Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces the approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for use in New Zealand. We followed a Crown car along a long gravel road so dry it kicked up impenetrable clouds, caught in morning sun-strike. (When we arrived our rust-coloured SUV was caked in dust that dropped off in clumps when the photographer slammed the rear door.) Friends, when you have been a reporter for long enough you don’t expect, or want, to feel any emotional response to what you are covering. It is uncool. When I watched the group of young people from the iwi of Te Taitokerau, of the North, tramping down from the highest spot of the pā, pitted with old trenches from the time of the battle, along a long path to welcome the PM to the site, I experienced a jolt.
Politicians welcomed to Ruapekapeka She acknowledged the descendants of Ruapekapeka Pā who had embraced the 12 dead British soldiers – despite the terrible losses to their own whanaunga (relatives) “That act in itself speak truly or reverence, remembrance, and peace.” She said New Zealand had a tendency to underplay its own history.
RICKY WILSON
Te Tira Taua welcomes Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s party on to the Pā site. “To say that ours did not happen on a scale of other countries around the world, and that somehow scale has some bearing on significance. That view is wrong.” The day started with a fiery welcome by a group of young members of iwi from across Te Taitokerau, the North, called Te Tira Taua o Te Taitokerau.
Long-lost graves honoured at Ruapekapeka as Waitangi commemorations begin
3 Feb, 2021 04:00 PM
4 minutes to read
Victoria Cross recipient Willie Apiata accepts a challenge laid down by Cole Kara of Whangaroa. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Peter de Graaf is a reporter for the Northern Advocatepeter.degraaf@northernadvocate.co.nznorthernadvocat
More than 700 people gathered on an isolated hilltop south of Kawakawa to remember the victims of a battle 175 years ago as Waitangi commemorations got under way in earnest yesterday.
The dedication of a memorial at Ruapekapeka Pā to 12 British soldiers, whose unmarked grave was rediscovered in 2017, was Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern s first official engagement of a four-day stay in Northland.
Battle of Te Ruapekapeka: Remembrance heals rifts of 175 years ago
11 Jan, 2021 04:00 PM
4 minutes to read
Hundreds of warriors from around the North Island perform a series of haka during commemorations for the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Te Ruapekapeka.
Video / Peter de Graaf
Hundreds of warriors from around the North Island perform a series of haka during commemorations for the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Te Ruapekapeka.
Video / Peter de Graaf
Peter de Graaf is a reporter for the Northern Advocatepeter.degraaf@northernadvocate.co.nznorthernadvocat
Descendants of opposing sides in a bloody conflict 175 years ago have been brought closer by three days of remembrance, event organisers say.