The Crown confiscated 1.6 million acres of Taranaki land after the Land Wars, violating Te Tiriti. Māori were left landless while settlers moved in.
Te Whiti and Tohu Kākahi led Parihaka village in peaceful resistance. They used passive resistance, removing survey pegs and fences, and refusing to accept Crown authority over their land. They asserted tino rangatiratanga through non-violent political action.
Te Whiti's peaceful resistance inspired global leaders like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Shows Māori as sophisticated political leaders using principled resistance to defend sovereignty.
By 1975, Māori had lost 95% of their land through Crown policies. Land continued to be sold, breaking the connection between Māori and their ancestral whenua.
Dame Whina Cooper, aged 79, led a month-long hīkoi from Te Hāpua to Parliament with the message "Not one more acre." The march united Māori from across the country in asserting their ongoing connection to whenua and challenging Crown land policies.
Led to the Waitangi Tribunal (1975) and Treaty settlement process. Showed the power of Māori unity in asserting tino rangatiratanga through political action.
Ngāti Whātua's ancestral land at Takaparawhau (Bastion Point) was gradually taken for military use, then planned for luxury housing development.
Ngāti Whātua and supporters occupied their ancestral land for 507 days, establishing a village and asserting their mana whenua. They used traditional governance structures and tikanga to organize the occupation, demonstrating ongoing tino rangatiratanga.
Though protestors were forcibly removed, the land was eventually returned to Ngāti Whātua in 1988. The occupation showed that Māori would continue to assert their sovereignty and connection to whenua.
Important Understanding: These actions are not "protests" against legitimate authority. They are Māori exercising their tino rangatiratanga and defending their sovereignty as guaranteed by Te Tiriti. From a Māori perspective, these are acts of legitimate political authority defending against colonial occupation.