Historian Michael King (aged 58) and his wife Maria Jungowska died in a car accident in south Waikato. King’s Penguin history of New Zealand became the most popular book of the year, and was the Readers’ Choice at the 2004 Montana New Zealand Book Awards.
Whina Cooper, of Te Rārawa, was born in northern Hokianga in 1895. She took part in local affairs and by the 1930s had become a leader of the northern Hokianga people. In 1932 she played an active role, with Āpirana Ngata, in setting up Maori land development schemes in the region. Eleven schemes (comprising 98,000 acres, or 40,000 hectares) were set up in the Hokianga district, and Whina supervised several. The schemes made rapid progress, although several later proved uneconomic.
About 5000 marchers arrived at Parliament and presented a petition signed by 60,000 people to Prime Minister Bill Rowling. The main goal of the hīkoi was to end the alienation (sale) of Māori land.
Modern New Zealand has debated the Treaty of Waitangi as never before. Understanding, reconciliation, protest and confrontation have been part of this process.
