How you can help save Ihumātao

Organise, donate, resist

At 8.30am Tuesday 23 July the New Zealand police turned up unannounced to Ihumātao to issue eviction notices and destroy the structures that have been set up by mana whenua over the past five years.

They think they can intimidate land protectors into backing down. Instead, let’s turn it up. You can make this the tipping point to send a message that government can’t ignore.

Please, will you chip in to the Ihumātao whenua protection fund?

If you’ve been watching the news, you’ve probably seen that the police are trying to evict mana whenua and kaitiaki (land protectors) from Ihumātao right now.

Without warning, the police arrived at 8.30 this morning to remove peaceful land protectors and access to electricity, internet and safe drinking water has been cut. We often think of the police as serving and protecting our communities but in this case who are they serving and protecting?

Sending in police officers to intimidate and remove peaceful land protectors can have a huge chilling effect on protests as police have the force and resources of government behind them. The whānau at Ihumātao have a commitment to their whenua, the coming generations, and a vision for a more just Aotearoa. They need, and deserve all the support they can get.

Please, will you chip in to the Ihumātao whenua protection fund (care of the Save Our Unique Landscape campaign)?

Here’s what you’ll be funding:

• Provisions for people willing to protect the land (power, water, structures)
• Travel for whānau to get to the whenua to stand in solidarity with mana whenua
• Anything else the mana whenua-led SOUL whānau tells us they need

100% of your donation will go to the kaupapa (cause, issue) to protect Ihumātao.

Right now our indigenous whanaunga (relations) in Hawai’i are facing the exact same struggles as our whanaunga at SOUL in a battle to save their ancestral mountain, Mauna Kea.

Indigenous solutions are needed now more than ever to nourish and protect Papatūānuku (or Papahānaumoku in Hawai’ian) and her ability to give us life. We owe it to her to put people and planet before profit. It’s time to give back.

This is our generation’s Bastion Point and it’s important that as many of us as possible join the SOUL kaitiaki (guardians) in their peaceful resistance. If you are planning to make the haerenga (journey) to Ihumātao and need petrol vouchers to support you to get there, please get in touch with us on info@actionstation.org.nz.