Lands
Whenua
http://www.wakatu.org/home/whanau/lands/ ( 18 May, 2012 )
We were alienated from our land for many generations, but the duty and responsibility as kaitiaki (guardians) endured. Kaitiakitanga (guardianship) is multifaceted. The first duty is to maintain and care for our land followed by the responsibility to utilise land to provide for our people.
Kaitiakitanga is interconnected with the concept of rangatiratanga – the right to control and determine our destiny. We recognise that what we are part of is intergenerational, taking with us our history and passing forward our taonga (treasures) to the generations to come.
In the 1800s the New Zealand Company (NZC), supported by the Crown, promoted the large scale European settlement and colonisation of New Zealand. A key component of the NZC colonisation scheme was the agreement to reserve one –tenth of all land purchased for the on-going and future prosperity of its...
Wakatū undertakes traditional activities in contemporary ways, such as producing crops and harvesting seafood. We are an organisation with a conscience that operates in holistic and sustainable ways for the benefit of our current and future owners.
Our kaumatua Rore Stafford and the late Hōhepa Matuaiwi Solomon lodged the Wai56 claim in the Waitangi Tribunal in 1986 on behalf of descendants of the original Tenths owners.