Battle of Ōrākau commemorations: 'Don't let the fires go out on our whenua'

More than a thousand people took part in the 160th commemorations of the battle of Ōrākau today, as the process to return the battle site to iwi hands nears its end.

The ceremonies began before dawn in the cold, misty farmland just outside of Kihikihi.

Paraone Gloyne of Ngāti Raukawa was among those leading the karakia and the tahuahi, the lighting of the fires.

It was a chance to remember the 160 Māori who lost their lives in the battle, he said.

"We lament our loss and we have our tangi, this morning had a beautiful, moving karakia and the lighting of the fires.

"Those fires are to remember that we keep stoking [the] fires in our bellies and don't let them go out, and don't let the fires go out on our whenua."

As the sun began beaming down, hundreds of members of Te Aka Rauwhero laid down the challenge in front of government representative Tama Potaka.

Gloyne said Te Aka Rauwhero was born out of the movement to gain recognition for the New Zealand wars, and it had been a doorway to get rangatahi more interested in history.

The call that went out during the battle was still relevant today, he said: "Ka whawhai tonu mātau. Ake! Ake! Ake!"

"The words uttered by Rewi Maniapoto and his cousin, Ahumai Te Paerata, they still ring true today. We will fight forever."

The iwi will have a blank slate to reimagine what Ōrākau will look like in the future when the land is returned, Gloyne said.

As part of the ceremonies today, government representatives returned a taonga that belonged to Ngāti Maniapoto rangatira Rewi Maniapoto, who led the Māori forces during the battle.

Waikato, Maniapoto kaumātua Tom Roa said the return of the taonga was long overdue.

It had been 10 years since the students of Otorohanga College delivered their petition on teaching NZ history in schools, he said.

"That call came from them. 'We must remember' in - you might say, - 'apposition' to the ANZAC day call 'lest we forget'. Well, too many of us have forgotten."

Roa said the history curriculum that grew from that petition will play a part in addressing the uncomfortable parts of this country's history, that in the past were swept under the rug.

Māori must continue to challenge the crown's selective amnesia on Aotearoa's history, he said.

"Surely in knowing the lessons from our past that can only bode well for those lessons to inform us in our future."

Historian Vincent O'Malley said a lot of Pākehā mythmaking happened after Ōrākau - that it was a noble and chivalrous conflict - when the reality was that it was a brutal and tragic event.

"It's arguably the most important battle that ever took place on New Zealand shores and this site is one of immense historical significance, but it hasn't been treated that way in the past by the Crown and local authorities.

"One of the first things they did was run a road through the middle of the former pā site, an act of cultural desecration really."

O'Malley said there had been an increased interest from Pākehā in the battles of the NZ Wars.

It was about breaking the cycle of ignorance of New Zealand history, he said.