Two South Taranaki hapū have seen ancestral land return to them, for a symbolic $1.
In June 2021, descendants of Titahi and Ngāti Tamāhuroa of Ngāruahine iwi placed a rāhui on the land where the former Oeo School was, after discovering it was up for sale.
First National Taranaki offered the property and school buildings on 8094m2 for $160,000 and the former school field on 8692m2 for $150,000.
The land was originally gifted in 1910 for the schooling of locals. After the school closed in 1988, it was purchased by a hapū member, Bob Manuirirangi.
When Bob Manuirirangi and his wife were declared bankrupt in 2015, all of their assets, including the school, were seized and sold to pay off their debts.
The official handover of the land into hapū ownership was held last Saturday at Oeo Marae, where a token $1 was paid by way of financial transaction for the property.
Ngāruahine Iwi Authority chairman Hori Manuirirangi said it was up to hapū what to do with the buildings and land, of which some structures still stand today.
