Distinguished manuhiri gather under the shelter of Maahunui II at the national hui for Māori unity. Photo: Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu
More than 2000 people attended Te Pūnuiotoka, the final national hui for Māori unity hosted by Ngāi Tahu at Tuahiwi Marae north of Christchurch today.
Discussions focussed on indigenous economics, with a regulatory authority to oversee development on Māori land and even a Māori bank discussed.
In January the late Kiingi Tuheitia called for a series of hui around the country to discuss Māori unity.
Today his daughter and successor Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po was there to see his kaupapa through - her first appearance on the national stage since becoming the head of the Kiingitanga.
The kaiwhakahaere Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Justin Tipa then turned the kōrero to the topic of the day - indigenous economics.
Through Ngāi Tahu's relationship with the Tulo Centre of Indigenous Economics in Canada several leaders of Canadian First Nations were invited to share their experiences building economic institutions.
Tipa said Māori need a regulatory authority of their own because Crown structures that regulate Māori lands are inefficient and unproductive.
"Our reserves and much of our land are essentially dead capital... Central and Local government, the Māori Land Court, the Māori Trustee have jurisdiction over our lands and taonga, these crown structures hinder our ability to exercise our rangatiratanga."
Caption: Manuhiri wait to be welcomed onto Tuahiwi Marae for Te Pūnuiotoka. Photo: Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu
Head of Tuahiwi Marae professor Te Maire Tau said local and central government are the main obstacle between Māori and economic freedom.
Most Māori infrastructure is equivalent to "cows in a paddock" controlled by the government, not Māori, he said.
"Nothing goes on on your paddocks and your reserves because the Māori Land Court controls it, the Māori Trustee controls it. The local government tells you what to do and they did that in 1967 Māori Affairs Amendment Act which placed the authority of your reserves and your pā under the county council.
"If you want to build a house you will go to them for permission to build a house."
Tau said while his iwi settled its treaty claim in 1998 and acquired both capital assets and money - it does not really control it.
Activist and lawyer Annette Sykes offered a counterpoint - saying that she still hasn't seen solutions to the economic realities of Māori poverty and homelessness.
"How do we make money, but we do that without losing our soul? Without destroying the very integration of the whakapapa to Papatūānuku that ensures the survival of our nations, not pākehā nations, but our nations for the next seven generations."
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said Māori economic independence goes hand in hand with political independence.
"We've got to look at how we manifest kotahitanga in its truest form and that is to ensure that everybody is fed, everybody is housed, everybody is cared for, everybody feels welcome, and everybody is loved."
One of the last speakers at the hui was Kiingi Tuheitia's chief of staff Ngira Simmonds.
He thanked Ngāi Tahu for finishing the kaupapa the King started. The kaupapa of kōtahitanga would not end here, he said - but would be continued by his daughter.
Photo: Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu