Events
In 1840, Apihai Te Kawau and two other Ngāti Whātua chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi. Apihai then invited the first governor to establish his capital city on the Tāmaki isthmus.
Ngāti Whātua provided over 3000 acres of land for the new township of Auckland.By 1855, the hapū had lost title to all their lands except the 700-acre (280-hectare) Ōrākei Block.In 1886, 13 acres at Bastion Point were taken for defence purposes.Act of 1991
Officially recognises the Ngāti Whātua o Ōrākei Trust Board as the representative iwi authority.
Returns some hapū land in collective ownership, part of it as a tūrangawaewae, and part
for development.
Sets aside whenua rangatira, known as Takaparawhau Reserve, for the benefit of the hapū and the people of Auckland, managed jointly by the hapū and the city council.In 1976, the government announced plans to sell open land at Bastion Point for exclusive private housing. Ngāti Whātua were divided on how to respond. The Ōrākei Māori Action Committee, headed by Joe and Grant Hawke and Mike (Jack) and Roger Rameka, led an occupation of the land to prevent the subdivision.In 1941, when it was no longer needed, the land was given to the Auckland City Council as a reserve.The Native Land Court declared it to be inalienable in 1869, but appointed 13 individual owners.A sewer pipe built along the foreshore in 1912 had interfered with the natural drainage of Okahu Bay, turning the last remaining Māori land around the papakāinga into a swamp. The discharge of raw sewage into Ōkahu Bay disgusted Ngāti Whātua and many people left their village. The Auckland City Council wanted the remaining people to leave, so it refused them permits to build or repair their houses.Periods
The occupation of Bastion Point lasted 506 days. It began on 5 January 1977, and ended on 25 May 1978 (the 507th day), when 222 protesters were evicted and arrested by police.
After the end of the occupation, Ngāti Whātua filed claims to the Waitangi Tribunal, which the government largely accepted. The government paid the hapū $3 million to help with housing and other development, and passed legislation to recognise the Treaty rights of Ngāti Whātua.In 1953, Queen Elizabeth was scheduled to drive along the waterfront past Ōkahu Bay. To remove the eyesore of the slum, in 1951 the Crown compulsorily acquired the last 12.5 acres (5 hectares) of the Ōrākei Block. The people were forced from their homes and their marae, and the buildings were burned and demolished except the chapel and urupā (cemetery). Those evicted from the papakāinga were moved into state houses in nearby Kitemoana Street, paying rent to the government had taken all their belongings.
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