Post by Kiwi Frontline on Feb 16, 2016 16:58:59 GMT 12
Awaroa Beach should be returned to Māori, says iwi
Awaroa Beach in the Abel Tasman National Park should be returned to Māori and the government should make that happen, iwi leaders say
A public campaign has raised more than $2 million for the land.
The area surrounding and including the present Abel Tasman National Park was settled by Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Tama and Te Ati Awa.
"Most of that was cultivated land, there is good records of it, and burial grounds in those areas which are well known to DoC [Department of Conservation] and certainly well known to our communities."
If the campaign's tender is accepted tomorrow, Awaroa Beach will be owned by all New Zealanders.
But that doesn't sit well with a trustee of Ngāti Tama Manawhenua ki Te Tau Ihu Trust, Fred Te Miha.
"Māori families owned 50 acre blocks and the land was taken under the National Parks Act to form the National Park."
He said his research was yet to find a whānau who had been compensated for it.
"The government should buy it off the private owners and hand it back to the whānau, the families that lost that land originally through confiscation."….
www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/296619/awaroa-beach-should-be-returned-to-maori,-says-iwi
Awaroa Beach in the Abel Tasman National Park should be returned to Māori and the government should make that happen, iwi leaders say
A public campaign has raised more than $2 million for the land.
The area surrounding and including the present Abel Tasman National Park was settled by Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Tama and Te Ati Awa.
"Most of that was cultivated land, there is good records of it, and burial grounds in those areas which are well known to DoC [Department of Conservation] and certainly well known to our communities."
If the campaign's tender is accepted tomorrow, Awaroa Beach will be owned by all New Zealanders.
But that doesn't sit well with a trustee of Ngāti Tama Manawhenua ki Te Tau Ihu Trust, Fred Te Miha.
"Māori families owned 50 acre blocks and the land was taken under the National Parks Act to form the National Park."
He said his research was yet to find a whānau who had been compensated for it.
"The government should buy it off the private owners and hand it back to the whānau, the families that lost that land originally through confiscation."….
www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/296619/awaroa-beach-should-be-returned-to-maori,-says-iwi