On this day, 12 February 1978, in New Zealand/Aotearoa 250 members of the Maori Tainui Awhiro tribe and allies occupied the Raglan golf course, preventing games being played. The course had been built on the site of an indigenous burial ground which was seized by the government during World War I.
Later, the tribal occupants were evicted, their homes and graves destroyed and the land sold to private developers. Eva Rickard, both a member of the golf club and the tribe, was a key organiser of protests which began in 1972 when the club planned to expand and destroy more burial grounds.
At the occupation, Tainui Awhiro religious leaders held a ceremony and danced a traditional hoka welcome. But by the afternoon, the police began making arrests. They violently arrested Rickard, permanently injuring her wrist, and 17 others.
In response, a prominent member of the Te Matakite tribe, Ben Matthews, played around of golf on Parliament’s front lawn in front of television cameras. Eventually, the Prime Minister phoned Rickard and offered to sell the land back to the tribe, but Rickard rejected the offer, arguing that the government never paid for the land in the first place.
Direct action by Maori people continued, until 1983 when the government gave in and returned the land, which is now home to a community centre opened to all.
More info: https://libcom.org/history/1975-83-maori-new-zealanders-occupy-golf-course-struggle-tribal-lands https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1347748135410333/?type=3