Northland Age
  • Northland Age home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
  • Opinion
  • Kaitaia weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northland Age

Waitangi museum to honour the Māori Battalion

By Peter de Graaf
Reporter·Northland Age·
18 Jun, 2018 10:30 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A museum celebrating the Maori Battalion will be built on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Photo / File

A museum celebrating the Maori Battalion will be built on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Photo / File

A major new museum is to be built on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in honour of the 28th Māori Battalion.

Details, including the cost and design, have yet to be finalised, but finance is already committed from the government's Provincial Growth Fund. It is scheduled to open on Waitangi Day 2020.

Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said the museum was part of the coalition agreement between New Zealand First and Labour.

It would be built at Waitangi because that was where Sir Apirana Ngata made his famous speech about the "price of citizenship" to soldiers of the Battalion as they prepared to leave for Europe and North Africa.

Sir Apirana argued that participation in the war was a price Māori had to pay as citizens of New Zealand, and would allow them to help shape the country once war ended. The Battalion also paraded at the Treaty Grounds in 1940, at the opening of Te Whare Runanga, the carved meeting house.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Once politicians on both sides were aware of the depth of Sir Apirana's speech, they realised the legacy value of the proposal," Mr Jones said.

The story of A Company, made up of men from Te Tai Tokerau, was likely to take a central place, but he expected the museum to be comprehensive. The Waitangi National Trust was still consulting representatives of the Battalion's four other companies, so a final proposal had yet to be produced.

"For a lot of families whose parents, grandparents and great uncles fought overseas, it will be particularly meaningful. It builds on the ethics of service and a key feature of New Zealand's Māori heritage," he added.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Sir Apirana Ngata leading a haka at Waitangi in 1940.
Sir Apirana Ngata leading a haka at Waitangi in 1940.

"I think it will offer additional avenues for domestic and international tourists, to see another layer of the partnership and the nature of how Māori have lived up to Article 3 of the Treaty (which gave Māori the rights and obligations of British subjects)."

Waitangi National Trust chief executive Greg McManus said the trust was working with architects to come up with a suitable design, and had begun the resource consent process, while trust chairman Pita Tipene was leading consultation with the other companies.

The museum would be an "absolutely perfect fit" for Waitangi, he added. When it was originally proposed it was to have been the Treaty of Waitangi Battalion.

It would also pay tribute to the Māori Pioneer Battalion of World War I.

■ More than 3600 men volunteered with the Māori Battalion, serving in Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy. Of those, 649 were killed or died on active service and 1712 were wounded, a casualty rate almost 50 per cent higher than the average for New Zealand infantry battalions. Lieutenant-General Bernard Freyberg, who commanded the 2nd NZ Division, said: "No infantry battalion had a more distinguished record, or saw more fighting, or, alas, had such heavy casualties as the Māori Battalion."

The men of the 28th also won the respect of the enemy, Afrika Korps commander Erwin Rommel reputedly saying: "Give me the Māori Battalion and I will conquer the world."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northland Age

Northland Age

‘It was more than a chair’: Kāeo cafe closure leaves a mark

09 Jun 07:00 PM
Northland Age

News in brief: Stop kauri dieback, NIWA reports record rainfall

09 Jun 06:00 PM
Northland Age

Northland Māori health trust taking urgent action on 'diabetes crisis'

09 Jun 05:00 PM

Why Cambridge is the new home of future-focused design

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northland Age

‘It was more than a chair’: Kāeo cafe closure leaves a mark

‘It was more than a chair’: Kāeo cafe closure leaves a mark

09 Jun 07:00 PM

The iconic oversized chair outside the Madhatters cafe has been removed.

News in brief: Stop kauri dieback, NIWA reports record rainfall

News in brief: Stop kauri dieback, NIWA reports record rainfall

09 Jun 06:00 PM
Northland Māori health trust taking urgent action on 'diabetes crisis'

Northland Māori health trust taking urgent action on 'diabetes crisis'

09 Jun 05:00 PM
Leading by example: Northland farmer honoured for transformative work

Leading by example: Northland farmer honoured for transformative work

09 Jun 02:29 AM
Clean water fuelling Pacific futures
sponsored

Clean water fuelling Pacific futures

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northland Age e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to The Northland Age
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northland Age
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP