Hikoi for Ihumātao poster

This poster helped raised awareness of the Ihumātao movement in 2019. Ihumātao, the oldest settlement in Auckland, was established by Ngā Oho iwi as early as the fourteenth century. Ihumātao is one of the last original remaining papakāinga in Auckland, and a site of continuous settlement. It is adjacent to the Ōtuataua Stonefields, Māori stone garden mounds that form some of the earliest gardens in Aotearoa.

In 1863, the Crown launched a premediated war against the Kīngitanga movement and its supporters in Waikato and South Auckland, including Ihumātao. Governor George Grey issued a proclamation that required Māori in these areas to take an oath of allegiance to Queen Victoria and surrender their weapons. Those who refused were warned to retire into the Waikato beyond the Mangatāwhiri stream. This signalled the beginning of the Waikato invasion.

The government decided to pay for the war by confiscating vast areas of land in Waikato and south Auckland. Ihumātao was invaded, homes and properties were looted and destroyed, and the land was confiscated as punishment. ‘Generations of Māori were condemned to lives of poverty and landlessness’ (O’Malley, 2019).

Contemporary activism

Occupation and activism from 2015 has been led by a group of whānau from Ihumātao, following development plans by Fletcher Building to develop high-density housing on the land prompted by the housing crisis in Auckland.

SOUL collective (Save Our Unique Landscape) successfully harnessed the power of older forms of resistance such as hīkoi, occupations and petitions, and communication strategies such as posters and graffiti, while also using new digital platforms and technologies to attract broad support.

This ‘Hīkoi for Ihumātao’ poster advertised a march in Wellington on 12 March 2019 which saw members of SOUL and Wellington supporters march to Parliament to deliver a petition demanding government intervention at Ihumātao. Signed by more than 16,000 people, the petition highlighted the cultural, historical and archaeological significance of the site, and the history of invasion and confiscation that forced mana whenua off the land in 1863.

Poster imagery

The poster is illustrated by artist and activist Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Kahungunu). The imagery includes a clenched fist of solidarity, a whai, stingray, and the Tino Rangatiratanga flag.

The incorporation of the stingray reflects the connection of this hīkoi to the tipuna Hape who has a significant connection to various places in the Tāmaki Makaurau landspace, including Ihumātao and Karangahake Road. In iwi kōrero, Hape rode a stingray from Hawaiiki to Aotearoa after being left behind by his people. On arrival in Aotearoa, Hape planted four trees at the corners of Ihumātao as he was searching for his people to see whether they had yet arrived onboard the Takitimu waka. Upon seeing them coming into the harbour, he performed a karanga to welcome them safely in. Therefore, the poster reveals a long and ongoing history, as well as surfacing kōrero tuku iho that are embedded in our whenua, but lesser known (Hayden, 2017).

Results

In December 2020, the New Zealand government agreed to purchase the land at Ihumātao from Fletchers for $29.9 million. He Pūmautanga, a memorandum of understanding, signed by the Kīngitanga on behalf of mana whenua, the Crown and Auckland Council, sets out how parties will work together to decide the future of the land.

References

Hayden, L. (2017, December 7). Bringing the fight for Ihumātao to K Road. The Spinoff, https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/07-12-2017/bringing-the-fight-for-ihumatao-to-k-road/
O’Malley, V. (2019, July 27). Our trail of tears: the story of Ihumātao. The Spinoff, https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/27-07-2019/our-trail-of-tears-the-story-of-how-ihumatao-was-stolen/