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Kōrero: Anniversaries

Re-enactment at Akaroa, April 1940

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Re-enactment at Akaroa, April 1940

On 20 April 1940 there was a national centennial event at Akaroa. Governor-General Lord Galway was welcomed onto the Akaroa Recreation Ground and there was a re-enactment of Captain Owen Stanley raising the Union Jack at Akaroa on 11 August 1840. That moment can be seen in this image. According to press reports, as the flag rose, one Māori murmured, 'Way goes the land' and another followed up, 'Now the Pākehā's got the place.'  Later, in the formal speeches, Ngāi Tahu made clear their disappointment at the lack of progress on their land claim.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Auckland Council Libraries − Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero o Tāmaki Makaurau, Sir George Grey Special Collections

Reference: AWNS-19400424-34-4

Permission of Auckland City Libraries Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Jock Phillips, Anniversaries – New Zealand’s centennial, 1940, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/43021/re-enactment-at-akaroa-april-1940 (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Jock Phillips, i tāngia i te 14 October 2013.