Witi McMath

Witi McMath was a strong advocate for the protection of all things Māori with his comrade Tama Poata. Following concerns over the ‘patenting’ of native species under the new Plant Variety Rights Act, John Hippolite discussed the issues with his army and trade union mates, Tama Poata and Witi McMath, both of whom long had concerns regarding the actions of the Crown in alienating ancestral land and ‘managing’ threatened and non-threatened native species in their rohe. Witi for years had challenged the Crown regarding its confiscation of Hauturu (Little Barrier Island), and the eviction of the island’s tangata whenua, to turn it into a reserve for tuatara. “We never ceded sovereignty to the Crown. The Crown does not have the right to claim ownership of something that is ours by right, given to us by our Whakapapa. We are the Kaitiaki, we have Rangatiratanga and Kawanatanga over all our Mana Moana ki te Mana Whenua.”