Twelve years ago I was one of four teachers taking a group of 30 secondary school students on a five-day tramp through the heart of Tuhoe land in the Urewera National Park.

The tramp was from Ruatahuna to Ruatoki following the Whakatane River.

We arrived by bus late one afternoon and were met by a local Tuhoe family who had agreed to carry some of our bulkier food supplies on horseback and drop them off in the first couple of huts along the way.

Activist Tame Iti's iwi is renowned for its staunch independence, as well as its path of isolation and harrowing loss. Ruth Laugesen reports.
Guerrillas in our midst? No says Rawiri Taonui

Tuhoe people, says Maori broadcaster Willie Jackson, radiate toughness.

"They are known for their staunchness, around the Maori language, about their land," says Jackson, who is related by marriage to Tuhoe activist Tame Iti.

"You know straight away when Tuhoes are in town, or working for you. Their Tuhoetanga is so prominent; there's a certain pride. They just exude it," he says.