Community set to celebrate Waitangi Day in Clive

Hukarere Girls' College's students welcome people to Farndon Park at a previous Waipureku Waitangi Commemoration. Photo / Warren Buckland

An annual Waitangi Day commemorative hīkoi to Clive’s Farndon Park will this year focus on unity and resilience.

The historic February 6 event, close to Waipureku, where Te Tiriti was signed in 1840, promises opportunities for reflection and action.

“The focus is how we all – Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti - are moving forward in honouring Te Tiriti in partnership, as individuals, as collectives, as a region and as a nation," Waipureku Waitangi Trust chair Maxine Boag says.

The event begins at 7.45am at Ātea a Rangi, in Waitangi Park, with karakia, followed by the Hīkoi of Unity, a three-kilometre walk to Farndon Park.

Participants will pause at Clive Bridge for karakia by the memorial plaque honouring the Kahungunu chiefs who signed Te Tiriti close by.

Boag says the hīkoi is “a beautiful and popular way to begin the day and an opportunity to reflect”.

Non-walkers will join the group riverside at 8.45am at Farndon Park for the haka pōwhiri, led by mana whenua.

The day includes speeches from local leaders and author and award-winning historian Vincent O’Malley, who has worked as a professional historian focused mainly on Treaty of Waitangi claims research since 1993.

After a morning tea at 10.30am, a second session begins at 11am, with a range of speakers and workshops focusing on “honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi now and in the future”.

“The intention is to talk about the Treaty in ways that look out for everyone and are mana-enhancing for all and then act on that,” Boag says.

Event Details

7.45am-8.15am: Meet at Ātea a Rangi, Awatoto, to start the hīkoi.

8.15am-8.45am: Hīkoi along the banks of Te Awa o Mokotūāraro to Farndon Park.

8.45am-9.30am: Haka Pōwhiri

9.45am-10am: Address by keynote speaker

10am-10.15am: Local government leaders on the actions they have taken to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

10.15am-11am: Kai o te ata (Morning tea). During this time, everyone will be invited to sign the Te Tiriti o te Rangimārie (Peace Treaty).

11am: Local History, the signing of Te Tiriti in Te Matau a Māui/Hawke’s Bay.

11.30am: Five short talks from speakers.

12.15pm: Wānanga (workshop) on “Honouring Te Tiriti now and in the future”.

1.15pm: Mahi korero – Where to from here? Action Plan.

Light refreshments will be available throughout the afternoon.