HIKOI - THE LAND MARCH 2015 FULL DOCUMENTARY

Hikoi - The Land March 2015 marks the 40th anniversary of the 1975 Land March which, under the leadership of Dame Whina Cooper, travelled the length of the North Island to protest the loss of Māori Land. SYNOPSIS ‘Not one more acre of Māori land’ - Dame Whina Cooper There’s an ancient Chinese proverb that states that even a thousand mile journey begins with the first step. In the case of the Māori land march of 1975 it was a 1055 kilometre trek, but also the start of a much larger journey shared by our nation over the past forty years. It could be argued that the journey towards the revitalisation of Māori culture and language began 14th of September forty years ago to protest against Māori land loss. After six months of planning, 50 marchers left Te Hāpua led by then 79-year-old Whina Cooper. By the time they reached Parliament on the 13th of October, having walked the length of the North Island, their numbers had swelled to 5000. Here they presented a petition signed by 60,000 people to Prime Minister Bill Rowling calling for an end to the alienation of Māori land. It was a watershed moment for New Zealand. Over the course of the march protesters stayed overnight at 25 different marae where Cooper led discussions about the purpose of the march. By helping to politicise large numbers of Māori, the hīkoi had an impact far beyond its original intention. It represented a reassertion of Māori identity. The action of these marchers signified the beginning of a fierce discussion over the repatriation of lands and began an era of conflict between Māori and Pakeha New Zealand. In 1978 Eva Rickard was arrested on the Raglan Golf Course, eventually winning back her whanau land, and at Bastion Point, 222 protesters were arrested after a 507-day occupation of their ancestral land. But it wasn’t just issues around land that were broached on this historic hikoi. The march had a resounding effect on race relations and the acknowledgment of rights of Māori under the Treaty of Waitangi. The Waitangi Tribunal was set up in 1975, te reo Māori became an official language of New Zealand in 1987, and Māori education would flourish through kura kaupapa and wananga. Utilising archival footage from the Geoff Steven directed documentary Te Matakite o Aotearoa: The Māori Land March, news items from the time and unseen footage of the march, director John Bates has fashioned a fascinating, historical documentary.