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{{Short description|1975 indigenous rights protest march in New Zealand}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox civil conflict|title=Māori Land March|partof=[[Māori protest movement]]|image=Māori Land March - October 13 1975, Parliament, Wellington (21226548415).jpg|image_size=|caption=The Land March arriving at Parliament|place=[[New Zealand]]|date=14 September to 13 October 1975|causes=Land alienation and cultural loss|methods=Marches, [[direct action]]}}
The '''
== Background ==
In 1953, the government under Prime Minister [[Sidney Holland]]
▲In 1953, the government under Prime Minister [[Sidney Holland]] forced the Maori Affairs Act to use so-called unproductive Māori land. Anyone who wanted could now report unused land to the ''Māori Land Court'' and apply to borrow the land through an appointed trustee. The Maori Affairs Amendment Act 1967 introduced compulsory conversion of Māori freehold land with four or fewer owners into general land. It increased the powers of the Maori Trustee to compulsorily acquire and sell so-called uneconomic interests in Māori land. Māori worried that the law would result in further alienation of what land remained. As the protests increased, the Māori realized that the ''New Zealand Māori Council'' , which had existed since 1962, and the Māori Women's Welfare League, founded in 1951, were not strong enough to represent their rights and political demands as their previous advocacy groups.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/treaty/treaty-timeline/treaty-events-1950|title=Treaty events since 1950 - Treaty timeline {{!}} NZHistory, New Zealand history online|website=nzhistory.govt.nz|access-date=2019-12-15}}</ref>
[[File:Māori_Land_March_(1975)_-_Why_We_March_(20633566803).jpg|alt=Māori land march|thumb|"Why We March"{{efn|From a booklet issued by Te Rōpū O Te Matakite explaining why the Land March took place, addressing previous grievances Māori had suffered with significant loss of land.}} ]]
In early March 1975, a [[Hui (Māori assembly)|hui]] (assembly) was called at [[Te Puea Memorial Marae]] in [[Māngere Bridge (suburb)|Māngere Bridge]], with 79-year-old Whina Cooper present. Cooper had earned much recognition and respect over the many years of her social and political engagement among Māori people and was one of the few women in the Māori community recognised as a leader. Cooper felt that existing organisations like the [[New Zealand Māori Council]], which had existed since 1962, and the [[Māori Women's Welfare League]], founded in 1951, were too traditional and a more modern approach was needed.<ref name="Hill"/> The hui discussed a march from [[Te Hāpua]], a community at the top of the North Island, to Parliament in Wellington. It was thought that the march would gain public attention and raise awareness of Māori concerns, particularly of the "twin themes of landlessness and cultural loss", and it would be led both by the young activist group [[Ngā Tamatoa]] and more traditional elders like Cooper; in this way, it was hoped the march would be able to attract support from a wide range of Māori.<ref name="Hill">{{cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Richard S. |title=Maori and the State: Crown-Māori relations in New Zealand/Aotearoa, 1950-2000 |date=2009 |publisher=Victoria University Press |location=Wellington, New Zealand |url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-HilMaor-t1-body-d7-d8.html |access-date=7 August 2022 |chapter=The Maori Land March}}</ref> The following four months were used for planning and fundraising. In August all preparations were made and support and accommodation provided at various marae along the route.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}
[[File:Māori_Land_March_-_Auckland_Harbour_Bridge_(21261436989).jpg|alt=
On 14 September 1975, the march began at Te Hāpua. It was initially made up of around 50 people led by Cooper, but grew in numbers as they walked through different towns and cities and stayed at local marae. By the time the march reached Wellington, around {{convert|1100|km|mi}} from its starting point, it was made up of around 5,000 people.<ref name="Collins"/> Cooper led discussions at marae along the way about the purpose of the march and along the way people gathered signatures for a petition which would be presented at Parliament.<ref name="NZH Whina"/> A key slogan for the march was "Not one more acre of Maori land".<ref name="NZH Treaty"/><ref name="Poata">{{cite news |last1=Poata |first1=Tama Te Kapua |title=Marching into history |url=https://e-tangata.co.nz/history/marching-into-history/ |access-date=7 August 2022 |work=E-Tangata |date=17 November 2019}}</ref>
[[Tama Poata]], one of the young organisers on the march, described in his memoir how he and other young people handled a lot of the day-to-day organisation of the march, while Cooper and other elders were able to engage with local Māori at each marae that was visited and encourage them to sign the petition.<ref name="Poata"/>
▲== The March ==
▲[[File:Māori_Land_March_-_Auckland_Harbour_Bridge_(21261436989).jpg|alt=|left|thumb|Māori Land March crossing [[Auckland Harbour Bridge]]]]
[[File:Māori_Land_March_(1975)_-_Route_of_March_(20631264354).jpg|alt=|thumb|Route of March]]
The march, accompanied by two trucks and a bus
[[Titewhai Harawira]] was one of the lead organisers of the march and a spokesperson for Te Roopu Ote Matakite who had set up an 'embassy' occupying parliament grounds after the march.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-25 |title=Titewhai Harawira dies, aged 90 |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/483043/titewhai-harawira-dies-aged-90 |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=RNZ |language=en-nz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Maori protesters gain support |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19751230.2.121 |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=Papers Past}}</ref>
== Impact ==
Upon arriving at Parliament, Whina Cooper presented a petition signed by 60,000 people from around New Zealand to Prime Minister [[Bill Rowling]]. The petition called for an end to monocultural land laws which excluded Māori cultural values, and asked for the ability to establish legitimate communal ownership of land within [[iwi]]. The
This action brought treaty issues to public attention more strongly than at any time since the 19th century.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} ==In film==
The march is brought to life in the 2022 biographical film ''[[Whina (film)|Whina]]'', about the life of Whina Cooper. The march is used as a framing device, with much of the film consisting of flashbacks to earlier in her life, but it shows the growing support for the march, and the crowds reaching the Houses of Parliament in Wellington.<ref>{{cite web | last=Grierson | first=Tim | title='Whina': Edinburgh Review | website=Screen | date=15 August 2022 | url=https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/whina-edinburgh-review/5173406.article | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816095130/https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/whina-edinburgh-review/5173406.article | archive-date=16 August 2022 | url-status=live | access-date=23 October 2022}}</ref>
== Gallery ==
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File:Māori Land March 1975 - Petition Sheet (20583549224).jpg|A petition sheet
</gallery>
==Footnotes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
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The march was documented in ''[https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/te-matakite-o-aotearoa-1975 Te Matakite o Aotearoa - The Māori Land March]'' a film available via New Zealand on Screen.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maori land march}}
[[Category:Māori history]]
[[Category:1975 in New Zealand|Maori Land March]]
[[Category:1975 protests|Maori Land March]]
[[Category:Māori politics]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Protest marches]]
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