Heke bones to be buried

The bones of the legendary Ngapuhi chief, Hone Heke, will be buried at the end of August.

David Rankin, a kaumatua of the Ngapuhi hapu Te Matarahurahu and descendant of Heke, took the great chief's bones from their resting place near Pakaraka two years ago because of sewage seeping into the site from nearby septic tanks.

Mr Rankin said the bones would be reburied on August 31 at Putahi, north of Kaikohe.

"The bones are now laying in state in a carved casket in a sacred location near Kaikohe and they will be interred at Putahi, in the Far North, at a dawn ceremony on August 31," he said.

"This will be a sacred date for Ngapuhi and will allow for our ancestor's remains to be laid to rest in a dignified manner, and in a place where they will no longer be under threat from disturbance."

Mr Rankin said Hone Heke was the first chief to sign the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, but waged war against the British Crown in 1845-6. He gained notoriety for felling the British flagstaff at Russell on several occasions.

Last month Ngati Hine elder Erima Henare raised the possibility that Mr Rankin took the wrong bones, claiming Heke's remains were sealed into the cave with concrete two decades ago.

However, Mr Rankin said the bones were definitely those of his ancestor and said others were trying to muscle in on the event.