1975 Land hikoi: Tuia Mātauranga Curiosity Card

WHAKATAUKĪ

"Manaaki whenua, Manaaki tangata, Haere whakamua." 

"Care for the land, care for the people, Go forward."

BACKGROUND

In the early 1970s, growing Māori anger over land alienation led to activism. In the 1975 hīkoi (‘stepping out’), protesters marched from Northland to Wellington to ask the government to halt further losses of Māori land. 

In the same year, the government set up the Waitangi Tribunal to investigate breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi that had been detrimental to Māori. 

Source: 'Wellington region - New growth and attitudes: 1940–1975', URL: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/13280/land-march, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), (updated 1-August-2015)

Arrival in Wellington

Under drizzly skies, thousands of people crammed into the grounds of Parliament Buildings, Wellington, in October 1975, at the end of the historic Māori land march. Ngāpuhi leader Whina Cooper had led the march from Te Hāpua in the far north to protest against the continuing loss of Māori land. This action brought treaty issues to public attention more strongly than at any time since the 19th century.

Source: 'Treaty of Waitangi - Honouring the treaty – 1940 to 2000s’, URL: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/36375/maori-land-march-1975, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), (published 20-June-2012)

Whina Cooper

Ko Whina Cooper o Te Rarawa tēnei e kauhau ana ki te tira hīkoi whenua Māori i Kirikiriroa i te marama o Hepetema 1975. He roa ngā tau e whakapau kaha ana ia mō tana iwi me te iwi Māori whānui hoki. Ahakoa tana rongonui mō tana ārahi i te hīkoi whenua Māori, koia anō te perehitini o te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora. I tōna makeretanga mai i te tūranga perehitini o te rōpū, ka whakatauria te ingoa o Te Whāea-o-te-motu ki runga ki a ia.

Source: ‘Kaumātua - Kaumātua me āna mahi', URL: http://www.teara.govt.nz/mi/kaumatua, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), (published 5-May-2011)

QUICK FACTS    

• A leaflet handed out by the Land March protesters explained that: ‘Land is the very soul of a tribal people.’ 
• One of New Zealand’s most iconic 20th-century photographs shows Whina Cooper holding her grand-daughter’s hand, as she leaves Te Hapua on the Māori Land March.
• The Waitangi Tribunal was established in late 1975 in-part as a response to the Land March.
•  After the 1975 Land March, a group of protesters remained and set up a "tent embassy" in Parliament grounds to remind the public about the Land March. 
• During the Land March, some Pakeha expressed a view that New Zealand was one nation and that “we are all New Zealanders”. This dominant voice ignored bicultural obligations around Māori values, protest and the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

OTHER RESOURCES  

1975 Land March — commemorating 40 years since the Land March.

1975 Maori Land March — photographs and documents held by Archives New Zealand associated with the 1975 Land March.

Ahuwhenua — Māori land and agriculture - including land ownership, confiscation, fragmentation,  and solutions

Ahuwhenua — te mana whenua me te ahuwhenua Māori.  

Dame Whina Cooper — Dame Whina Cooper, of Te Rarawa descent, was born in 1895 in northern Hokianga. 

Whina Cooper leads land march to Parliament 13 October 1975 — New Zealand history events.

Māori Land March 1975 — here is a sheet of the actual petition that was delivered to parliament.

‘Not one more acre’ — the Māori Land March 40 years on exhibition.

Papatūānuku — ko Papatūānuku te whāea o ngā mea katoa o te ao.

Tame Iti — the man and the mana.

Te Matakite o Aotearoa — this film is a detailed chronicle of a key moment in the Māori renaissance: the 1975 Land March.

Te tango whenua — Māori land alienation.

Te tango whenua — he maha ngā take i riro atu ai ngā whenua o te Maori.

The Māori Land March — in early 1975, the idea of a ‘Māori  Land March’ from Te Hapua in the far north to Parliament was discussed. 

The Māori Land March — ko te pae tukutuku o Te Pūhikotuhi o Aotearoa.

Tūrangawaewae — ko tētahi o ngā āhuatanga, tikanga nui rawa atu i roto i te ao Māori, ko te tūrangawaewae. 

Tūrangawaewae — a place to stand.

Whina Cooper — a biography of Whina Cooper.

FERTILE QUESTIONS 

• He aha a Ngāi Māori i porotēhi ai mō ō rātou whenua me ō rātou taonga?
• Why did Māori protest over their lands and taonga?
• He aha te take kei te whakaaro nuitia te whenua e te Māori? 
• What would you like to change? How could you do this?
• What forms can power take?
• Why do people protest?
• What is your question?

 ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS 

• How could you take action to change something?
• How can citizens and groups effect change in society?
• How much influence can an individual have in changing history?
• How can people express what they stand for? Or stand against?
• What is the difference between tino rangatiratanga and kāwanatanga?

This story was curated and compiled by Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa | National Library of New Zealand, Services to Schools staff, 2019.