Today marks 45 years since Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei were forcibly evicted from their land at Takaparawhau (Bastion Point) in Auckland.
It became one of the biggest land occupations in the history of Aotearoa.
The 506-day-long occupation came to an end on May 25, 1978, on the orders of then-Prime Minister Robert Muldoon.
The event brought Māori land rights and the long battle to return whenua to Māori to the forefront of national media attention.
More than 800 police officers, military vehicles and the navy were called in to remove protestors who were occupying Takaparawhau in protest against the Crown sale of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei land.
Sharon Hawke, the daughter of the late occupation leader Joe Hawke, spoke to Newshub about the time.
It's a day she recalls vividly - being arrested at just 16 years old.
"We were charged with willful trespass, 222 went through the court system, choked the court system. And long story short there was a stay put on proceedings so out of it only 30 got processed," Sharon said.
The non-violent passive protest has become one of the defining moments in the battle for Māori land rights.
Hundreds gathered on Thursday morning to remember the occupation, with "haumi ē, hui ē, tāiki ē!" ringing out across Tāmaki Makaurau half a century later.
"May 25th is an important part of our history and it needs to be taught in our kura, in our schools and it needs to be understood by politicians and by local body organisations that are in power," Hawke told Newshub.
The occupation was the catalyst for the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal and the claims process.
All would not have been achieved without Sharon's father Joe, leader of the occupation and tribe Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.
"Let them try and evict us off here," he said at the time.
On Thursday, Sharon erected the 'Bastion flag' designed by her father upon where he has laid for a year.
"The activism, the commitment, the conviction, the passion of the likes of Joe Hawke my dad lives on," she said.
From having a quarter acre of land, which was their urupā (cemetery), fast forward to 2023 and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei are the third wealthiest iwi.
They are one of the biggest landowners in Auckland's CBD and currently on their fourth development to house their people.
Sharon said their activism and living on their land has significantly benefited the communities of Tāmaki Makaurau.
"Our stance as tangata whenua as people of the land is true and will always exist. People who turn a deaf ear to that, well they've just got a little while to go, to understand what that meant, what that meant for the country. All iwi have this challenge to retain land to reclaim land," she told Newshub.
To continue to live with their whenua for generations to come.
