Maori calls for end to digging

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32540, 25 February 1971, Page 15

Maori calls for end to digging

“It is the ingrained duty of every Maori of Ngai-Tahu blood to guard such historic sites as Onawe and the Kaiapohia Pa,” said Mr W. J. Karetai, chairman of the Te Wai Pounamu District Council and a member of the New Zealand Maori Council, yesterday.

Mr Karetai said that he and other tribal e(ders and representatives believed that the excavations in and around the site of the Kaiapohia Pa, which had been going on for some years, had gone far enough. “The ancestors of the present Ngai-Tahu tribe died in honour some 150 years ago defending their tribe and family,” he said, “and it is therefore of paramount importance that ancient Maori tribal grounds, particularly Kaiapohia, retain some semblence of tapu.”

The Te Wai Pounamu District Council is working with the New Zealand Maori Council in the hope of bringing about legislation to protect such sites, as well as to prevent the sale of Maori atrifacts overseas, he said. SUPPORT OF ELDERS

Mr Karetai said he had the support of well-known tribal elders and representatives. Among these were Mr Whitu Pitima, head of the Tuahiwi mare, Kaiapoi; Mr Wera Couch, an elder of the Rapaki marae; and Mr Riki Ellison, a tribal representative from Taumutu and chairman of the Canterbury Maori Executive. “The least we can do, is to ensure that the scars of battle won with courage and honour are not reopened to bleed

in silent protest against violation by spade and shovel,” Mr Karetai said.