Dun Mihaka

Te Ringa Mangu Netana "Dun" Mihaka (1942 – 22 August 2023) was a New Zealand Māori activist, author, and political candidate.

Early life and family

Mihaka was born at Te Ahuahu in 1942[1] and was affiliated with the Ngāpuhi iwi.[2] The son of Te Aroha and Hone Mihaka and a descendant of Ruatara, he attended Te Ahuahu Māori School and Northland College, later working as a labourer and joining the army.[3][4]

Mihaka was the uncle of Peeni Henare.[5]

Activism

Mihaka was involved in a number of campaigns regarding Māori rights, including the Bastion Point land dispute. His 1979 attempts to use the Māori language in court were appealed to the Court of Appeal and were the trigger for the 1986 Waitangi Tribunal ruling that the government should introduce legislation making it an official language of New Zealand.[6] He wrote two books on Māori issues. He is most known, however, for performing an act of whakapohane (baring his buttocks, a traditional Māori insult) to Diana, Princess of Wales and Charles, Prince of Wales in 1983.[7] Some sources claim this was actually directed at the Queen herself;[8][9] however, this is likely confused with a later incident in 1986 in which Mihaka was arrested for driving a van with an image of whakapohane in the vicinity of a royal motorcade.[10] On that occasion, he was charged with dangerous driving.[10]

In 2010, Mihaka was sentenced to 28 days in jail for contempt of court for calling a District Court judge an arsehole in open court.[8]

New Zealand election campaigns

Mihaka stood as an independent candidate in the Southern Maori electorate in the 1981, 1984, 1987, and 1990 elections. He either came last or second to last, with Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan holding the electorate during that time.[11][12] He then stood as an independent candidate for the Te Tai Tokerau electorate in the 1999 election, winning 1.03% of the vote. In 2004, he stood in the Te Tai Hauauru by-election, challenging the incumbent Tariana Turia. Mihaka stood as the candidate for the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party, the only party other than Turia's Māori Party to contest the by-election. Mihaka claimed that the drugs issue was of greater importance to Māori than the foreshore and seabed controversy, which Turia largely focused on.[13] In the by-election, Mihaka placed a distant second, winning 2.52% of the vote compared to Turia's 92.74%. He did, however, place above the four independent candidates.[14]

Death

Mihaka died on 22 August 2023, at the age of 81.[5] His body was taken from Wellington to Parawhenua Marae, between Ōhaeawai and Lake Ōmāpere in Northland, for his tangihanga.[15]

References
  1. "Mihaka, Te Ringa Mangu, 1942–". National Library of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 22 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  2. Barrington, Mike (23 January 2008). "Tributes flow for no ordinary son". Northern Advocate. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  3. "Te Ringa Mangu Netana (Dun) Mihaka". Kōmako A bibliography of writing by Māori in English. Archived from the original on 22 January 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  4. "Mihaka protests helped shape the nation". Waatea News. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  5. Ruru, Karanama; Bhatia, Ripu; Tang, Eda (23 August 2023). "'He was a staunch man': Leaders, whānau pay tribute to Dun Mihaka". Stuff. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  6. "Waitangi Tribunal claim". New Zealand History. 10 July 2007. Archived from the original on 30 January 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
  7. Coddington, Deborah (10 February 2008). "A place still for a professional stirrer". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
  8. "Maori protester jailed for abusing judge". stuff.co.nz. 2011. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2011. Veteran Māori protester Te Ringa Mangu Nathan (Dun) Mihaka has lost his appeal against a sentence of 28 days imprisonment for calling a judge an 'arsehole'
  9. Perkins, Emily (19 July 2002). "My Commonwealth". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
  10. "New Zealand Police Stop Royal Convoy Protester". The New York Times. 28 February 1986. Archived from the original on 7 September 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
  11. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990. p. 161.
  12. Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. p. 401. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
  13. "Pot issue bigger than Maori Party – Dun Mihaka". Scoop Independent News Politics. 9 July 2004. Archived from the original on 22 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  14. Perry, James (22 August 2023). "Dun Mihaka remembered as a relentless fighter for justice". Te Ao Māori News. Archived from the original on 22 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  15. "Dun Mihaka standard bearer for Maori". Waatea News. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
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