Veteran protester still promoting te reo

Lindy Laird | 28th July 2010

Veteran Maori protester Dun Mihaka might be best known for baring his bum   to royalty but possibly his greater contribution society was helping get te reo officially recognised.

Ironically, it is Te Ringa Mangu (Dun) Mihaka's use of language - again pertaining to the same part of the human anatomy - that landed him in the High Court in Whangarei, appealing an earlier sentence for contempt of court after swearing at a judge.

A reserved decision on the appeal has been released.

Mr Mihaka had protested in the Kaikohe District Court  in February because Judge John McDonald would not hear a case in Maori.

On Monday, Mr Mihaka lost his appeal against the ensuing sentence of 28 days' imprisonment for having called Judge McDonald an "arsehole" and referring to another magistrate, Keith de Ridder, by his surname only.

Mr Mihaka had later apologised to Judge McDonald, but refused to retract the way he had spoken about Judge de Ridder.

Mr Mihaka said his name had been misspelled on the court list, so why should he be required to refer to the judge by his correct title.

Upholding the 28 days' sentence on Monday, Justice Rodney Hansen said it had been "severe" but not excessive.

"What occurred was a flagrant and provocative challenge to the authority of the court," he said.

"Flagrant and provocative" are trademarks of the man credited with helping bring about the change in status for te reo, particularly in the justice system.

Mr Mihaka infamously and publicly bared his buttocks - a traditional insult called a whakapohane - at Prince Charles and Princess Diana during their visit in 1983.

But his fight for recognition of Maori rights, particularly te reo, was largely carried out in courtrooms - for example when he was in the dock in 1979 accused of fighting with police, and insisted on speaking Maori.

When his mother tongue became officially enshrined in the Maori Language Act, in another "flagrant and provocative" gesture Mr Mihaka sought compensation from the Waitangi Tribunal for his particular style of "consultation" - including jail terms.

He also claimed $5.5 million from the Attorney-General for "police harassment", including what he said was his wrongful detention following a dispute with a Porirua District Court judge about using the language in 1999. That suit, filed in 2003, appears to have been smothered under a blanket of dust but at the time it was filed Mr Mihaka cheerfully boasted he would be the first Maori in New Zealand to become a millionaire as a result of suing the Government.

Mr Mihaka, who has lived in Wellington for several years, has tried five times to enter parliament.

 In 2007, Mr Mihaka, formerly of Te Ahuahu, near Kaikohe, launched his new Te Ringa Mangu "Black Hand" brand of T-shirts and singlets, each garment bearing a distinctive "Mihaka v Police" signature.