Correcting the selective histories of the colonials.
That's the focus of the claimant tribes of Whangarei who made representations to the Waitangi Tribunal today.
Descendants of Whangarei chief Wiremu Pohe say the "official" recorded history of their ancestor remains incorrect to this day.
Despite Whangarei's new ballast bridge being named in his memory, descendants are saddened that the official history of their ancestor is still misleading.
An ancestor who stood beside Hone Heke in battle and supported Kawiti, Wiremu Pohe is quoted in 1860 as saying, "Now that we have all embarked in one canoe, let us be careful that we do not pull backwards. Let us pull in the same direction as those who sit in the bow."
Just as Wiremu Pohe had warned, those in the stern of the canoe are paddling in the opposite direction.