Box of dehydrated food packets

These packets of dehydrated food rations were confiscated from Tūhoe activist and artist Tame Iti (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Wairere, Ngāti Haua, Te Arawa) during what became known as the ‘Terror Raids’, which disturbed the Tūhoe settlement of Rūātoki (along with other sites throughout the country) on 15 October 2007. On that day, seventeen people, including Iti, were arrested on the basis that they were linked to alleged weapons-training camps near Rūātoki. Marches and demonstrations were held in cities and towns throughout New Zealand to protest against the Terrorism Suppression Act and the raids.

Police claimed Iti was involved in running military-style training camps in the Urewera Ranges and was planning a guerrilla war to establish an independent state. However, there was insufficient evidence to lay charges under the Terrorism Suppression Act. Instead, four people (the ‘Urewera Four’) were eventually found guilty of firearms offences, with two (including Iti) serving jail time.

Their time as confiscated items held by the police has charged these packets with extra meaning and power, particularly in the light of the final verdict and the subsequent apology Police Commissioner Mike Bush made to Tūhoe in 2014 for mistakes made during the raids.