Iti says shotgun fired to maintain the mana of Tuhoe

Tame Iti says the case is politically motivated. Picture / Alan Gibson

Tuhoe activist Tame Iti's trial on firearms charges has been adjourned until this afternoon to allow him to attend the tangi of a World War II Maori Battalion veteran.

Iti is standing trial in the Rotorua District Court on charges relating to incidents at a powhiri for Waitangi Tribunal members hearing Tuhoe land claims in Ruatoki last year.

The 55-year-old is alleged to have brandished and fired a shotgun on a road leading to Tauarau Marae and shot at a New Zealand flag at the marae.

The Crown is arguing his actions were unlawful because he did not have a firearms licence and used the gun in public places, but Iti said in evidence yesterday that firing the gun was in accordance with Tuhoe custom and conveyed the tribe's strong feelings about Crown confiscation of its land in the 1860s.

Iti told the court that the Maori Battalion veteran, Moai Tihi, was one of the "high priests" who groomed him in the custom, saying that it had been around since Tuhoe was introduced to guns.

Iti said under the tutelage of Mr Tihi and others, he had become well known for firing guns in displays of the custom and had done so at the tangi of Sir John Turei, which was attended by Prime Minister Helen Clark and Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright.

"The wearing of firearms on a marae [is] to invoke and to stir the emotions of people, of the home people," he told the court.

Iti said safety was always observed in such rituals and claimed his trial was politically motivated and had left him victimised.

Iti said 500 to 600 people had been at the powhiri on January 16 last year, including others with guns and weapons, but television coverage used as Crown evidence had singled him out and led to his prosecution.

"What was seen was me with a gun shooting at a piece of rag, as if Tame Iti was the only person present at that occasion."

Iti, who gave most of his evidence in Maori, explained the custom with a loud, haka-style speech lasting several minutes from his seat in the dock.

The interpreter translating his evidence said the speech was meant to convey the "passion of Tuhoe".

In questions from his lawyer, Annette Sykes, Iti said he had been treated differently to other people carrying weapons that day because of his public profile.

He said the trial had been politically motivated because a Mr Stephens [former Act MP Stephen Franks] had raised the issue of Iti using the gun in Parliament with then Police Minister George Hawkins, leading to the charges.

The purpose of Iti's actions - "maintaining the mana of Tuhoe" in front of the Waitangi Tribunal members - had been ignored, and he likened his trial to the fate of his ancestors who fought against confiscation of Tuhoe lands and were imprisoned.

"I face the same charges today," he said.

In cross-examination by Crown prosecutor Greg Hollister-Jones, Iti admitted he did not have a firearms licence, but said under the traditions and customs of Tuhoe he did not need one in the tribe's territory.

Shooting at the "Pakeha flag" at Taaraarau Marae had not been intended to desecrate a piece of cloth that Iti said had been "bought from The Warehouse".

"That was to show the disgust of Tuhoe of the atrocities that happened to Tuhoe."

He maintained he was entitled to shoot at the flag on the marae atea (the courtyard in front of the meeting house). "That's the place I may spit, I may show my penis ... I may shoot at the flag ... it's my right."