Gisborne protest: Ngāti Oneone calls for return of ancestral land
She told Local Democracy Reporting the group intended to remain at the site 'as long as it takes'.
This year marks 95 years since the hapū was displaced from its ancestral land under the Public Works Act. Te Poho-o-Rāwiri Marae, originally established on Hirini St in 1852, was removed to make way for the development of the Gisborne Harbour.
Gibson said a tipping point came when the hapū realised the Eastland Port shed on Hirini St was no longer being used for port-related operations.
'It sort of broke the back...we lost that whenua for you to store boats,' she said.
Gibson said that returning the land was not about legalities, rather fairness, partnership and honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
'We want all the lands back that you are not using for your core business,' she said.
'If you look at the whole of Hirini St, which was our marae, they've all been sold on.'
Gibson said if further port developments were to proceed and the land was sold again, the hapū could lose any chance of reclaiming it.
'We would lose the opportunity in my lifetime.'
Previous attempts to get the land back were made by her grandfather and father, Gibson said. The aim now was to avoid passing the burden on to future generations.
'We don't want it to fall on the next generation.'
They want the land returned without it being the problem of the hapū to work out how that return happened.
'It always falls on us to 'make the case',' she said.
Ngāti Oneone is calling on the council, Trust Tairāwhiti and Eastland Port to return land not essential to their core operations.
Trust Tairāwhiti is the region's economic development and tourism agency and the sole shareholder of Eastland Port.
In separate statements, the council and Trust Tairāwhiti acknowledged the historical grievance and the right to a peaceful protest.
The council said it began exploring how land could potentially be returned following formal requests from Ngāti Oneone in 2024.
'This includes looking into the relevant legal processes, policy settings and the interests of other Treaty partners,' council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann said.
'The council recognises its part in past decisions that contributed to the loss of land and the lasting impacts of those actions.'
Trust Tairāwhiti chair David Battin said the trust valued its relationship with Ngāti Oneone and had sought independent legal and cultural advice to understand the complexities of the request.
'Ultimately, we advised that the trust could not approve those requests and that the Crown is best placed to address their historical grievance,' he said.
Battin said that because the trust was not a Crown entity, it did not have the authority or mechanisms to address historic Treaty breaches.
'Our commitment to Te Tiriti is about working in partnership with mana whenua to support hapū and marae development now and into the future.
'We are focused on solutions and remain open to constructive engagement with Ngāti Oneone.'
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