Hendrix Hennessy-Ropiha -1840

Essay by Brooke Pou: The Debate Was In 1840

1840 was shown at McLeavey Gallery, Wellington, 31 July - 15 August 2026
This essay was commissioned to accompany the exhibition and is reproduced here by kind permission of the author and McLeavey gallery.

In 1840, Hendrix Hennessy-Ropiha presents five photographs taken within the past three years. Each tells its own story, but together, they all connect to the wider issue of Māori rights—both historically, and contemporarily.

Through his own writing accompanying this exhibition, Hennessy-Ropiha recalls childhood memories at the Māori Land Court and Waitangi Tribunal, describing himself as “blissfully unaware” of the significance of these early experiences.¹ As an adult, he actively seeks out spaces that bring attention to Māori causes to photograph. No Co Governance is dominated by a stretch of State Highway 1 outside of Levin. The road is empty, but on its side is a sign reading:

One Country:- NEW ZEALAND

One People:- NEW ZEALANDER’S

One Vote:- DEMOCRACY

(stop) Racism:- NO CO GOVERNANCE

Hendrix Hennessy-Ropiha, *No Co Governance*, 2026

The Human Rights Commission describes Co-governance as “various arrangements where Māori and the Crown share decision-making power or where Māori exercise a form of self-determination, albeit as a delegation of state power” warranted by te Tiriti o Waitangi.² Those opposed, like the people who installed this sign, argue that it is undemocratic and grants race based privileges. Behind the sign is another advertising Levin Adventure Park. Ironically, Hennessy-Ropiha remembers wishing for Court and Tribunal visits “to be over so we could go visit the playground.”³

Hendrix Hennessy-Ropiha, *Natives,* 2025

Along SH1, near a garden centre in Manukau, stands a much larger sign with yellow text reading “Natives.” While the word refers to the trees in this location, the artist recontextualises it here, reminding us of language from a by-gone era used to describe tangata whenua. Similarly, his choice to document a diorama from Tairāwhiti Museum’s collection depicting the arrival of Captain Cook is a peek into the past.

From the Journal of Captain Cook, Monday 9th October, 1769:

Gentle breezes and clear weather. PM stood into the Bay and anchored on the NE side before the entrance of a small river...I went ashore with a party of men...but seeing some of the natives on the other side of the river whome I was desirous of speaking with and finding that we could not ford the river, I order'd the yawl in to carry us over and the Pinnace to lay at the entrance.⁴

Hendrix Hennessy-Ropiha, *Hīkoi mō te Tiriti*, 2024

Hendrix Hennessy-Ropiha, *Cameron Blockhouse*, 2025

¹ Hendrix Hennessy-Ropiha, 1840, 2026.

² The Human Rights Commission, https://tikatangata.org.nz/our-work/co-governance-resource?token=03f66278f1accf53688cff9e86f396f748e70e3e35f4c5f9c6e566b118699f59.

³ Hennessy-Ropiha, 1840, 2026.

⁴ James Cook, The Journals of Captain Cook, ed. Philip Edwards (London: Penguin Books, 1999), 69.

Hendrix Hennessy-Ropiha - The Debate Was In 1840