It was once the focus of prolonged protest by the people of Tainui Awhiro who fought to have their wrongly taken land returned.

These days the spotlight on Raglan’s Te Kopua marae is for an overdue makeover, Marae DIY style.

The television series that has seen major facelifts and improvements of marae across the motu, is running  on TV3  and Māori Television later this year with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa the major sponsor of the show.

Tumkahuroa Hone Paul said the involvement of TWoA in the the television series reinforced and strengthened the organisation’s connection with whānau, hapu and iwi.

“We have long provided support for marae and iwi development through the programmes that we deliver – from Toi to reo and tikanga Māori,” said Hone.

“But by aligning ourselves with this popular television series we will be taking our brand beyond the campus in to the homes of whānau and audiences across the motu.”

Te Kopua Marae is not a marae in the traditional sense but the land that was returned to Tainui Awhiro through protest action led by the late Tuaiwa (Eva) Rickard.

The focus on the Marae DIY show, which first aired in 2004, will be on repairing a stage built in the early 1990s for Te Ao Mārama Festival.

The festival celebrated the return of the 88 acres to the mana whenua whose papakainga was razed and kumara garden destroyed during World War 2 to make way for an aerodrome.

When the war ended the land was not returned to its owners as promised but was instead leased to the Raglan Golf Club, which created a new course on the site.

Tuaiwa Rickard and whānau campaigned to get their whenua back occupying the golf course in 1976 and 1978 before the government eventually returned the land in 1983.

Te Kopua became a farm with a marae and training centre site.