In part two of our series Mark Amery outlines the situation for land at the northern end of Paekākāriki, whose alienation from the whānau of Miriona Mutu Mira Budge of Ngāti Haumia ki Paekākāriki has seen community members working with landowners to see a site for her house at the end Wainui stream found.
Most readers will be aware of the wide historical injustices throughout Aotearoa that saw Māori land taken under legislation, and hapu fragmented through the division of land into titles between whanau. Events that have led to long processes begin with the Waitangi Tribunal for redress.
These issues aren’t abstract for any of us. The question that you might ask, if you’re a homeowner or your parents are: what is the history of the land your home is on? Who else might feel a sense of belonging here? And, what might I do to support those with a connection?
Many years ago, when we were digging in foundations for a deck at our place at the north end of Paekākāriki, we discovered a deep square cavity. It was evident quickly it was an old long drop. Human leavings were long gone but it was filled with beer bottles from a Californian brewery in the early ‘40s.
Photographs remind us that the US Marines’ Camp Paekākāriki extended from where the Holiday Park is now by Wainui stream to where Paekākāriki school is today.
Ngāti Haumia ki Paekākāriki kuia Jean Andrews, who passed away in 1992, was legendary for her welcoming of the troops. For her manaakitanga.
“I tell my mokopuna about the war years,” Andrews relates in signage with images relating to the Marines and the whenua at the entrance to Queen Elizabeth Park. “We go up there to the urupā (cemetery) and sit there and they say, ‘What’s that concrete slab down there in the holiday park?’ And I’ll say awww that’s where Uncle Sid’s hut was.”
Except for a house site in Miriona Grove, the urupā on a hill just north of the stream is pretty much all that remains of Ngāti Haumia whenua in the village.
This year though, human remains were discovered on the site where our new surf club is being built. That was a difficult reminder. It’s just along from where the house built by Miriona Mutu Mira Budge, Jean’s mother, stands vacant at the bottom of the Wainui on reserve land as part of Queen Elizabeth Park. She wanted to build where that flash new surf club stands – yes, through no fault of the surf club, that hurts.
Even 20 years ago, Miriona’s grandson kaumatua Karl Farrell says, there were 20 of his Ngāti Haumia hapu in the village. Today, it’s pretty much just him, his daughters and their kids.
Karl is currently fighting cancer, with a huge outpouring of support to help the whānau through a Givealittle campaign.
Miriona Mutu Mira Budge, once owned the large section of land next to Wainui Stream, stretching from ocean to railway. She wanted this land to be for her whānau, and an injustice in the way it was taken continues today. Karl continues to lead the fight to remedy this wrong.
“Most of our people of Ngāti Haumia of Miriona Budge descent simply can’t live on their whenua anymore. So the fair deal would be for the government to give us some of that land back.”
Many stand in support of this mahi and have asked how they can help. There has been a concerted campaign led by community members working with Regional council, District Council and now iwi Ngāti Toa Rangatira to see the Budge house by the stream moved onto land for the whanau.
But it’s complex – legistlation, the Reserves Act, makes relocating anywhere in park or holiday park very very tricky – and it helps to know the history that makes this not as simple as any one would like. Here’s an attempt, drawing from the historical records brought together with council help. I also strongly recommend you read Thane Maxwell’s account here.
The area broadly known as Queen Elizabeth Park was acquired for defence use during the Second World War for training and camps for the US Marines. It’s an association in generosity in hosting many, including Ngāti Haumia have expressed pride in.
It’s recorded that it was 1830 when Ngāti Toa chief Ropata Hurumutu crossed from Kāpiti Island and occupied Wainui Pa with Ngāti Haumia. By 1847 it was reported that 450 acres of land were in cultivation at Wainui with a population of just under 200 people. But in 1858 most of the land in the area was sold by Ngāti Toa with Māori reserve land given title to Māori including 155 acres at Wainui -as a ‘Māori village’. The main claimant was Aperahama Mutu Mira. This land was partitioned in the 1910s into different blocks.
One of these was owned by our kaumatua Karl Farrell’s whānau and his grandmother Miriona Budge. While other parcels were acquired for the park under the Public Works Act after the US Marines left, Miriona Budge stood firm.
This land stretches as you will see in a video Paekākāriki Informed Community Inc have commissioned (created by Himiona Grace and Bradley Warden with myself) from the Wainui stream mouth to the railway, taking in what is now the Paekākāriki Holiday Park.
In 1948, facing pressure to sell, Miriona Budge sought assistance from E. Tirikatene, Member of Parliament. She explained her plans to provide house sites for her children and said she was not interested in exchanging the land for land elsewhere.
She is recorded as saying: “I said no, my people were all buried there, and were born and bred there. I am the last of a big family – my parents, uncles and aunts, cousins and all, are buried there. Besides, my grandparents, my parents and the rest of their family promise this land as she is here, not to be sold, but can be leased.
“The small portion of land is worth more to me than 100 acres elsewhere. I value my people who are lying there and I have no desire to sell, exchange at any price.”
After sustained pressure however she was eventually to relinquish the land in 1952 in exchange for other properties, which again fragmented her hapu and saw them lose their connection to their whenua next to the Wainui, the sea, and urupā and pā site.
Only the urupā in the park remain with the whānau. A significant portion of the land sold – the Paekākāriki Holiday Park section – was given to iwi Ngāti Toa as part of their treaty settlement in 2005. But this did not include the Budge house which, after use as a rangers house, still sits on its original site.
There has been a great deal of work quietly going on for some years from within this community to see this house shifted to another site – erosion sees it not able to remain where it is.
This has involved significant hui with WRC and KCDC with the house offered. Leadership has been provided in the community by the Miriona House Group chaired by Jenny Rowan with much work by Allie Webber, Tina Pope, Councillor Sophie Handford, Margaret Jackson and others.
Everyone can do their bit. The US Marine Trust commissioned and unveiled a pou in honour of Miriona Budge on the north side of Wainui Stream in 2023 and acknowledged the hapu in their signage.
The Paekākāriki Orchards and Gardens group have renamed the section of Reserves Act land they are kaitiaki for ‘Miriona Gardens’.
Wai Ata Studio, located in the Weaver’s Whare at the end of Tilley Road, have worked with Ngāti Haumia to see, with council support, a major mural commissioned for the building itself and a Rangi Mārie Peace Festival held on their whenua.
Paekākāriki Housing Trust have been assisting hapu members with housing since inception, and worked with Ngāti Toa for the purchase of a home on Te Miti Street from KCDC. Recently they have passed a resolution to “undertake a project to redress historical and continuing injustices” recognising that “a strong Ahi Kā is vital to a strong Ngāti Haumia and a strong Paekākāriki community.”
Paekākāriki Railway Museum are preparing a Ngāti Haumia ki Paekākāriki exhibition to support the kaupapa, while the village’s Paekākāriki Pride Festival held in October, popular throughout the region, will donate its fundraising to the Farrell campaign. Many have donated.
These are all initial steps in what needs to be a concerted continuous effort.
There has been exhaustive work by many listed above to find a site within the park for the house but the Reserves Act has made this difficult.
Wellington Regional Council have, in correspondence with the community, acknowledged that the hurt caused to the Farrell whānau with the pressure to sell the land, and acknowledged the sale of the house is likely to have caused further hurt and a sense of disconnection.
Meanwhile kaumatua Karl Farrell has never given up – he has stayed true to the spirit of his grandmother and ancestors.
As he faces some major health challenges, it is time for the wider community to be called upon for support. Support for the whānau and their remaining property in Miriona Grove and for the longer programme.
If you haven’t heard about this all until now in full there are reasons. First of all – let’s face it – we may prefer not to think too much about the history of the land we reside on. Who has cared for it, and offered care for others on it.
But it’s also been by request that the focus of attention continue to make progress through the official channels. That continues. But there are things we can do right now to assist this whānau – every little bit helps.
Know your history – know about the whenua you live on, and care for it and each other.