Te Arawa reject ‘Hongi’s Peace’

Less than a week after Te Arawa accepted royal recognition from Prince Andrew for the bravery of one of their soldiers in the Second World War, the central North Island tribe has turned its back on a peace offering from Ngapuhi, which aimed to end over 180 years of conflict between the two tribes.

Ngapuhi leader David Rankin was to have presented an ancient and extremely valuable taiaha (fighting staff) to Te Arawa leaders at Waitangi this Friday, where over 200 of Hongi’s descendents were to attend. However, at the last minute, the Te Arawa delegation altered the schedule to bypass this event altogether, and will now be meeting only with Northland councillors and members of the Government-appointed runanga.

‘Our people feel saddened and let down by this rebuff’, says Mr. Rankin, ‘especially as we were in the final stages of preparing the welcome, and have spent a great deal of time discussing the best way to heal the wounds of the past and to build bridges between our two peoples’..

A group of Hongi’s descendents worked hard for two years gaining the necessary permission to make the offering of the taiaha, and Mr. Rankin says he feels particularly sorry for them: ‘These people, they put everything on the line so that we could have peace, but the actions of Te Arawa have buried that prospect for at least another generation’.

ENDS

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