Tame Iti's arrest Ruatoki Raids 2007. Labelled by media as Tuhoe Terrorists. Government enforced Terrorist Suppression Act.

Ko tā tēnei toi he tohutoru i ngā urutomo Pirihimana i Ruatoki i te tau o 2007, me te wāhi whakangungu hōia whakatuma (e ai ki te Karauna hei parahau i tā rātou mahi) a Tame Iti. I whakawāngia a Iti rātou ko tētahi atu tokotoru e te Kōti i te tau o 2012 – ko te hāmene he pupuri ture kore i tētahi pū rēhita kore. E ai ki te arotake o te Mana Whanonga Pirihimana Motuhake o te tau 2013, ko ngā rapunga, ngā whakatū waka, ngā aukati rori, ngā whakaahua i tangohia ai i ngā whenua o Tūhoe i te 15 o Oketopa 2007 – he turekore, he parahau kore, he tikanga kore, te katoa. I te tau o 2014, ka whakapāha te Kaikomihana o Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa ki te hapori o Ruatoki, ki te iwi o Tūhoe, mō te hē rawa atu o ngā mahi e pā ana ki te urutomo. I te tau o 2019, ka whakamanahia Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana i te Marae o Maungapōhatu; ka ūkuia te paru i runga i te ingoa o te poropiti o Tūhoe, nui ake i te rautau whai muri i tāna mauhere ture kore. Ko te raupapatanga toi kaiora a Aimee Ratana he whakaaturanga i te aumangea o te iwi o Tūhoe. He mahi toi e huritao ana ki te āhuatanga pepēhi o te koroniaratanga, me ngā mahi tino kino te hē, o ngā wā o mua, ā, he whakaatu i te auautanga o tēnei tū mahi.

This artwork references the Police raids at Ruatoki in 2007 and Tūhoe activist Tame Iti’s alleged paramilitary terrorist training camp, which the Crown used to justify the action. Iti and three others were eventually brought to trial in 2012 – on charges amounting only to the illegal possession of an unlicensed firearm. A 2013 Independent Police Conduct Authority review found that the Police searches, vehicle stops, roadblocks and photographs taken in Tūhoe country on 15 October 2007 were unlawful, unjustified and unreasonable. In 2014 the New Zealand Police Commissioner offered an apology to the Ruatoki community and the Tūhoe people for the wrongdoing that occurred during the raids. Five years later in 2019 Te Pire kia Unuhia te Hara kai Runga i a Rua Kēnana/Rua Kēnana Pardon Bill was signed into law, clearing the name of the Tūhoe prophet more than a century after his unlawful arrest. Aimee Ratana’s commanding series of artworks are testimony to the resilience of Tūhoe people. They reflect upon the oppressive nature of colonisation and historical acts of injustice, while illustrating how these have repeated throughout history.

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