Documentary Series | April 2023.

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Aotearoa 1863, the government passed laws to allow for the confiscation of land from Māori deemed to have rebelled against the crown. Te Whakatōhea, Chief Mokomoko was framed for murdering missionary, Carl Völkner and was tried and executed in Auckland. His body buried in Mt. Eden prison and hundreds of thousands of acres of his land was taken. 

 

137 years later, the remains of Mokomoko were exhumed from the prison grounds and taken back to his ancestral land. Chief Mokomoko was pardoned for Völkners murder in 1992, but did not receive full recognition for his innocence. In 2013 the first bill in Te Reo Māori was passed to try reinstate Mana to Mokomoko and clear his name. 

 

There has been no compensation for the loss of lives or land of Mokomoko and his descendants.

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This series was created with support from Te Māngai Pāho with platform support from RNZ and Te Papa Museum.