Post by Kiwi Frontline on Mar 22, 2016 17:30:35 GMT 12
MĀORI WAR VETS TAKE CLAIM TO TRIBUNAL
The Waitangi Tribunal is hearing claims from Northland Māori war veterans and their families at historic Otiria Marae near Kaikohe.
The veterans have said, while war took a terrible toll on all who fought, the consequences for Māori were disastrous.
Evidence to be heard this week was expected to include the stories of men who went to war healthy and sober and returned traumatised - drinking, smoking and violent.
The veterans said many returned to find their ancestral land had been taken by the Crown and given in resettlement schemes to Pākehā soldiers.
Today, one Māori war veteran made an emotional plea for the government to repatriate the remains of soldiers killed overseas in places like Malaysia.
Major Rihari Shepherd, who served in Malaysia and Vietnam, said about 60 soldiers were buried in Asian countries in cemeteries that were in some cases neglected and full of rubbish….
www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/299570/maori-war-vets-take-claim-to-tribunal
The Waitangi Tribunal is hearing claims from Northland Māori war veterans and their families at historic Otiria Marae near Kaikohe.
The veterans have said, while war took a terrible toll on all who fought, the consequences for Māori were disastrous.
Evidence to be heard this week was expected to include the stories of men who went to war healthy and sober and returned traumatised - drinking, smoking and violent.
The veterans said many returned to find their ancestral land had been taken by the Crown and given in resettlement schemes to Pākehā soldiers.
Today, one Māori war veteran made an emotional plea for the government to repatriate the remains of soldiers killed overseas in places like Malaysia.
Major Rihari Shepherd, who served in Malaysia and Vietnam, said about 60 soldiers were buried in Asian countries in cemeteries that were in some cases neglected and full of rubbish….
www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/299570/maori-war-vets-take-claim-to-tribunal