(Picture caption: One year ago, Prime Minister Rt HonJacinda Ardern formally apologised to Pacific communities impacted by the Dawn Raids in the 1970s, at Auckland Town Hall.)
Minister for Pacific Peoples Hon Aupito William Sio says a new future between Pacific Aotearoa and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei is the essence of a Dawn Raids Apology anniversary event happening in Auckland later this month.
Hon Aupito William Sio media release 1 August 2022
One year ago, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern formally apologised to Pacific communities impacted by the Dawn Raids in the 1970s.
During the cultural exchanges after the ceremony, the chair and elders of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei made the generous offer to host the first-year anniversary of the Dawn Raids Apology.
On August 27, 2022, Pacific leaders and communities alongside Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei will congregate at Ōrākei Marae in Auckland to not only commemorate the Dawn Raids, but to also strengthen kinship ties between Pacific peoples of Aotearoa and tangata whenua.
Minister Sio says the concept around the one-year anniversary of the Dawn Raids Apology is to provide an opportunity to reflect, celebrate and look to the future through an open and transparent cultural celebratory platform.
“Pacific peoples, Māori and other ethnic communities were specifically targeted and racially profiled during the Dawn Raids, which was wrong and should have never happened,” he adds.
“At the heart of today’s event design and delivery will be our Polynesian cultural values, our traditional intellectual knowledge and experiences, our many languages and our collective aspirations for an inclusive culturally enriching future for Aotearoa New Zealand, and for our children and their children.”
As part of the event, there will be a formal ceremony celebrating the round one recipients of the Teu le Va – Dawn Raids History Community Fund.
Round two of this fund received a significant boost this year and is due to open at the event.
In addition, we will congratulate the recipients of Tuli Takes Flight – Scholarships for Pacific Peoples, supported by the Ministry of Education.
The Minister says it is hoped this event will encourage ongoing discussion between Māori and Pacific on strengthening our whanaungataga ties as peoples of the vast Blue Pacific Continent and working together to shape the future of Aotearoa New Zealand, free from racism and discrimination.
“The coming together of government, Pacific communities and Ngāti Whātua to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Dawn Raids apology symbolises the past, present and future journey of Pacific in Aotearoa,” Minister Sio says.
Watch the full Dawn Raids Apology ceremony on YouTube.