A memorial of controversial Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha should remain in place, a Māori historian says, despite calls for it to be removed by some New Zealanders.
The Ōtaki monument, which sits on Ngāti Toa land, has come under increased scrutiny over the last week amid growing calls for statues of colonial figures with checkered pasts to be torn down.
All over the world, statues and monuments have been toppled - including here in Aotearoa, where a statue commemorating Captain John Hamilton was removed from the city named after him.
Recent calls for colonial statues' removal appear to have been sparked in part by the Black Lives Matter movement, which has seen a resurgence in recent weeks following the death of unarmed African-American man George Floyd last month.
But the removal of questionable monuments has not been supported by everyone. Last week Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters launched a scathing attack on those calling for statues to be toppled, telling them to "grow up and read a book".
And others have followed suit, with one widely shared Facebook post calling out alleged hypocrisy in the statue debate - namely why no one was calling for the removal of a statue of contentious Māori chief Te Rauparaha.
Te Rauparaha, the powerful and violent leader of Ngāti Toa, is alleged to have enslaved, tortured and eaten members of rival Māori tribes. He remains a controversial figure.
"Why should such a monument ... be allowed to remain standing in modern New Zealand?" LifeNet charity director Brendan Malone wrote.
"Because Te Rauparaha was a man of his times, and like all historical figures, he was a complex character shaped by the prevailing norms of his era.
"Even though this monument might evoke images and memories of his evil deeds, it does not exist to celebrate or normalise those deeds. It exists to mark a man who - like it or not - played a noteworthy role in shaping the complex history of our nation."
Malone's post has been shared more than 1100 times, with hundreds leaving supportive comments on it. Many others have called for the monument to be torn down in the same way Captain Hamilton's statue was last week.
But Dr Arini Loader, a Māori history lecturer for Victoria University who has researched and written extensively about Te Rauparaha, says the memorial should remain in place.
"As well as being the quintessential Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Rauparaha is a Ngāti Raukawa ancestor," she told Newshub.
"In 1880 the memorial was erected in 'the common' - an open space opposite our church, Rangiātea - along with a 40-foot pou known as the Jubilee pole which commemorated 40 years of Christianity on the Kāpiti Coast. The two 'memorials' go together.
"The church could not have been built without Te Rauparaha's support."
The memorials - which are "in permanent conversation with each other" - stand on Māori land and ultimately "should remain in place", Dr Loader says.
Shane Te Pou (Ngāi Tūhoe), a former Labour Party candidate of Māori descent, wrote in a piece for Stuff that the "both sides" equivalency comparing Te Rauparaha with colonial figures "doesn't withstand much scrutiny".
"For one thing, [Te Rauparaha Arena] sits on Ngāti Toa land. At the time of its naming, other iwi, including victims of Te Rauparaha's raids, were consulted but ultimately recognised the mana whenua of Ngāti Toa and their greatest general," he said.
"Ultimately, this is an arena named after a Ngāti Toa rangatira built on Ngāti Toa land - a far cry from colonial memorials that immortalise people who committed acts of violence against iwi, often within those same iwi boundaries."
