It was a full house at St George's Anglican Church in Gate Pa on Sunday, as the 154th anniversary of the Battle of Gate Pa was remembered.

The battle, along with the Battle of Te Ranga on June 21, 1864, is seen as a defining moment in Tauranga's history, as it paved the way for the establishment of the city.

Local historian and member of the Ngai Tamarawaho hapu Buddy Mikaere spoke at the commemoration, during which the church bell was tolled 60 times to remember those who died on both sides in the battle.

'This year I wanted to talk about how the battle still impacts on people today,” says Buddy.

'Most of the land that ended up being confiscated was land from our hapu, which makes up Tauranga city. So although all of the other hapu and iwi took part in the battle, most of them had their land returned to them.”

He says the economic impact of the confiscations have been felt through the subsequent generations.

'We didn't have enough land to live on, and became like squatters in the city. I showed photos of our gardens in Spring Street and Willow Street, which was how we kept ourselves alive and going.

'My grandparents and great-grandparents were always living on the poverty line, because they had nothing left. It's taken until my generation to see that we might actually be able to break out of it.

'As a community we need to embrace our history, the good parts and the bad. Through understanding of where we all come from, we might have a better idea of how to operate in the present.”

St George's Anglican Church vicar Reverend John Hebenton says the 60 bells services began four years ago with the 150th commemorations, and has continued ever since, with attendance growing each year.

He says this year Bishop Andrew Hedge spoke at the service about the church's involvement in handing over Maori land to the New Zealand government.

'When Alfred Brown arrived in 1838, he negotiated two sales of land on behalf of the Church Missionary Society, which was everything from the shores of The Elms up to around Gate Pa. The battle was essentially fought on the boundary between mission land and Maori land,” says John.

'Maori understood the land was for not only their evangelisation, but their education. Brown also understood he was holding that land in trust for Maori, because he knew when settlers arrived Maori would lose their land.”

However, John says the government had, by the 1860s, identified Tauranga as a place for military settlement of British soldiers after the wars.

'But Maori weren't selling, so there was huge pressure put on the Church Missionary Society to hand over their land to the government, which they eventually did.

'There is a motion going to General Synod, our biennial gathering of representatives from all the dioceses, and the motion addresses those issues. In essence it acknowledges our role in handing over that land and apologises for that.”

Jan Tinetti (Labour MP), Gary Webber (WBOP Mayor) and his wife Carole Webber.

Navy and Army cadets.