The Māori land march
Te Rōpū o te Matakite
- When
- 14 September 1975 – 13 October 1975
- Where
- Te Hāpua
- Reach
- Nationwide
Whina Cooper, aged 79, led a month-long hīkoi from Te Hāpua in the far north to Parliament under the slogan ‘not one more acre’.
The march covered about 1,100 kilometres, gathering people at marae along the way, and arrived in Wellington 5,000 strong with a memorial of rights signed by 200 elders. The photograph of Cooper walking a gravel road holding her granddaughter’s hand became the defining image of the Māori renaissance. The Treaty of Waitangi Act had passed days earlier; the march made sure it could not be a token.
Regions affected
Sources
Written for this project from these references rather than copied from them. Follow a link to check the account against the original.
Related
Te reo Māori becomes an official language
Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori
Te reo Māori gained official status and the right to be spoken in court, fifteen years after the language petition and following a Waitangi Tribunal finding that it was a taonga.
Rogernomics — the economy is deregulated
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The great Māori urban migration
Māori went from about 25 percent urban in 1945 to nearly 80 percent by 1975 — one of the fastest urbanisations recorded anywhere.
New Zealand declares war on Germany
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