Eva Rickard

Eva Rickard, of Tainui, was born in 1925 at Te Kopua, Raglan. She is perhaps best known for leading the Raglan golf course protest.

During World War II, Te Kōpua was destroyed to make way for an aerodrome, and the Māori landowners were evicted. After the war the land was not returned to its Maori owners, but instead was turned into a golf course. Eva Rickard led a long struggle to win back the land; in 1978 she was arrested for a sit-in protest. Television images of her arrest were a defining moment in the struggle.

In the end she won the cause. The golf course became a farm, with a marae and training centre site. The Raglan protest, and others at Bastion Point in central Auckland, helped to change land legislation. If land taken for public works is no longer needed, the government is now required to return it to the original owners.

Eva Rickard remained active in tribal affairs and environmental issues. In February 1984 she led a 2,000 strong hīkoi (march) to Waitangi, demanding an end to Waitangi Day celebrations until all Treaty grievances were settled. She later unsuccessfully stood for Parliament for Mana Motuhake (Maori self-determination) before forming her own party - Mana Māori - in 1993, but this did not flourish. Eva Rickard died in 1997.

Adapted from material originally found on www.treatyofwaitangi.govt.nz, a site developed by the Treaty Information Unit in the State Services Commission

Eva Rickard

I whānau mai a Tuaiwa Eva Rickard i Te Kōpua i Whāingaroa i te tau 1925. Kei te mōhio te iwi whānui ki a Tuaiwa i te mea nāna i ārahi ngā mautohe mō te papa hahaupōro o Whāingaroa. I te wā o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, ka wāwāhia ngā kāinga i Te Kōpua, ka panaia ngā whānau, kia pai ai te whakatakoto taunga rererangi. I te mutunga o te pakanga kāore i whakahokia taua whenua ki ngā Māori whai pānga, ka hurihia kētia hei papa hahaupōro. Mō te wā roa ka whawhai a Tuaiwa kia hoki mai te whenua. I te tau 1978 i mauherea ia mō te mautohe nohonoho; ka hopukina tana mauherenga e te pouaka whakaata. Mai i tēnei wā, ka arongia nuitia tana take.

I te mutunga ka puta tana kaupapa ki te whaiao ki te ao mārama. Ka hoki mai ngā whenua, ka hurihia te papa hahaupōro hei pāmu me tōna marae, tōna pokapū whakangungu. Nā ngā mautohe o Whāingaroa, o Takaparawhā, ka tirohia anōtia ngā ture kei runga i ngā whenua Māori. Ki te tangohia he whenua Māori mō ngā mahi tūmatanui, ki te mutu te hiahia o te kāwanatanga ki taua pito whenua, me hoki aua whenua ki te hunga whai pānga.

Ka noho a Tuaiwa Rickard ki roto i ngā kaupapa a te iwi me ngā kaupapa tiaki taiao. I te tau 1984 nāna tētahi hīkoi i ārahi ki Waitangi, ko tā rātou i whai kia whakamutua ngā kaupapa whakanui i te Tiriti, kia ea rā anō ngā kerēme katoa. Ka tū ia mō te Pāremata i raro i te rōpū o Mana Motuhake, engari kāore ia i toa. I te tau 1993 ka tū tōna ake rōpū tōrangapū, ko Mana Māori; engari kāore i tino kaha. Ka mate a Tuaiwa Eva Rickard i te tau 1997.