Civic Square in Hastings is home for these Peace Poles for the next three months. Photo / Supplied
Recently I attended the Peace Poles Installation Ceremony in Civic Square Hastings.
Each pole, 43 of them, with the words "May Peace Prevail on Earth" written on them in four tongues, representing 80 different reo. These pou can be found all over the world, promoting peace.
These were brought to Hastings by World Beyond War Aotearoa New Zealand with awhi from Stortford Lodge Rotary. As part of Hastings District Council's Vibrancy Project, Civic Square is home for these Peace Poles for the next three months.
The organiser and national coordinator of World Beyond War Aotearoa New Zealand, Liz Remmersvaal, asked that I give a speech on Ngāti Kahungunu history and peace. Here is a condensed version.
Kia ora everybody. My name is Te Hira Henderson.
My kaupapa today is to talk on Ngāti Kahungunu history and peace. That is a very tall order given the land purchase methods of Donald McLean and Tanner, with others, of Te Matau a Māui Hawke's Bay.
I, Te Hira, Ngāti Kahungunu, am the living Treaty of Waitangi, which is more than my being just Māori, or just Pākehā. It's the combination of being both, the true partnership in peace and harmony.
On my dad's side, you will find Hendersons conquering the seven seas for Queen Victoria. The Hendersons have a strong Navy history. My great-grandfather's brother, Admiral Henderson, commanded the seven seas for Victoria. Te Araroa Aotearoa on the East Cape was his last port of call.
His other brother started the Australian Navy under orders from Victoria. And in memory of their efforts in building the British empire, the Hendersons have a wharf and yacht club named after them in their Mother England.
On my mother's side, my great-grandfather was a red-coat soldier, William Milner. He, like my Henderson koroua, married the last cannibal generation in my family.
When my great-grandfathers both consummated their marriages to the natives of Aotearoa, my grandparents then became the birthed result of the Treaty. So I, their mokopuna, today am the living Treaty of Waitangi.
The Treaty is our founding document. The Pākehā settler descendants today are Ngāti Pākehā. To all the other races here today, tēnā koutou. You all have citizenship to Aotearoa, New Zealand. Tēnā ra koutou katoa. Āna, nau mai kia koutou katoa kei raro i Te Tiriti. I encourage you to learn the Treaty.
In this advancing world of ours, kia ora to all and everyone born and raised in the Pacific Triangle, Te Moana Nui a Kiwa. That makes us all Polynesians.
So, in this country, despite my ties as a red-coat soldier, neither you Pākehā nor I are really English today. I am Ngāti Kahunghunu, you are Ngāti Pākehā, another tribe. You've been here long enough. So under the obligations of the Treaty, Māori up, you Ngāti Pākehā. We haven't quite got the one people thing going yet, but, as all tribes go, we're working on it.
It took 120 years, from the 1820s till the advent of the Second World War, to correct the atrocities of Ngā Puhi upon Ngāti Kahungunu due to the Musket Wars. So as exampled, peace and harmony between peoples can be achieved.
Ngāti Kahungunu commitment to peace has never moved or waned since Ngāti Kahungunu chiefs called for Donald McLean to bring Pākehā to settle in Te Matau a Māui. As a result, Ngāti Kahungunu never took up arms against the Crown.
In 1863, Ngāti Kahungunu called a Peace Hui at Pā Whakairo, now the Waiohiki golf course, calling the settlers of HB, Donald McLean, and Sir George Grey, to attend.
This was to assure the young settler community that Ngāti Kahungunu would protect Pākehā from all troubles, threats of violence and attack from outside tribes entering Hawke's Bay.
Ngāti Kahungunu chiefs put together forces for the govenment to chase and quell threats to keep them out of our home. It has always been the commitment of Ngāti Kahungunu to keep peace and protect us all here at home.
Ngāti Kahungunu also saw the peace benefit of Christianity. Kawepō brought Colenso to Hawke's Bay for this purpose. Kawepō printed in excess of 5000 bibles, and that's after making the paper and ink. He is responsible for Ngāti Kahungunu being Christian under one God, one peace, for us all.
So Ngāti Kahungunu ran with the government to keep peace. Ngāti Kahungunu called for Pākehā to come settle and live in Hawke's Bay amongst them. A peaceful obligation to each other under the Treaty.
Therefore to the Poles of Peace. Mihi atu rā kia koutou rā kua tū hēteri rangimārie mai, mihi atu.
So to all you Pākehā and other non-Māori that are here, get it right. Māori up, we are all tribes in Te Moana nui a Kiwa, Te Matau a Māui, Heretaunga.
Ngāti Kahungunu has a commitment to peace for us all, to protect us all, for the benefit of us all, specifically our children and mokopuna.
Just an end note from Dame Whina Cooper. "Race relations will be solved in the bedroom."
Te Hira Henderson is curator Māori at MTG