Iwi leader 'disrespected' by Parliament protesters' behaviour

February 28, 2022
Ceremony at Pipitea Marae, Monday February 28, 2022.

Iwi leaders have united in Wellington on Monday morning calling for a peaceful resolution to the anti-mandate protest at Parliament.

The protest is now in its twenty-first day in central Wellington.

Iwi leaders have come together in Wellington calling for a peaceful resolution.

At dawn today a symbolic cloak was laid down at Pipitea Marae, calling for peace and calm in the Capital.

"It was about laying a cloak around various places of significance to us," Pipitea chairman Kura Moeahu said.

"We want to lay the cloak of aroha, peace and calmness for many families who have been divided. Many communities have been divided.

"Let's just relax, lay the peace, be calm.

"We're asking our manuhiri (visitor), we're not asking them to leave, everyone has a right to protest, but we're asking them show some respect to our whenua (land), our moana (sea) and especially the people that live in Wellington."

More than 130 protesters have been arrested since the occupation began.

Other protesters have become infected and hospitalised with Covid-19.

Taranaki Whānui chairman Kara Puketapu-Dentice added: "We want the abuse of our whenua, our moana, of our people, of buildings, of our marae, of our sacred sites to stop.

"Our expectation is that if you come here you come, you come here as a good guest and you act responsibly.

"We're not seeing that at the moment and we haven't seen that."

He said the expectation was for that behaviour to change.

"We are of the view that we have been more than fair and reasonable to them who have been here on our whenua."

RNZ reported that last week when mana whenua hosted police and Māori Wardens at Pipitea Marae, protesters entered in the back door serving police with a bogus trespass notice.

Puketapu-Dentice said when that happened it "threw us".

"It was a flagrant undermining of our tikanga (custom), and to see them come into our whare (house) and do what they did created a lot of riri (anger) for our whānau here… and for a lot of people across the motu (land) who know that's not how you conduct yourself."

He also described smashed windows at their iwi office, people defecating around their buildings, urinating on buildings and abusing people.

He said the action taken on Monday was a stand against that "unacceptable behaviour".

"It makes me feel really angry to be honest, to be disrespected in such a way and I know that a lot of our people are angry."

Puketapu-Dentice said healing cannot happen until the protesters go home, though.

"I know that there is going to have to be a lot of healing across the motu with our whānau around this.

"We understand that but our expectation is that healing will not happen on the grounds of Parliament and will not happen here (at Pipitea Marae), that healing will happen when they go home."

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