[Ropata Miratana] said there had been a lot of Māori land at Waikawa Beach but since 1900 it had disappeared.
The article Iwi still flying the flag seeking justice and redress over land loss | Stuff.co.nz from 11 October 2022 has important information about Waikawa Beach.
It reads in part:
Ngāti Wehi Wehi is an iwi in the Manakau and Waikawa area south of Levin and members are presenting evidence to the Waitangi Tribunal as part of the Porirua ki Manawatū Inquiry this week.
The inquiry is part of the Ngāti Raukawa iwi confederation claim, which says thousands of hectares of land from Manawatū to Kāpiti was historically confiscated.
At the Ngāti Wehi Wehi marae on Tuesday, Ropata Miratana had his brief read to the tribunal …
Dylan Jacobs says Wehi Wehi has gone from a peaceful people to the “surviving type”.
Miratana also spoke about the iwi’s land loss. He said there had been 11 Wehi Wehi marae, but all except one had disappeared…
Before 1840 the iwi had mana and rangatiratanga over the area. Now its people were scattered all over the country and in Australia.
He said there had been a lot of Māori land at Waikawa Beach but since 1900 it had disappeared.
Wehi Wehi had lost tribal knowledge, waterways had deteriorated, fishing has suffered and the iwi was driven from its land by the Crown, he said.
A sacred spring that was used for cleaning and drinking is now the site of public toilets…
The area “from mountain to sea” had undergone radical change as they had been forced to comply with European farming practices, and birds and life in the waterways had declined
