A South Taranaki tribe is visiting places in the South Island where their ancestors were sent in the 1800s as punishment for rising up against the Crown for seizing their whenua.
Rongo Memorial Rock, in Dunedin, commemorates the imprisonment of the Parihaka political prisoners. Photo: karenlawsonartist.com
After colonial forces sacked Parihaka pā in 1881, the leaders of the passive resistance movement, Tohu Kākahi and Te Whiti o Rongomai, were arrested along with all the men of the village.
They were exiled to Te Wai Pounamu to do hard labour.
Ngāruahine iwi started a six day hikoi on Saturday visiting Ripapa Island near Lyttleton Harbour, where their ancestors were imprisoned.
They will continue to Dunedin on Tuesday and Hokitika on Friday.
The tour is hugely significant for the tribe as they remember how their tūpuna were held captive as political prisoners in caves, and forced to build the stone embankments around Otago harbour and many of the roads in Dunedin.
When the tour ends in Hokitika, a ceremony will be held at which the Crown will present a formal apology to Ngāruahine and their ancestors.