‘Misinformation, ignorance’ face tribunal

Press, 1 December 1987, Page 3

‘Misinformation, ignorance’ face tribunal

JANE ENGLAND,

Maori Affairs reporter Clouds of uninformed public opinion are gathering over New Zealand, the deputy chief judge of the Waitangi Tribunal, Mr Ashley McHugh, warned yesterday. In his speech to more than 80 people attending the fourth hearing of the Ngai Tahu land claim in Arahura, on the West Coast, he said that misinformation and ignorance represented the biggest battle faced by the tribunal. Statements made by many people after the High Court decisions on Maori fishing rights, Stateowned enterprises, and the tribunal’s finding on the Orakei land claim, revealed the extent of that ignorance. “It is clear that many people have no idea what the Maori grievances are about — perhaps they do not wish to know,” he said. The tribunal had been forced to consider pdejing public education to its list of other tasks, he said. The tribunal comprises seven members who work part-time as a panel.. When tribunal members gathered at the marae entrance near Hokitika yesterday they faced a bare paddock and a marquee instead of the traditional meeting house. The welcome they received was just as warm but later as the mana whenua (people of standing in the area) made their opening submissions it became clear that the marae, the area once proudly supported, had fallen into disrepair through lack of use. “When our economic base was taken from us — the pounamu (greenstone) and the land — it drove many of our people away,” said Mr Kelly Wilson.

Mr Wilson, a kaumatua (elder) from the South Westland region told the tribunal that he had fought for his country during World War 11. “But when I came back I found I had no country at all. I stand before you now as a landless Maori,” he said. Mr Wilson outlined land in the region which had been forcibly taken from the Maori people and the Crown’s failure to guarantee adequate reserves or compensation — a breach of the Treaty of Waitangi. Maoris did not retain any land in the area between Jackson Bay and the Milford Sound and yet it had long been one of their prime areas of settlement, he said. “Archeologists can now back up what I am telling you — that our people lived and thrived in that area but the economic base was taken from under our feet.” Mr Wilson quoted from a letter he said he had received from one of the many people who had been forced: to leave the area they loved. 1 “Dear uncle, how is it back in South Westland? How I wish I could bring my family back but it does not seem possible because of the very little area that would be allocated to us anyway ... although I would prefer to come home.” Submissions made by other tribespeople from the Westland and Arahura hapu (sub-tribes) supported Mr Wilson’s statements. Lengthy documentation was produced to show the extent of Ngai Tahu settlement in the area. The hearing which will include substantial evidence on land sales, reserves, and the low rental still paid by those leasing land from the Muriwhenua Incorporation, will continue tomorrow.