Back in February this year, I was privileged to attend Parliament alongside a large Tainui waka contingent to witness the passage into law of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara/Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The legislation was intended to give effect to the provisions of a deed of agreement relating to the Ō-Rākau site, dated 31 October 2023, entered into between the Crown and three Tainui iwi, Maniapoto, Raukawa and Waikato. Under the terms of the agreement and subsequent legislation, the site of what was arguably the most famous battle ever to take place on New Zealand shores is to be vested in the names of the ancestors who fought at the battle of Ō-Rākau, with Maniapoto, Raukawa, and Waikato to jointly exercise the rights and obligations of the registered owner of the Ō-Rākau site. Essentially, they will act as kaitiaki for all of those who fought at Ō-Rākau, including the large numbers from outside Waikato who came to defend the whenua alongside the various Tainui iwi.  

For those familiar with the Ō-Rākau battle site, it is not the road that cuts through the area or the small roadside memorial reserve that is to be returned but the farmland behind the fence gate in the photo below, encompassing 9.7 hectares in total. Over the years, the farming family who owned the land had allowed Tainui to hold commemorations at the site (including the 150^th anniversary in 2014) and subsequently agreed to sell the property to the Crown so that it could be returned to the three iwi.