In the final part of our series Hīkoi: Long Shadow of the March we talk to Sharon Hawke about her long involvement in the struggle for Māori land rights
Sharon, the daughter of Joe Hawke, leader of the Bastion Point occupation, was one of the youngest to take part in the epic land march led by Dame Whina Cooper in 1975.
She was just 13 years old when she took time off school and joined her parents on the month-long march down the length of the North Island.
Hawke says the march gave other struggles a platform and a couple of years later, she and her whānau were protesting again in the 506-day occupation at Bastion Point to retain their Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei land.
The land was being taken for a housing development, leaving the traditional owners with a holding of less than a hectare. Follow a Waitangi Tribunal inquiry in the mid-1980s, much of the land was returned or vested with Ngāti Whātua.
View episode one: Heroines of the Hīkoi: Hinerangi Cooper-Puru
View episode two: Heroines of the Hīkoi: Rose Raharuhi-Spicer
View episode three: Heroines of the Hīkoi: Orewa Barrett Ohia
View episode four: Heroines of the Hīkoi: June Hoskins
View episode five: Heroines of the Hikoi: Deirdre Nehua
*Made with the support of Nz On Air*
