Lost in our own Land – Tamaki Maori Experience, Christchurch

“The land to us is not a possession – we belong to the land – the land is not ours to own!
We have a spiritual relationship with the land that goes beyond any one person owning it. We are merely custodians of the land, keepers for the generations to come”.

These are some of the many cries you will encounter as you approach the Courthouse in Moorhouse. Meet Uitara’s people, now considered ‘squatters’ in the land around Moorhouse town, here to challenge the European who claim to have seized and now own the land of their ancestors.

It is a day at the land court and the people of Moorehouse, both Maori and colonial, have gathered as the new judge brings the meeting to order. We are landless in our own land, they call. We are a lost people without our standing ground. What will become of us in this new world of rapid change? How did this change come about so quickly that we did not see? What are the answers to mend the great misunderstandings of a generation with no sense of place, of belonging, or identity! The pride of great warrior lines have been crushed...but the spirit lives on...forever!

Christchurch Maori Experience - Colonialism

Christchurch Maori Experience - Inter-race Friendships