From 1 tree hill to no tree hill... to maybe a tree hill?

A couple of weekends ago I visited 'One tree hill' with my family. I hadn't noticed until that day that there was absolutely no trace of a tree and that in the late 1990s - early 2000s there had been so much controversy over what this landmark represented that the tree was cut down by Maori protestors.

In recent news, I read that they are now considering to bring back a tree to be planted on the site again. I remember as a youngster going there with my family to view the panoramic 360 degree scenes of Auckland and then to stand beside the tree to take photos. I thought those days had long gone but now I see that there may be a come back.

I guess as a Geographer I'll always be interested in the connections that we make with land be it positive or negative and in this instance cutting down a symbolic tree to make a bold statement about race relations in Aotearoa, New Zealand which hit home for many NZers who had held special memories of visiting there. In fact, wasn't there a song sung by Bono of U2 that mentioned 'One tree hill?' in honour of a band member who was a NZer who had died.

I also remember a Uni lecturer mentioning that the oblisque that was erected next to the tree was in honour of Maori and the plates surrounding explain a brief history of great canoes that transported first waves of Maori to Aotearoa, NZ, as at the time there was a concern for Maori to the point where even today people say that there are no more 'pure' blooded Maori.

So now it begs the question of 'a tree, or not a tree' what is the question?...