Last week, the principal of Otumoetai Primary School, Zara McIndoe, made a formal public apology to representatives of Ngai Tamarawaho for the enforced removal of 42 of their tamariki from the school 80 years ago.
Guests at last Friday's event included kuia Merewhiua Bennett who was a pupil at Otumoetai Primary School in the late 1930s.
The apology was made during a formal powhiri and assembly held as part of the school's 125th anniversary celebration.
After finding out about that part of the school's history only 18 months ago, it was quite a privilege to be part of the apology process, Zara says.
'It was quite an emotional day but it was really well-received and I think the hapu were very thankful that finally, 82 years later, an apology was forthcoming.”
Otumoetai school staff and board members, along with representatives from the Ministry of Education visited Huria marae several weeks ago to offer a more personal apology to two of the surviving pupils, Merewhiua Bennett and Heeni Goldsmith.
The removal of the children came about in the late 1930s after the Otumoetai school committee of the time successfully asked the Department of Education to make the school European-only.
Consequently, on November 20, 1939, 42 Ngai Tamarawaho children ranging in age from six to 13 years were enrolled at Bethlehem Native School instead.
This left just 35 European children on the Otumoetai primary school roll, says current deputy Principal Marcus Hughes.
'A petition from Pakeha parents was sent to the Otumoetai School Committee in April 1938 asking that all Maori children from Otumoetai Primary School be moved to Bethlehem Native School,” he says.
According to records, the Otumoetai School Committee discussed the possibility of making the school European only. The committee members instructed their secretary to write to the Department of Education putting forward this proposal.
'No parents from the Huria or Te Reti communities were members of the school committee, so decisions regarding their children were made entirely by the Pakeha parents and the Department of Education,” Marcus says.
In October 1939, the school committee was advised by the Department of Education that they had gained permission to remove all Maori children from Otumoetai Primary.
'Obviously, the removal of hapu children from Otumoetai School in 1939 is widely remembered within the hapu,” Marcus says.
'It is clear to us that if we are to learn anything from the wrongdoings of the past the first step forward is to apologise.
'To teach our people well, we need not be afraid to expose the truth of our history and to also show that it is never too late to say sorry.
'To move forward and start the healing process we are formally apologising to the hapu,” Marcus says.
The school's 125th birthday celebration included sporting events, the opening of a stage and the unveiling of a special mural by local artist Stu McDonald.
'We asked the hapu what would be a suitable mural to create as part of our 125th anniversary and they said the legend of Taurikura would be the one to do,” Zara says.
The great thing about that story is it's about somebody who has done something wrong but then good comes of it. So it links beautifully to the eviction of the children in 1939 and then the stage we've reached now.