Ngā Tamatoa (''The Warriors'') was a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

activist group that operated throughout the 1970s to promote Māori rights, fight racial discrimination, and confront injustices perpetrated by the

New Zealand Government , background_color = #012169 , image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg , image_size=250px , date_established = , country = New Zealand , leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern , appointed = Governor-General , main_organ = , ...

, particularly violations of the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...

Origins

Ngā Tamatoa emerged from a conference at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

organised by academic and historian

Ranginui Walker Ranginui Joseph Isaac Walker (1 March 1932 – 29 February 2016) was an influential New Zealand academic, author, and activist of Māori and Lebanese descent. "I think he was ''the'' Māori commentator for a very long period," his biographer, ...

. The group consisted of mainly urban and university-educated Māori who were offended by continuing confiscation of land and degradation of the Māori language. The group was inspired by international liberation and indigenous movements such as the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...

and the

American Indian Movement The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a Native American grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues of poverty, discrimination, and police ...

which characterised the

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights, g ...

of the 1970s internationally. Syd Jackson, one of the founding members of Ngā Tamatoa, drew from the works of

Eldridge Cleaver Leroy Eldridge Cleaver (August 31, 1935 – May 1, 1998) was an American writer and political activist who became an early leader of the Black Panther Party. In 1968, Cleaver wrote '' Soul on Ice'', a collection of essays that, at the time of i ...

and

Stokely Carmichael Kwame Ture (; born Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael; June 29, 1941November 15, 1998) was a prominent organizer in the civil rights movement in the United States and the global pan-African movement. Born in Trinidad, he grew up in the Unite ...

. Ngā Tamatoa often worked alongside the

Polynesian Panthers The Polynesian Panther Party (PPP) was a revolutionary social justice movement formed to target racial inequalities carried out against indigenous Māori and Pacific Islanders in Auckland, New Zealand. Founded by a group of young Polynesians on 16 ...

, who also drew direct inspiration from the Black Panther Party. Members of Ngā Tamatoa included

Hone Harawira Hone Pani Tamati Waka Nene Harawira is a New Zealand Māori activist and former parliamentarian. He was elected to parliament as the member for the Māori electorate of Te Tai Tokerau in 2005 as the Māori Party candidate. In 2011, following ...

Donna Awatere Huata Donna Lynn Awatere Huata (sometimes written Awatere-Huata, previously known as Donna Awatere; born 1949) is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament for the ACT New Zealand Party and activist for Māori causes. Early life Donna Awatere wa ...

Tame Iti Tame may refer to: *Taming, the act of training wild animals *River Tame, Greater Manchester *River Tame, West Midlands and the Tame Valley *Tame, Arauca, a Colombian town and municipality * "Tame" (song), a song by the Pixies from their 1989 alb ...

, Josephine Keelan,

Jim Moriarty James Moriarty (born 20 June 1953) is a New Zealand actor and theatre director, who began acting professionally in 1967. He came to national attention and is probably best known for his role as the school teacher Riki Winiata in the 1970s soap ...

Rawiri Paratene Peter David Broughton , generally known as Rawiri Paratene, is a New Zealand stage and screen actor, director and writer. He is known for his acting roles in ''Whale Rider'' (2002) and '' The Insatiable Moon'' (2010). Biography Paratene was bor ...

, Larry Parr, Hana Te Hemara, Kura Te Waru Reweri,

Linda Tuhiwai Smith Linda Tuhiwai Te Rina Smith (née Mead; born 1950) was a professor of indigenous education at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand Ngahuia Te Awekotuku Ngahuia Te Awekotuku (born 1949) is a New Zealand academic specialising in Māori cultural issues and a lesbian activist. In 1972, she was famously denied a visa to visit the United States on the basis of her sexuality. Biography Te Awekotuk ...

, Vernon Winitana and Tiata Witehira. Member Taitimu Maipi recounts the leadership of women in Ngā Tamatoa describing efforts by Hilda Harawera in Māori language activism.

Māori language

In September 1972, Ngā Tamatoa presented a petition with more than 30,000 signatures to the Crown to have

taught in schools. Other initiatives by the organisation helped to enforce real social and political changes in New Zealand which has seen the establishment of Māori language nests, Kōhanga Reo, and the Kura Kaupapa Māori immersion schools. In 1987, the

Māori Language Act The Māori Language Act 1987 was a piece of legislation passed by the Parliament of New Zealand that gave official language status to the Māori language (), and gave speakers a right to use it in legal settings such as courts. It also establish ...

was passed by the New Zealand Government, giving Te Reo Māori (Māori language) official language status.

1975 Land March

Ngā Tamatoa organised the historic 1975 Land March, led by

Dame Whina Cooper Dame Whina Cooper (9 December 1895 – 26 March 1994) was a respected ( Māori elder), who worked for many years for the rights of her people, and particularly to improve the lot of Māori women. She is remembered for leading the 1975 Māori ...

, from the top of New Zealand's North Island to Parliament in Wellington. Following the march, Ngā Tamatoa created a 'Tent Embassy' by camping on Parliament grounds in Wellington, demanding immediate action on land march issues.

He Taua 1979

The organisation was involved in disrupting the

haka Haka (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...

party'', a part of the annual student capping parade. This was annual parade in which engineering students parodied the Māori haka, by painting male genitals on their body and performing with sexually obscene gestures. The disruption was mainly organised by a group of Māori and Pacific Island students, called He Taua 'War Party.' Following a violent attack on the engineering students, when several students were assaulted, members of He Taua were arrested. Their court case in Auckland sparked anti-racism protests outside the courthouse. Members of He Taua included

, later a Member of Parliament.

Treaty of Waitangi

Ngā Tamatoa initiated the annual protests at Waitangi on

Waitangi Day Waitangi Day ( mi, Te Rā o Waitangi), the national day of New Zealand, marks the anniversary of the initial signing – on 6 February 1840 – of the Treaty of Waitangi, which is regarded as the founding document of the nation. The first Wait ...

, in 1973 after Prime Minister

Norman Kirk Norman Eric Kirk (6 January 1923 – 31 August 1974) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 29th prime minister of New Zealand from 1972 until his sudden death in 1974. Born into poverty in Southern Canterbury, Kirk left school at ...

changed the name of the day to 'New Zealand Day'. The group claimed that the "Treaty is a fraud" because of the ongoing breaches committed by the Government. Ngā Tamatoa wore black armbands to the celebrations to mourn the loss of Māori land much of which had been confiscated or annexed by state legislation. The Auckland Māori Council declared their support of the protest by making a submission that cited fourteen statutes that were currently breaching the Treaty.

References

External links

Photo of Nga Tamatoa at Parliament steps 1972
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nga Tamatoa History of New Zealand Treaty of Waitangi Race relations in New Zealand Māori politics Māori organisations Māori history