Memorial For Unmarked Graves ‘Place Of Healing And Unity’

Monday, 12 May 2025, 8:09 pm
Article: Torika Tokalau - Local Democracy Reporter

Families and loved ones of those resting in unmarked graves at a south Auckland cemetery want a memorial to be a place of peace, reflection and love - where all are welcome.

The unmarked graves at Pukekohe Cemetery, many of them Māori babies, have long been a source of pain to many in the rural south Auckland community.

The decision to build a memorial came in the wake of the publication of Dr Robert Bartholomew's 2020 book No Māori Allowed, which detailed historic racism in Pukekohe, and the subsequent Reikura Kahi documentary of the same name.

In the documentary, it revealed that Māori were barred from public toilets, segregated at the cinema and swimming baths, forced to stand for white bus passengers and barred from schools from 1920 until the early 1960s.

Children, who died from measles, diphtheria, whooping cough and tuberculosis, were buried in unmarked graves.

Pukekohe Cemetery Committee Manu Taiiko and chair, Makere Rika-Heke, said multiple hui have been held, starting with the whānau of those resting at the unmarked graves, seeking views on the memorial.

“The over-riding message was that despite the graves marking a bleak time in our history, a memorial should be a place of healing and unity," Rika-Heke said.

She said whānau with loved ones in the urupā were struck by the recurring calls for any memorial to be for everyone.

All hui were centred on sharing whānau stories and histories, and how families wanted to feel and connect during visits to place, space and site.

Rika-Heke said participants recognised the grief associated with having whānau in unmarked graves, recollecting a strong relationship between their stories and the market gardens - so prominent in the area at the time, and where many of the families involved worked and lived.

“Many questions and requests arose. Some, like putting signs up to tell people about the project, were simple, but others remain more complex, such as balancing differing perspectives around naming those resting in the urupā, how to collectively acknowledge them, and how to respectfully address information access.

“These are sensitive issues that underline why it is important to consider all views, and to treat them with respect.”

A Facebook page and a website will be launched soon to keep people informed about the kaupapa/project, so those living outside the area are included and can engage, she said.

“Hearing from whānau that they heard only snippets from their own parents and elders, because it was too painful for them to talk about, was deeply moving.

"We want others to have the chance to share."

She said people told them the lack of sharing from their parents and grandparents was to protect them.

"They wanted them to dream big, do anything they wanted, and live lives unburdened by the past, but there are still feelings of trauma and harm left behind.”

Rika-Heke said calls for a memorial to be inclusive suggested a desire to recognise what happened.

"This kaupapa is about acknowledging the past but doing better in the now and for our future - our children and grandchildren, about advancing together on common ground and finding an accord so that all our communities can flourish."

The committee will soon focus on the development of a concept design for a memorial, for feedback.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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