Manawatu Exhibition: Tino Rangatiratanga
‘Toitu te kupu, toitu te mana, toitu te whenua’
I have a special association to this word Toitu—it links us directly to one of our tupuna, Tinirau.He left us the challenge: Toitu te kupu; toitu te mana; toitu te whenua. His words carry a deep understanding—a call to hold fast to our culture, for without our language; without the land;without the spirit of being tangata whenua; our essence would be diminished.’ (Tariana Turia MP, speech to Toitu Maori Leadership Summit, 10 July 2012.)
Manawatu Photographs
The Māori Land March (hīkoi) moves towards Palmerston North from Bulls on 10 October 1975. The Manawatū Standard reported that spirits were high among the marchers, spurred on by groups of well-wishers and gifts of food from passing motorists. Along the route, which started in Te Hāpua in the Far North, marchers were hosted by local iwi and joined by growing numbers of people.
The marchers, their numbers swelling with local supporters, head towards Palmerston North . During their stay in Manawatū, mutton from 100 sheep donated by the Longburn and Feilding freezing works helped towards their meals.
The Māori Land March (hīkoi) arrives at the Square via Rangitīkei Street. Rōpata Eruera Kawana, known as Bob Governor, the Rangitāne kaumātua, offers the microphone to Whina Cooper. Bob’s welcome speech on behalf of the tangata whenua acknowledged the wairua and kotahitanga the hīkoi brought to the region. After two nights in Manawatū, the marchers continued on Wellington, where they presented a memorial of rights signed by 60,000 people to Prime Minister Bill Rowling at Parliament. It asked that all statutes that could alienate land be repealed, and that remaining tribal land be invested in Māori in perpetuity.