Orakei Māori Action Committee begins 506 day occupation of Takaparawhau (Bastion Point)
Jan. 5, 1977
Ngāti Whātua occupation of Bastion Point (Robin Morrison, Auckland War Memorial Museum, neg. RMN10-1)
Led by Joseph Parata Hohepa Hawke, the occupation of Takaparawhau began on this day in 1977. The whenua - a piece of land overlooking Auckland's Waitematā Harbour - originally belonged to Ngāti Whātua, but it was handed over to the Crown during the Russian scare of 1885 for defence purposes. The occupation was in direct response to the Crown announcing that it planned to develop Bastion Point for high-income housing.
Although forcibly removed on 25 May 1978, by 800 police and personnel of the New Zealand Army who also destroyed the temporary buildings—including vegetable gardens and the marae, the land was ultimately returned in 1988. The occupation and the use of force to end it played a part in highlighting injustices against Māori, and the occupation became a major landmark in the history of Māori protest.
Although forcibly removed on 25 May 1978, by 800 police and personnel of the New Zealand Army who also destroyed the temporary buildings—including vegetable gardens and the marae, the land was ultimately returned in 1988. The occupation and the use of force to end it played a part in highlighting injustices against Māori, and the occupation became a major landmark in the history of Māori protest.