Māori land march of 1975

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The Māori Land March of 1975 was a 29-day protest march by the Māori for their land rights and against further expropriations, land seizures and sales of Māori land . The march led from the northern tip of New Zealand down to Wellington and ended on the steps of the Parliament building with the delivery of the Memorial of Right and a petition to the government and parliament , supported by 60,000 signatories.

background

In 1953 the government under Prime Minister Sidney Holland forced the ( National Party ) to use the Maori Affairs Act to allow so-called unproductive Māori land to be used. Anyone who wanted could now report economically unused land to the Māori Land Court and apply to be able to lend the land through an appointed trustee.

In 1967, the Maori Affairs Amendment Act was followed by another drastic measure for the Māori , who as natives of New Zealand naturally considered all land that they had not sold to Pākehā as their land. The law, however, provided that free Māori land owned by four or fewer people should be rededicated into general land. It promoted the power and influence of Māori trustees who could forcibly acquire Māori land and sell so-called uneconomical land. That was expropriation and land grabbing legalized by law. The law was passed by the government of Prime Minister Keith Holyoake ( National Party ) and sparked violent protests and street demonstrations.

As the protests increased, the Māori realized that the New Zealand Māori Council , which had existed since 1962, and the Māori Women's Welfare League, founded in 1951, were not strong enough as their previous interest groups to enforce their rights and their political demands accordingly. New groups emerged, in 1968 Te Hokioi and the Māori Organization On Human Rights ( MOOHR ), both based in Wellington and with good contacts to the trade unions, and in 1970 the Nga Tamatoa in Auckland .

In February 1975, another group was formed, called Te Roopu Ote Matakite ( German : The people with vision ). The main goal of this group, which consisted mostly of young, more radical people, was to fight for their land rights and to oppose the progressive expropriation. After 135 years of British colonization , the Māori owned just 2.5 million acres of the 66 million acres of land in New Zealand in 1975 , with 1.5 million acres of land lost in the previous ten years alone. Fear of becoming landless in their own land was great among the Māori, and therefore many felt that the time was ripe for action.

The march

Map showing the course of the protest march

In early March 1975, a hui (congregation) was called at Te Puea Marae in Mangere , south of Auckland City , with 79-year-old Whina Cooper present . Whina Cooper had earned a great deal of recognition and respect in her many years of social and political engagement among the Māori and was one of the few women in the Māori community who was recognized as a leader. At this meeting in March, John Rangihau's proposal was taken up to organize a non-violent hikoi (march) to Parliament in Wellington and to entrust Whina Cooper with its leadership because of her mana o barelyatua (German: charisma, spiritual strength and authority of an elderly ) . At another meeting in Te Tira Hou Marae in Panmure in April 1975 was Whina Cooper confirmed as leadership and symbol of the long march. The next four months were devoted to planning and fundraising. In August all preparations were made and support and accommodation at the various marae were provided.

The protest march started on Sunday, September 14th, 1975 in Te Hapua, high in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. Ahead of them was a walk of over 1000 km. In order to demonstrate unity and to strengthen morale, Whina Cooper had composed a special Matakine song especially for this march , Na Te Kore I Mohio (German: Not understood ), which ended in translation with the verse “Let us unite, people of all four Winds, strengthens our longings, connects them with love, with the power of God's blessing, for the benefit of humanity. "

Whina Cooper conducts the Māori Land March, Hamilton speech in 1975

The march, accompanied by two trucks and a bus, led in 29 days from Te Hapua via Te Kao , Pamapuria , Mangamuka , Otiria , Whangarei , Kaiwaka , Wellsford , Orewa , Northcote (district of Auckland ), Auckland , Ngāruawāhia , Kihikihi , Otorohanga , Te Kuti , Tauramunui , Raurimu , Raetihi , Wanganui , Ratana , Bulls , Palmerston North , Shannon , Otaki , Porirua to Wellington . At each of these stops, the local Iwi (tribe) organized accommodation, meals, the public, and the collection of signatures for the petition. Every day of the march, the public's attention increased.

On September 23, thousands crossed the Auckland Harbor Bridge . It was the first time since the bridge opened in 1959 that people were allowed to cross Waitemata Harbor on foot . Marchers reported that they could feel the bridge swinging and when the first marchers were on the bridge, they could not see the end of the protest march.

But the highlight of the protest march was undoubtedly the protest march under the slogan " Not One More Acre of Māori Land " (German: No more Acre Māori Land ) through Wellington and the entry of more than 5,000 people into the park in front of the parliament building. Robert Muldoon of the National Party , who was still the opposition leader at the time, was the first to promise protesters that he would do everything possible to secure the Māori property rights over their land. Late that afternoon, Prime Minister Bill Rowling of the Labor Party came to take over the role of document with the Memorial of Right, including the 60,000 signatures of Māori and Pākehā drawn by protest leader Whina Cooper . Even Rowling promised the rights of Māori to secure and stressed the importance of this march.

After the end of the march, a group of participants split off, occupied the steps of the parliament and set up a camp with tents on the grounds of the parliament building. With the tent embassy ( Aboriginal Tent Embassy ), as the camp was called, the more radical forces of the movement wanted to put more pressure and force the government and the parliament to immediate concessions. Whina Cooper distanced herself from this group. When the National Party took power after the parliamentary elections in November , the camp was evacuated by the police on Christmas Eve a month later and 35 of the demonstrators were arrested.

Political goals

Although the group Te Roopu Ote Matakite saw their self- image in standing up for the social needs of the Māori , made no difference in the goals of workers and Māori and wanting to help the “blind” to see the future, as Whina Cooper once put it had, the political goals of the march were clearly aimed at fighting for land rights, curbing expropriation and disenfranchisement, and redressing injustice. They wanted control of their country back, that their rights would be accepted and the importance that the country had for them would be understood and respected.

The Māori -Landmarsch 1975 will be the beginning of the Māori Land Rights Movement ( land rights movement viewed) that lasted until the 1984th

literature

  • Michael King: Whina - A Biography of Whina Cooper . Hodder and Stoughton , Auckland 1983, ISBN 0-340-33873-3 , Chapter 11 - Maori Land March , pp. 206-228 (English).

Web links

  • Directed by Geoff Steven : Te Matakite O Aotearoa  - The Maori Land March . NZ On Screen, Wellington , accessed June 30, 2010 (English, documentary divided into 6 clips:
    clip 1/6 - 14:40 minutes, 76.3 MB;
    clip 2/6 - 12:22 minutes, 59.6 MB ;
    Clip 3/6 - 14:16 minutes, 75.4 MB;
    Clip 4/6 - 07:53 minutes, 42.2 MB;
    Clip 5/6 - 10:22 minutes, 53.2 MB;
    Clip 6/6 - 00:41 minutes, 3.8 MB;
    film produced by Seehead Ltd. in cooperation with TV2 (TVNZ), Auckland, 1975.).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 1953 Maori Affairs Act - Treaty events since 1950 - Treaty timeline . In: New Zealand History Online . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , accessed July 2, 2010 .
  2. ↑ 1967 Maori Affairs Amendment Act - Treaty events since 1950 - Treaty timeline . In: New Zealand History Online . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , accessed July 2, 2010 .
  3. ↑ a b c Te Ahu : The Evolution of Contemporary Maori Protest . RN Himona , archived from the original on May 26, 2009 ; accessed on May 3, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).
  4. ^ King : Whina - A Biography of Whina Cooper . 1983, p.  206 f .
  5. ↑ 1975 Whina Cooper leads land march to Parliament . In: New Zealand History Online . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , accessed July 2, 2010 .
  6. ↑ Michael King: Whina - A Biography of Whina Cooper . Hodder and Stoughton , Auckland 1983, pp. 212 (English).
  7. ↑ Maoritanga - na Kingi Matutaera Ihaka . In: Te Ao Hou THE MAORI MAGAZINE . The National Library of New Zealand , June 1962, accessed September 14, 2010 .
  8. ↑ Maori land marchers crossing Auckland Harbor Bridge, October 1975 . In: Collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library . Retrieved September 14, 2010 .
  9. ↑ 1975 Land march - Treaty events since 1950 - Treaty timeline . In: New Zealand History Online . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , accessed on 2 July 2010 (English).
  10. ^ New Zealand Herald (Ed.): Maori Plea Signed by 60,000 . Auckland October 14, 1975 (English).
  11. ^ King : Whina - A Biography of Whina Cooper . 1983, p.  220 f .
  12. ^ King : Whina - A Biography of Whina Cooper . 1983, p.  206 .