A new era has begun in Russell with the opening of the town's first marae in generations.
The opening of the waterfront marae, in the former Department of Conservation visitors' centre, came after a 20-year campaign marked by stiff opposition, anonymous leaflet drops and the calling in of the race relations conciliator - twice.
But last Friday's ceremony was overwhelming positive.
Labour list MP Shane Jones said the opening ended "20 years of anguish", which had ironically led to a better location than that originally proposed at Long Beach.
Ministers Eruera Garland and Hone Martin conducted the ceremony, with speeches from kaumatua, Mr Jones and outspoken academic David Rankin, a direct descendant of Hone Heke.
The mainly Pakeha students of a Te Wananga O Aotearoa te reo course, which will be taught at the marae next year, sang waiata.
The marae's name, Haratu, comes from chief Rewa's whare, which stood nearby in the 1830s.
The ceremony was followed by a hakari (feast) for about 200 people in the Russell Town Hall.
Haratu has a retail area focusing on "cultural merchandise", exhibition space, classroom, offices and an upstairs conference room. Part of the DoC display has been retained.
Mr Jones said he had made a special effort to attend because he wanted to "celebrate the inclusivity the Kororareka Marae Society is promoting".
Haratu would also restore the balance of Maori heritage in Russell, he said.
Chief human rights commissioner Ros Noonan said Friday's opening represented the best of New Zealand, and a future in which things Maori and Pakeha could be celebrated equally.
"It's wonderful to see how many Pakeha have been involved in this long campaign," she said.
Marae society chairman and former Russell policeman Colwyn Shortland said the building's design did not lend itself to a traditional wharenui focused on hui and tangi.
Instead, he saw it as "a living, breathing building" serving as a front door for all hapu and iwi on the Russell peninsula.
"It's about building bridges, not putting up barriers."
Mr Shortland paid credit to DoC for its role in making the marae a reality.
The society also opened an exhibition called Te Timatanga, The Beginning, featuring work by Maori artists and a display from Russell Museum about the history of Kororareka marae.
The marae society's plans include the Kororareka Festival in March and expanding employment, with five new jobs already created.
The building is leased from the Crown but the land is subject to a Treaty of Waitangi claim.
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