Manu Korihi News for 13 March 2012

Maori from around New Zealand who've been attending an urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing in Wellington, are mourning a kuia who helped establish Kohanga Reo for pre-schoolers in Eastern Bay of Plenty; A prominent Auckland based Maori lawyer says there's a downside to Waitangi Tribunal claimants asking for their application to be heard urgently; The Wairoa District Council agreed today to provide 25 thousand dollars from its development fund, for a poll on introducing Maori wards; An opera based on the true story of a nineteenth century Whanganui river Chief Hohepa Te Umuroa and his friendship with a Pakeha settler during the New Zealand land wars, has its world premiere in Wellington this week.