Māori Protests

A DigitalNZ Story by National Library of New Zealand Topics

This set explores some of the major protests by Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand. This includes the events at Takaparawhā (Bastion Point), the 1975 Hīkoi, the Foreshore and Seabed protests and many others over recent years. SCIS no: 1943647

social_sciences, arts, history, Māori, english

Image: Bastion Point, Orakei, Auckland

Bastion Point, Orakei, Auckland

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: Reclaiming Bastion Point - Roadside Stories

Reclaiming Bastion Point - Roadside Stories

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Image: Hōne Heke's protest

Hōne Heke's protest

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Image: Dog tax protest

Dog tax protest

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Ngā rōpū tautohetohe – Māori protest movements: Land protests

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Image: Eva Rickard, Raglan land occupation, 1978

Eva Rickard, Raglan land occupation, 1978

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Image: Ripeka Evans and Donna Awatere

Ripeka Evans and Donna Awatere

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Image: I Am the River

I Am the River

NZ On Screen

Image: Tino rangatiratanga flag

Tino rangatiratanga flag

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Image: 'Not one acre more'

'Not one acre more'

Christchurch City Libraries

Image: Foreshore and seabed protest, 2004

Foreshore and seabed protest, 2004

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Ngā rōpū – Māori organisations: Protest organisations

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Image: Operation 8

Operation 8

NZ On Screen

Image: The Price of Peace

The Price of Peace

NZ On Screen

Image: Foreshore and seabed protest, 2011

Foreshore and seabed protest, 2011

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Image: 'No Maoris - No Tour' poster, 1959

'No Maoris - No Tour' poster, 1959

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Image: Freedom to Sing

Freedom to Sing

NZ On Screen

Ngā haki – Māori and flags: Flags and protest

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Matiaha Tiramorehu

Services to Schools

The fight for power

Services to Schools

Image: Treaty protest posters: ‘The treaty is a fraud’

Treaty protest posters: ‘The treaty is a fraud’

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Pākaitore

Services to Schools

Image: Repudiation movement

Repudiation movement

Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Treaty and Protest

Services to Schools

Image: Oceania Interrupted protest for West Papua

Oceania interrupted protest for West Papua

West Papua, formerly a Dutch colony has been under the control of Indonesia since the early 1960s. Ever since then, West Papuans have been fighting for independence from the Indonesian regime. Pacific Island and Māori women, who are part of the Oceania Interrupted group, protested during the Positively Pasifika Festival in Wellington in 2015. Dressed in black pareo, with gags over their mouth and hands tied behind their backs, they hoped to raise awareness of the treatment of West Papuans in their fight for independence.

Oceania Interrupted protest for West Papua

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: 'Tonight - Tame Iti in "The Tempest".' 'Protests over bail conditions'. 19 June, 2008

'Tonight - Tame Iti in "The Tempest".

Tame Iti is a well-known Tūhoe Māori activist who was part of many protests movements against the Crown. In 2007 he was arrested during the 2007 Urewera raids on charges of terrorism in New Zealand. Tame Iti had to seek approval from the New Zealand High Court to travel to London to be part of the production of the Shakespearean play The Tempest, which incidentally is about sovereignty issues. However, bail conditions meant he had to return to New Zealand – which made him very unhappy. The image is a tribute to cartoonist Michael Moreu who has combined image and a play of words for a bit of humour.

'Tonight - Tame Iti in "The Tempest".' 'Protests over bail conditions'. 19 June, 2008

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: ANTI-LIQUOR PROTESTS (Mataura Ensign 21-7-1908)

Anti-liquor protests

Māori called liquor ‘waipiro’ meaning ‘foul water’. Initially, very few Māori consumed alcohol when it was first introduced by the Europeans. However, alcohol soon became an issue in Māori communities. When restrictions on booze were first introduced around 1878, Māori were quick to support these measures. In 1908 the Māori Congress submitted a petition to the Premier that supply of liquor to Māori be absolutely prohibited or that they be given the power to vote on the question of whether or not liquor should be supplied to them.

ANTI-LIQUOR PROTESTS (Mataura Ensign 21-7-1908)

National Library of New Zealand

Image: Maori land protesters at their camp in Parliament grounds, Wellington

Māori land protesters in Parliament grounds

It was a mixture of historical and contemporary land issues that moved Whina Cooper to head the famous Hīkoi or Land March of 1975. Consisting of various iwi and Māori protest groups the hikoi began in Te Hāpua in the far north and proceeded to Wellington. When they arrived, the protesters set up camp in Wellington’s parliament grounds. This image shows a group of protesters who set up a Māori embassy tent on the steps of Parliament. They refused to move and were evicted after two months.

Maori land protesters at their camp in Parliament grounds, Wellington

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: Maori rights campaigner Eva Rickard dancing at Moutoa Gardens, Wanganui

Eva Rickard dancing at Moutoa Gardens

Eva Rickard was a well-known Māori rights and environmental campaigner. She was famous for leading the Raglan golf course protest. In this 1995 photograph, Eva dances at the Moutoa Gardens protest. The gardens had been built near or on the Pākaitore pā, a traditional place of trade for Māori. The protest lasted for 79 days and was based on the pacifist teachings of Niko Tangaroa, a church elder. In 1984 Eva led a hīkoi to Waitangi demanding the end to Waitangi Day celebrations until all treaty issues had been dealt with.

Maori rights campaigner Eva Rickard dancing at Moutoa Gardens, Wanganui

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: Participants in Foreshore and Seabed Hikoi, Parliament grounds, Wellington

Participants in the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Hikoi

In New Zealand, ‘seabed’ refers to the land under water and ‘foreshore’ is the land that gets covered by the tide. Traditionally Māori used this area for recreation, fishing, collecting seaweed, battles and landing their waka. In 2004 the government passed the Foreshore and Seabed Act which made the Crown the owner of the foreshore and seabed. Māori felt this overlooked their customary interests and rights as many Māori communities were established along New Zealand’s coastline. Thousands of people marched in protest to the Parliament in Wellington. Hone Harawira and Dr Pita Sharples were some of the famous names who joined in the hikoi in May 2004.

Participants in Foreshore and Seabed Hikoi, Parliament grounds, Wellington

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: Meanwhile - on a Bay of Plenty beach.... No offshore drilling. Kai moana NOT oil! No drill no spill! 28 June 2010

No offshore drilling. Kai moana NOT oil! No drill no spill!

Māori have always had a close relationship with te moana (the sea). Here they protest the news that Minister Gerry Brownlee has awarded New Zealand's first petroleum exploration permit over the Raukumara Basin to Petrobras International Braspetro B.V. The permit to explore oil in New Zealand was given just after the major Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010. This created a disaster of epic proportions. Here the minister tries to reassure the group that there will be legislation and environmental requirements in place to protect New Zealand if anything similar happened. Māori on the other hand, make it clear that they prefer kai moana (food from the sea) to ocean oil exploration.

Meanwhile - on a Bay of Plenty beach.... No offshore drilling. Kai moana NOT oil! No drill no spill! 28 June 2010

Alexander Turnbull Library

Image: No Maoris No Tour

No Maoris No Tour

Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira

Eva Richard

Services to Schools