Gisborne protest: Ngāti Oneone calls for return of ancestral land

• Protesters in Gisborne demand the return of land taken from Ngāti Oneone nearly a century ago.
• Ngāti Oneone chairwoman Charlotte Gibson emphasised the need for fairness and honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
• The council and Trust Tairāwhiti acknowledge the grievance.

Protesters carrying placards reading “We are the whenua” and “Public works, Private grief” marched through Gisborne on Monday, calling for the return of land taken from Ngāti Oneone nearly a century ago.

The hīkoi began at the Gisborne District Council administration building and visited Trust Tairāwhiti and Eastland Port before ending at the group’s occupation site, Te Pa Eketū Shed, on Hirini St.

There, a pou was erected and a fire lit – actions the group say will continue until their concerns are addressed.

“We will keep that fire burning until all of this is resolved,” Ngāti Oneone chairwoman Charlotte Gibson told the crowd. “It’s going to be a long haul, but we’re up for it.”

She told Local Democracy Reporting the group intended to remain at the site “as long as it takes”.

This year marks 95 years since the hapū was displaced from its ancestral land under the Public Works Act. Te Poho-o-Rāwiri Marae, originally established on Hirini St in 1852, was removed to make way for the development of the Gisborne Harbour.

Gibson said a tipping point came when the hapū realised the Eastland Port shed on Hirini St was no longer being used for port-related operations.

“It sort of broke the back...we lost that whenua for you to store boats,” she said.

Gibson said that returning the land was not about legalities, rather fairness, partnership and honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

“We want all the lands back that you are not using for your core business,” she said.

A Ngāti Oneone hikoi makes its way up the main road of Gisborne en route to Te Pa Eketu Shed on Hirini St where an occupation is taking place as the hapū calls for the return of lands. Photo / Zita Campbell

“If you look at the whole of Hirini St, which was our marae, they’ve all been sold on.”

Gibson said if further port developments were to proceed and the land was sold again, the hapū could lose any chance of reclaiming it.

“We would lose the opportunity in my lifetime.”

Previous attempts to get the land back were made by her grandfather and father, Gibson said. The aim now was to avoid passing the burden on to future generations.

“We don’t want it to fall on the next generation.”

They want the land returned without it being the problem of the hapū to work out how that return happened.

“It always falls on us to ‘make the case’,” she said.

Ngāti Oneone chairwoman Charlotte Gibson. Photo / Zita Campbell

Ngāti Oneone is calling on the council, Trust Tairāwhiti and Eastland Port to return land not essential to their core operations.

Trust Tairāwhiti is the region’s economic development and tourism agency and the sole shareholder of Eastland Port.

In separate statements, the council and Trust Tairāwhiti acknowledged the historical grievance and the right to a peaceful protest.

The council said it began exploring how land could potentially be returned following formal requests from Ngāti Oneone in 2024.

“This includes looking into the relevant legal processes, policy settings and the interests of other Treaty partners,” council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann said.

“The council recognises its part in past decisions that contributed to the loss of land and the lasting impacts of those actions.”

Trust Tairāwhiti chair David Battin said the trust valued its relationship with Ngāti Oneone and had sought independent legal and cultural advice to understand the complexities of the request.

“Ultimately, we advised that the trust could not approve those requests and that the Crown is best placed to address their historical grievance,” he said.

Battin said that because the trust was not a Crown entity, it did not have the authority or mechanisms to address historic Treaty breaches.

“Our commitment to Te Tiriti is about working in partnership with mana whenua to support hapū and marae development now and into the future.

“We are focused on solutions and remain open to constructive engagement with Ngāti Oneone.”