Tieke: Marae and/or Tourist Campsite? Confrontation and Cooperation in Whanganui National Park, New Zealand.

The Maori site of Tieke Marae is located on a Department of Conservation campsite in Whanganui National Park, New Zealand. It has been occupied for 16 years by members of the Tamahaki hapu (sub-tribe, known as Te Whanau o Tieke (the family of Tieke), and their supporters. Tamahaki maintain that Tieke Marae was confiscated illegally, and that they will remain in place until the New Zealand Government recognises their claim to 267 acres currently inside the Park. Te Whanau o Tieke has effectively put its stamp on Tieke by landscaping the marae (ceremonial meeting ground) erecting buildings, raising a pou whenua (an elaborately carved pole that demarcates their territory) conducting burials, and hosting thousands of visitors, including government officials. Their occupation has been peaceful, helped in recent years by the spirit of cooperation that has developed between the group and the Department of Conservation. Events at Tieke Marae seem to reinforce some points recently made in anthropological and legal literature about solving disputes over contested sacred sites. Brown (2004) and Yablon (2004) maintain that local agencies, rather than courts, are better placed to work out compromises between indigenous people and national governments than courts. While agreeing about the usefulness of local agencies in bringing out solutions to issues involving federal use of indigenous sacred sites, I conclude that a real solution at Tieke requires the kind of definitive justice that only a court or some equivalent legal body can deliver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]