Causes of the Bastion Point Protest
For a number of years Ngati Whatua had been dealing with the issues associated with the previous sale of their land, these sales extended back to the mid 1800's. As Auckland expanded, pressure grew on Ngati Whatua to sell more land. Back in the 1850’s the local chiefs could not have predicted, and certainly did not intend, that colonisation would lead to future generations experiencing the loss of their ancestral land. In 1840 the Ngati Whatua Chief Apihai Te Kawau, entered an agreement with Governer Hobson that provided the 3,000 acres on which Auckland quickly grew. He was a generous patron and gifted land to the Anglican Church for a church and school site, and the Orakei headland, which included Bastion Point, was gifted to the Crown in 1859 for defence purposes. Despite these areas lands being gifted, the Ngati Whatua essentially controlled these transactions, and expected the land to be returned to them once it no longer fulfilled the purpose for which it was given. Moreover, as early as 1840 they had made it clear that their 700 acre Orakei block was their tribal base, however the certainty that they would keep Orakei was quickly gone as soon as the Native Land Court began operating.
In 1869 the court launched an investigation into the Orakei Block and awarded ownership to 13 people. Initially the Maori did not have an issue with the land being given to 13 owners as they saw them as trustees of the land. What they did not realise was that the court had no process to take into account the Maori understanding of trusteeship. In 1882 the government removed the restrictions on the land in regards to the ‘alienation’ of the land from the Maori people of Orakei, this allowed long term leases for the land to be obtained. In 1886 the government took part of the remaining land for more defence purposes. Then in 1898 the Native Land Court portioned the block amongst the thirteen ‘owners’ or their successors, and left only 40 acres Okahu Bay for the Maori people. Over the next 20 years Ngati Whatua voiced their anguish in regards to their land being unfairly taken. In 1908 a government appointed commission found that the Orakei land was essentially tribal property that should never be taken away from Ngati Whatua. Despite this, in 1913 the government announced its intentions to buy the land at Orakei, partly due to increasing pressure from the leaseholders on the land who wanted to permanently own it.
Even though Orakei was not for sale, the Crown wanted it for European settlement, so it set about buying it regardless. It first stated that only the Crown could buy land at Orakei, but it took many years to purchase it as the Ngati Whatua people rightfully resisted selling. Previously, land could only be sold when the majority of tribal owners voted for it. But tribal or group rights to the land had been wiped out by the Native Land Court, and in 1913 the Government changed the law to enable it to buy from individuals. By December 1914, the Government had acquired 460 acres, most of the farmed area. One by one, many owners or their successors sold their land, believing they would at least keep the section that their house stood on. But this was not allowed. Those who resisted had their land taken from them under the Public Works Act 1882. The Crown said it was in the public interest that the land should be used for a new housing development. Many who were displaced from their land moved to the land that had been gifted to the Anglican Church; however they were not aware that in 1926 the government had bought that land from the church. In 1939, the last of those people, 14 adults and 10 children, were evicted. Even though Ngati Whatua sellers had not been allowed to keep their sections, Europeans were allowed to lease land for their homes, and later those sections were gifted to the European settlers by the Crown. In 1951, the Crown compulsorily took the remaining 12½ acres in the possession of Ngati Whatua. Apart from the Okahu Cemetery, Ngati Whatua now owned no land in Orakei.
Māori politics took on a sharper edge from the 1970’s, and built from the rising tensions that had been occurring since the late 1800’s. Land grievances remained a point of debate among the Maori people and the Government, not only for historical reasons. The Maori Affairs Amendment Act, which was established in 1967, caused uproar within the Maori community, and increased Maori discontent with the New Zealand Government. The act introduced compulsory 'improvement' of Māori lands, including the extension of provisions first introduced in 1953 for the compulsory acquisition of 'uneconomic interests' in land. These acts were based solely on the economic value and use of the land, and ignored the fact that such lands were often the last fragments connecting their owners to their ancestors and top their Maori heritage. These policies from the government may have had good intentions behind them, but to many Maori they did not address the true value of the land. Many Maori labelled the acts ‘outdated’ and ‘paternalistic’, making no allowance for cultural and spiritual links to the land, which was one of the main reasons the Maori people valued these lands.
In 1975 a number of Iwi from around the country came together under the leadership of Whina Cooper, who was widely respected throughout the Maori community. Cooper decided that they should begin a hikoi, or march, in protest of the ongoing Maori land losses that was occurring around the country. At the end of a month long journey from Te Hapua in the Far North, thousands of Maori, from Iwi’s across the country, assembled outside Parliament in Wellington to protest against this ongoing loss of Maori land. The hikoi or land march united many Maori and supporters in the fight for Maori land. This unification lead to the grievances over Maori land becoming a real, and significant issue in New Zealand. The hikoi bought publicity for these grievances, and made all New Zealanders aware of what had happened in regards to the Maori land. Member of Ngati Whatua and the Orakei Maori Committee Action group, Joe Hawke, was inspired by the Hikoi and the leadership of Dame Whina Cooper, and decided that he would inspire others to follow him and protest against the government. Bastion Point was not the only piece of Maori land that had been confiscated, another example was the Raglan Golf Course which was land that had belonged to the Tainui Awhira tribe. Between 1975 and 1978, Eva Rickard led several protests and occupations at the Raglan Golf Club. Their largest protest began on 12 February 1978, with 250 members of the Tainui Awhiro tribe and their allies. They focused on the desecration of sacred burial grounds as the main violation of their rights. When the police arrived to remove the protestors, they targeted people who had been involved in the 1975 Land March. Eva Rickard and seventeen of her fellow organizers were arrested. Rickard was taken away by two police officers at the ninth hole of the golf course. Their brutality left her with a permanent injury to her wrist. Tensions between Maori and the government, in regards to land grievances, were coming to it's highest point in the late 1970's, the Government decision to develop the land at Bastion Point was the final straw, and because of rising tensions, the people of Ngati Whatua, led by Joe Hawke, decided to occupy the land at Bastion Point in an act of peaceful protest.
Key Historical Ideas
There were a number of key significant causes of the Bastion Point Protest of 1977-78. These causes dated back to the mid 1800's and the occupation itself all stemmed from issues surrounding the loss of land Ngati Whatua as a result of rulings by the Native Land Court and the early New Zealand government. One of the Key reasons why Ngati Whatua protested as to get their land back was because it had been gifted to the crown in 1850's, and was meant to have been returned as soon as the land was not needed for the purpose of which it was gifted. Ngati Whatua's land ownership in Orakei had been reduced significantly from over 3000 acres to around 43 acres. This, for obvious reasons, angered the Maori people and they fought against this in the early 1900's, without much success. However in the 1970's Maori politics took a sharper edge and the rising tensions that had occurred in the 120 years leading up to the decade, would eventually reach it's peak and lead to the 1975 Land Hikoi. The Hikoi bought great publicity for the Maori movement over land grievances and in 1977 inspired Joe Hawke and members of Ngati Whatua to occupy the land at Bastion Point in an act of peaceful protest.
In 1869 the court launched an investigation into the Orakei Block and awarded ownership to 13 people. Initially the Maori did not have an issue with the land being given to 13 owners as they saw them as trustees of the land. What they did not realise was that the court had no process to take into account the Maori understanding of trusteeship. In 1882 the government removed the restrictions on the land in regards to the ‘alienation’ of the land from the Maori people of Orakei, this allowed long term leases for the land to be obtained. In 1886 the government took part of the remaining land for more defence purposes. Then in 1898 the Native Land Court portioned the block amongst the thirteen ‘owners’ or their successors, and left only 40 acres Okahu Bay for the Maori people. Over the next 20 years Ngati Whatua voiced their anguish in regards to their land being unfairly taken. In 1908 a government appointed commission found that the Orakei land was essentially tribal property that should never be taken away from Ngati Whatua. Despite this, in 1913 the government announced its intentions to buy the land at Orakei, partly due to increasing pressure from the leaseholders on the land who wanted to permanently own it.
Even though Orakei was not for sale, the Crown wanted it for European settlement, so it set about buying it regardless. It first stated that only the Crown could buy land at Orakei, but it took many years to purchase it as the Ngati Whatua people rightfully resisted selling. Previously, land could only be sold when the majority of tribal owners voted for it. But tribal or group rights to the land had been wiped out by the Native Land Court, and in 1913 the Government changed the law to enable it to buy from individuals. By December 1914, the Government had acquired 460 acres, most of the farmed area. One by one, many owners or their successors sold their land, believing they would at least keep the section that their house stood on. But this was not allowed. Those who resisted had their land taken from them under the Public Works Act 1882. The Crown said it was in the public interest that the land should be used for a new housing development. Many who were displaced from their land moved to the land that had been gifted to the Anglican Church; however they were not aware that in 1926 the government had bought that land from the church. In 1939, the last of those people, 14 adults and 10 children, were evicted. Even though Ngati Whatua sellers had not been allowed to keep their sections, Europeans were allowed to lease land for their homes, and later those sections were gifted to the European settlers by the Crown. In 1951, the Crown compulsorily took the remaining 12½ acres in the possession of Ngati Whatua. Apart from the Okahu Cemetery, Ngati Whatua now owned no land in Orakei.
Māori politics took on a sharper edge from the 1970’s, and built from the rising tensions that had been occurring since the late 1800’s. Land grievances remained a point of debate among the Maori people and the Government, not only for historical reasons. The Maori Affairs Amendment Act, which was established in 1967, caused uproar within the Maori community, and increased Maori discontent with the New Zealand Government. The act introduced compulsory 'improvement' of Māori lands, including the extension of provisions first introduced in 1953 for the compulsory acquisition of 'uneconomic interests' in land. These acts were based solely on the economic value and use of the land, and ignored the fact that such lands were often the last fragments connecting their owners to their ancestors and top their Maori heritage. These policies from the government may have had good intentions behind them, but to many Maori they did not address the true value of the land. Many Maori labelled the acts ‘outdated’ and ‘paternalistic’, making no allowance for cultural and spiritual links to the land, which was one of the main reasons the Maori people valued these lands.
In 1975 a number of Iwi from around the country came together under the leadership of Whina Cooper, who was widely respected throughout the Maori community. Cooper decided that they should begin a hikoi, or march, in protest of the ongoing Maori land losses that was occurring around the country. At the end of a month long journey from Te Hapua in the Far North, thousands of Maori, from Iwi’s across the country, assembled outside Parliament in Wellington to protest against this ongoing loss of Maori land. The hikoi or land march united many Maori and supporters in the fight for Maori land. This unification lead to the grievances over Maori land becoming a real, and significant issue in New Zealand. The hikoi bought publicity for these grievances, and made all New Zealanders aware of what had happened in regards to the Maori land. Member of Ngati Whatua and the Orakei Maori Committee Action group, Joe Hawke, was inspired by the Hikoi and the leadership of Dame Whina Cooper, and decided that he would inspire others to follow him and protest against the government. Bastion Point was not the only piece of Maori land that had been confiscated, another example was the Raglan Golf Course which was land that had belonged to the Tainui Awhira tribe. Between 1975 and 1978, Eva Rickard led several protests and occupations at the Raglan Golf Club. Their largest protest began on 12 February 1978, with 250 members of the Tainui Awhiro tribe and their allies. They focused on the desecration of sacred burial grounds as the main violation of their rights. When the police arrived to remove the protestors, they targeted people who had been involved in the 1975 Land March. Eva Rickard and seventeen of her fellow organizers were arrested. Rickard was taken away by two police officers at the ninth hole of the golf course. Their brutality left her with a permanent injury to her wrist. Tensions between Maori and the government, in regards to land grievances, were coming to it's highest point in the late 1970's, the Government decision to develop the land at Bastion Point was the final straw, and because of rising tensions, the people of Ngati Whatua, led by Joe Hawke, decided to occupy the land at Bastion Point in an act of peaceful protest.
Key Historical Ideas
There were a number of key significant causes of the Bastion Point Protest of 1977-78. These causes dated back to the mid 1800's and the occupation itself all stemmed from issues surrounding the loss of land Ngati Whatua as a result of rulings by the Native Land Court and the early New Zealand government. One of the Key reasons why Ngati Whatua protested as to get their land back was because it had been gifted to the crown in 1850's, and was meant to have been returned as soon as the land was not needed for the purpose of which it was gifted. Ngati Whatua's land ownership in Orakei had been reduced significantly from over 3000 acres to around 43 acres. This, for obvious reasons, angered the Maori people and they fought against this in the early 1900's, without much success. However in the 1970's Maori politics took a sharper edge and the rising tensions that had occurred in the 120 years leading up to the decade, would eventually reach it's peak and lead to the 1975 Land Hikoi. The Hikoi bought great publicity for the Maori movement over land grievances and in 1977 inspired Joe Hawke and members of Ngati Whatua to occupy the land at Bastion Point in an act of peaceful protest.