Tributes paid to Maori activist Syd Jackson

Leading Maori rights activist Syd Jackson died in Auckland yesterday from cancer at the age of 68.

Jackson was involved in the Maori rights movement for more than 40 years and has been credited with putting the Treaty of Waitangi on the political agenda.

Jackson of Ngati Kahungunu and Ngati Porou was also an experienced industrial relations worker, serving for 17 years as secretary of the Northern Clerical Workers' Union.

Nephew Willie Jackson said his uncle walked the talk when it came to activism.

From his early days as the spokesman for the Maori protest group Nga Tama Toa right up to his position as CEO of Turuki Health Care.

"He put activism on the TV and talked about Maori rights, he was the face of Maori rights," Willie Jackson said.

He said his uncle Syd never voted because he didn't believe in Parliament but fought for tino rangatiratanga - self-determination.

Veteran activist Titewhai Harawira said although the media and politicians vilified Syd throughout his life, he remained a gentleman and a staunch campaigner for te reo Maori.

"For myself, Syd and Nga Tama Toa, it was about fighting for our language because to kill the language was to kill the people so we made a determined effort to go out and rescue our language," Mrs Harawira said.

She said despite getting kicked off Marae around the country and being vilified by the media, Syd kept up the fight.

"The media painted him to be a two-headed monster but he was always a gentleman," Mrs Harawira said.

She said the frontline of activism is thinner with the death of Mr Jackson.

"He was an inspiration to everybody in the community, whether they loved or hated him," Mrs Harawira said.

Syd Jackson's body will be taken to Hastings for burial.