there wasn’t a lot to negotiate.”

The iwi would buy back ten more properties – mostly at full price – and had first right of refusal over many more.

“That’s the crazy part; they used to be ours, they were confiscated or lost in various ways, and now we have to buy them back.”

“In some cases they were returned for a dollar but for most of them we have to pay market rates.”

Tītokowaru rebuilt the village at Te Ngutu o te Manu in 1867, after it was razed in the Crown’s scorched earth military campaign the year before.

He began a concerted campaign for peace, urging iwi to put down their arms while demanding no further land be taken.

But in 1868 continued incursions by the Crown and military settlers provoked Tītokowaru to fight back and in return the Armed Constabulary launched two attacks on Te Ngutu o te Manu.

Ingenious pā construction saw the attacks repelled, including the famous victory on September 7 when Major Gustavus von Tempsky was killed.

Tītokowaru gathered allies as he swept across South Taranaki in a series of battles, temporarily winning back all the land to the edge of Whanganui.

Phil Nuku of Ngāti Manuhiakai carved the pouwhenua and led the ceremonies on the weekend.

He said the alliance that stood with Tītokowaru meant the land had significance beyond his hapū.

“He was a leader but had many whanaunga on his side, so we can’t really say it’s just Ngāti Manuhiakai – it’s all those hapū and all those iwi who supported our tupuna.”

The smaller site will remain a historic reserve but Nuku would like to see housing on the larger block, echoing the more than 50 whare in the village under Tītokowaru.

“Kāinga, papakāinga, housing our people – that’s really big on the Ngāruahine list.”

Nuku praised two kuia, Lorna Katene and Maria Robinson, researchers for Ngāti Manuhiakai in the land claim.

He also acknowledged former South Taranaki District mayor Ross Dunlop’s work behind the scenes.

“He played a really big part at the beginning and the discussions that he was having with Daisy Noble really started to put things in place.”

At Saturday’s unveiling kaumātua planted trees and shrubs in the rongoā garden, Te Uru Rākau.

Ross Dunlop planted the first tree in Te Uru Rākau four years ago to mark the 150th anniversary of the battle and was there again at the weekend.

“It means a lot to me and obviously to Ngāruahine and the community… This was the right thing to do given all that happened around that whenua.”

Dunlop was also at the 100th anniversary as a boy with his father in 1968, when the crowd was mainly Pākehā.

“Then 50 years later it was very much a Māori ceremony… how things have turned around.”

Ripeka Hudson’s late father Rocky was involved with both the fisheries and land claims and said he would be immensely pleased.

“It’s a small parcel of land but it’s some whenua to come back to us – because the invasion was so extreme, so complete that everything was taken.”

“I’m so happy that there’s a place where our future generations can gather, can be, can remember and take forward the lessons and the confidence that we are Ruahine, that we are Aotea waka, and Taranaki nui tonu.”

By Craig Ashworth craig@tekorimako.co.nz