A video depicting the kidnapping of a German tourist and threatening other campers has been posted online by Maori activists in support of the six-month blockade of a road leading to the Urewera National Park.
The YouTube video shows a man screaming and struggling and a distorted voiceover
describes how his tent was "confiscated" after he wouldn't leave a camping spot.
The voiceover says: "Any other tourists camping on our Maori land - piss off" and an accompanying video by the user, Nguha13, shows a masked man waving his finger Al Qaeda-style with the message "You can't always camp where you want".
The videos are in response to one posted in December on the website by hunter and Whakatane District councillor Russell Orr about the Tuhoe hapu Omuriwaka's blockade on the Matahi Valley Rd, in the Waimana Valley south of Whakatane.
The road, which leads to a popular DoC camping ground, has been blocked to the public since September.
Nguha13 told the Weekend Herald he felt Mr Orr had been deliberately confrontational in filming his video, which shows a man asking them to turn around and banging on their vehicle when they refuse.
Nguha13 said: "I am not standing at the gates in Waimana, but I am helping to man the internet gate."
Nguha13 said the video was a whakaari, or drama, designed to ruffle feathers.
He described himself as a 37-year-old Tuhoe professional living in a city who decided to "activate online".
Nguha13 said he hoped the videos would help inform tourists of the risks "of angry natives and even worse for them, curses from the dead bones they are sleeping, pissing and shitting on".
Mr Orr's video has been viewed almost 3000 times since its posting and Nguha13's responses have been seen about 200 times since last month.
An Omuriwaka spokeswoman said the road would stay closed until the ownership of the land was decided.
Senior Sergeant Mark van der Kley, of Kawerau, said there had been no complaints about Nguha13's videos.
