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Friday March 29, 2024

City of Hamilton in NZ removes statue of British naval captain

By News Report
June 13, 2020

HAMILTON: A statue of a British naval captain has been removed by the city council in Hamilton, New Zealand after a local Maori elder threatened to take it down by force.

The statue of Captain John Hamilton, after whom the city in the central North Island is named, was gifted to the city by a local company in 2013. Council chief executive Richard Briggs said in a statement that the decision to remove it from Civic Square was made after it received a request from local iwi (tribe), Waikato-Tainui.

Briggs said it had become clear the statue was also likely to be vandalised. “We know this statue is contentious for a number of our community members. It is the right thing for the council to take the opportunity to look at the long-term plan for this artwork and determine where and how it might fit in to the city’s future,” reported foreign media.

He said there were public safety concerns as the statue is embedded into Civic Square and sits on top of an underground carpark. “If the statue were to be forcefully removed from its current position, as has been indicated, it could severely undermine the integrity of the building below it.”

Local kaumatua (elder) Taitimu Maipi told news website Stuff he intended to remove the statue during a protest march on Saturday. He said Hamilton was a “murderous arsehole” who was displayed in the city as though he was a hero. Hamilton was a captain during the battle of Gate Pa during the 19th century New Zealand wars, a series of bloody battles between Maori and the British government about disputed land purchases and colonial occupation. However, it is likely Hamilton never set foot in the city.

The plan to remove the statue comes as wider conversation develops about the future of New Zealand’s colonial statues.

Several other statues and memorials across the country are also in the spotlight, including a statue of James Cook in Gisborne which is erected on Titirangi, a sacred mountain. Cook led the first Europeans to set foot on New Zealand. The statue stands on the spot where Cook’s crew killed nine iwi members following a misunderstanding.

Even in some provincial towns like Ngaruawahia in the Waikato there are other overt signs of colonialism. Within a few months of the end of the Waikato wars in 1864, where British forces were victorious, town planners designed the layout according to the pattern of the Union Jack.

On Thursday, Maori party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer called for an inquiry to identify and remove colonial monuments, statues and place names that symbolise racism and oppression. “It may not appear racist to some, but to those who it affects and to those whose history was most impacted, it does. It just simply does, and it’s wrong and we should be part of that solution. “We’re not saying first of all that they should all be pulled down. What we’re saying is that there are some that no longer fit who we should be as a nation.”

Hamilton’s mayor Paula Southgate said that the global push to remove symbols of racism and oppression around the world meant it was the right time to remove the statue in New Zealand. “We can’t ignore what is happening all over the world and nor should we. At a time when we are trying to build tolerance and understanding between cultures and in the community, I don’t think the statue helps us to bridge those gaps. While I appreciate the statue was gifted to the city before my time on council, we need to think about its role and potential location in the city.” Last September, prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the national school curriculum would be changed to require lessons on the New Zealand wars.