Lake Karapiro
In August 2025 I wrote to Waipā District Council about an important sign that had gone AWOL (absent without leave). This council sign situated along Maungatautari Road, just before Lake Karāpiro Dam, pointed southwest up the hillside. It read, “Confiscation (Aukati) line”. An emailed response from council said the sign was removed because it had been ‘vandalised’ and no reinstatement was planned.
Murray Smith
My point in reply, appealed to the sign’s significance as a ‘marker’ of our local history. It’s presence provided a potent reminder of events at the end of the Waikato Land Wars in 1864 when colonial forces arbitrarily seized almost 500,000ha of prime land from Māori. This ‘Aukati Line’ further enforced the dispossession Māori felt. Imagine armed patrols warding tangata-whenua off their own lands – that was the case in Waikato, northwards all the way from the Firth of Thames across to Maungatautari and then on to Ōrākau.
It’s good to see council have reinstated the sign. I’ve been reflecting on this saga as our nation prepares to commemorate Waitangi Day on February 6. On that day in 1840, representatives of the British Crown and over 500 Māori chiefs on behalf of their people, signed New Zealand’s founding document. Looking back 186 years to when Te Tiriti ō Waitangi was signed, the numerous breaches this covenantal document has suffered under Crown indifference are unfathomable. Soon after the signing, blatant dishonouring of the Treaty began… how this ‘Aukati Line’ was ever inaugurated within about two decades of the Treaty’s signing, beggars belief – especially in the light of its stated intentions. (Article 2 of Te Tiriti guarantees that Māori will have “unqualified exercise of their chieftainship over their lands, villages and all their treasures”).
Many New Zealanders have little idea of what brought the Treaty about, its purpose and that historically the Christian missionary influence was instrumental in gathering support throughout Aotearoa for Māori rangatira to sign the Treaty. Their motivation was to protect Māori from the negative aspects of British colonialism – greedy settlers and unscrupulous traders who lacked understanding or interest in honouring Māori culture.
Back in February 1934 New Zealand’s Governor General, Lord Bledisloe, inaugurated components in that year’s Waitangi Day celebrations that have become something of a pattern for subsequent events. The ceremonial aspects involved important sites including the Treaty House grounds and Te Tiii marae close by – in addition, organisation was consultative with Māori, Pākehā and government conferring. Significantly, Lord Bledisloe’s prayer carried impact that has continued. He prayed that, ‚the sacred compact made in these waters may be faithfully and honourably kept for all time to come.’ He continued with a prayer that Māori and pakeha would find unity, affirming the place that Christian faith had in achieving the goal of ‘one-ness’.
The Treaty connects us to history and anchors us to what was promised. The majority of those Christian pioneer missionaries cared enough to try and ‘get it’… at least to a reasonable degree. Their relationship and credibility with Māori stemmed from mutual respect and honour… values inherent in the Treaty. This instrument of reconciliation remains a living document for today – though abused and damaged, it’s not too late for healing to take place in Aotearoa.
