Eva Rickard

Eva Rickard, of Tainui, was born in 1925 at Te Kopua, Raglan. She is perhaps best known for leading the Raglan golf course protest. During World War II Te Kopua was destroyed to make way for an aerodrome, and the Maori landowners were evicted. After the war the land was not returned to its Maori owners, but instead was turned into a golf course. Eva Rickard led a long struggle to win back the land; in 1978 she was arrested for a sit-in protest. Television images of her arrest were a defining moment in the struggle.

In the end she won the cause. The golf course became a farm, with a marae and training centre site. The Raglan protest, and others at Bastion Point in central Auckland, helped to change land legislation. If land taken for public works is no longer needed, the government is now required to return it to the original owners.

Eva Rickard remained active in tribal affairs and environmental issues. In February 1984 she led a 2,000 strong hīkoi (march) to Waitangi, demanding an end to Waitangi Day celebrations until all Treaty grievances were settled. She later unsuccessfully stood for Parliament for Mana Motuhake (Maori self-determination) before forming her own party - Mana Maori - in 1993, but this did not flourish. Eva Rickard died in 1997.