Talk by Susan Healey, edtor of Ngapuhi speaks, at St Francis Xavier Whangarei 3 Aug 2024
Some basic understandings
All Being is Interconnected: Relationships lie at the heart of everything.
“The worldview of Māori, when it comes to whakapapa, is that everything is interrelated from the sky to the land.”
Hone Sadler, Ngāpuhi scholar
Whakapapa has a much wider connotation than simply a family tree. An expert in whakapapa can trace a group’s connections not just to their human ancestors, but to land, plants, animals, taonga (treasured resources), atua (spiritual powers) and ultimately to the origins of the universe.
Listening to the People of the Land, p. 77
------------------------------------------- ---------------------------
I puta mai te tangata i te whenua ko Papatuanuku tera ko te tupuna whaea. Ko ta matou hei tiaki te whenua tae noa ki te wa e hoki nei matou ki a ia.
To us land of mother earth is like our own mother. We are destined to be her caretakers until we finally return to be laid to rest.
E kore te tangata e hokona ki tana whaea.
No man would ever consider selling off their mother.
Hugh Te Kiri Rihari
---------------------------------------- -----------------------------
Rangatiratanga
Ko te rangatiratanga o te wahine nei, he atawhai ki nga tangata o tona iwi,
That is, The chiefliness of this woman lies in the kindness and care she shows for the people of her tribe.
William William’s Dictionary of the Maori Language (1844)
--------------------------------------------- --------------------------
Whānau, Hapū, Iwi
Whānau: family: includes parents, children, grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins
Hapū: a group of related whānau/families
Rangatira: leaders of hapū
Iwi: a confederation of hapū e.g. Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Whātua, Tainui, Te Arawa, Tūwharetoa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāi Tahu
------------------------------ -------------------------------------
Māori and land (whenua)
Hapū have a great love for the land they inherited from their ancestors.
Hapū had strict rules about the conservation of the land and the sea.
Hapū did not buy or sell land.
They liked trading, but not in land.
------------ --------------------------------------------------------
Tuku whenua - allocating outsiders a place on hapū land
Many hapū granted a place on their land to missionaries and traders. In fact, many early Europeans were fed and housed by hapū when they first arrived in New Zealand.
The new settlers were expected to respect the hapū and its rangatira.
The hapū had a duty to protect those who were given a place on their land.
The long-held practice of tuku whenua was geared towards relationships of mutual support and benefit. It was not an alienation of land.
Many hapū granted a place on their land to missionaries and traders. In fact, many early Europeans were fed and housed by hapū when they first arrived in New Zealand.
The new settlers were expected to respect the hapū and its rangatira.
------------------- ----------------------------------------------------
Māori and trade
With the existing inter-regional and inter-island travel and trading networks, it was a small step to extend to trade with Europeans (Ngāpuhi Speaks, p. 49).
From the time of Captain Cook’s visits Māori enjoyed trading with the Europeans who came.
“Late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century journeys to the Pacific Islands, Australia, North and South America, Asia, and Europe familiarised Maori with overseas markets, products, and economic systems” (Petrie, 2002).
From the 1820s Māori groups were involved in running ships over to Australia to trade.
------------ ----------------------------------------------------------
He Whakaputanga
o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni
ie, 1835 Declaration of Independence
is The Key to Understanding Te Tiriti o Waitangi
---------------------------------------------------------- -------------
1830: The Hokianga built trading ship Sir George Murray was seized in Sydney by customs officials for sailing without a flag or registrer .
1831: Northern rangatira send a letter to William IV asking him to do something about lawless Pākehā.
1833: James Busby sent to NZ to represent the British Government.
1834: The Northern rangatira adopt a flag for Nu Tireni ships.
1835: The Northern rangatira declare their sovereignty to the international world in He Whakaputanga.
------------------------------------------- ---------------------------
.png)
.png)
.png)
-------------------------------------------------- ------------------------
Te Whakaminenga (the United Assembly of Hapū) declares their area a SOVEREIGN AND INDEPENDENT STATE.
All SOVEREIGN POWER and AUTHORITY rests with the Rangatira and their Hapū. Any foreign kāwanatanga will be as they direct.
3. The Rangatira will meet in Congress each year.
4. A promise of mutual care and protection between the Rangatira and the King of England.
--------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------
He Whakaputanga, Article 2Ko te Kingitanga, ko te mana i te wenua o te Wakaminenga o Nu Tireni ka meatia nei kei nga Tino Rangatira anake i to matou huihuinga, a, ka mea hoki e kore e tukua e matou te wakarite ture ki tetahi hunga ke atu, me tetahi Kawantanga hoki kia meatia i te wenua o te Wakaminenga o Nu Tireni, ko nga tangata anake e meatia nei e matou e wakarite ana ki te ritenga o o matou ture e meatia nei e matou i to matou huihuinga.
The sovereignty/kingship (Kingitanga) and the mana from the land of the Confederation of New Zealand are here declared to belong solely to the true leaders (Tino Rangatira) of our gathering and we also declare that we will not allow (tukua) any other group to frame laws (wakarite ture) nor any Governorship (Kawanatanga) to be established in the lands of the Confederation, unless (by persons) appointed by us to carry out (wakarite) the laws (ture) we have enacted in our assembly.
Manuka Henare translation
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------
Concepts fundamental to He Whakaputanga me Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Collegial Assembly
------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Te
Whakaminenga (General Assembly) o Ngā Hapū o Nu Tireni
The Assembly had its origins in centuries of rangatira meeting in the North.
It gained a new level of significance from c. 1808 – because of the need to deal with issues arising from the arrival of foreigners.
Te Whakaminenga was a confederation, having its own sphere of decision making but committed to upholding the mana of the hapū – likened in structure to the United Nations.
------------------------------ -------------
He Whakaputanga was a declaration to the world of Maori Mana and Sovereignty. Te Tiriti did not change this but reaffirmed it as the coming together of sovereign nations to create an enduring relationship for the prosperity of all.
Buck Korewha, Ngāti Kaharau, Ngāti Hau ki Omanaia
--------------------------- ---------------------------------------
He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni Declaration of Independence (1835) - Article 2Ko te Kingitanga, ko te mana i te wenua o te Wakaminenga o Nu Tireni ka meatia nei kei nga Tino Rangatira anake i to matou huihuinga, a, ka mea hoki e kore e tukua e matou te wakarite ture ki tetahi hunga ke atu, me tetahi Kawantanga hoki kia meatia i te wenua o te Wakaminenga o Nu Tireni, ko nga tangata anake e meatia nei e matou e wakarite ana ki te ritenga o o matou ture e meatia nei e matou i to matou huihuinga.
The sovereignty/kingship (Kingitanga) and the mana from the land of the Confederation of New Zealand are here declared to belong solely to the true leaders (Tino Rangatira) of our gathering and we also declare that we will not allow (tukua) any other group to frame laws (wakarite ture) nor any Governorship (Kawanatanga) to be established in the lands of the Confederation, unless (by persons) appointed by us to carry out (wakarite) the laws (ture) we have enacted in our assembly.
Manuka Henare translation
----------------- -------------------------------------------------------
Te Tiriti o Waitangi 1840
Hobson asks the Rangatira to give the Queen authority to restrain her people
Her Majesty has commanded me to explain these matters to you, that you may understand them. The people of Great Britain are, thank God! free; and, as long as they do not transgress the laws they can go where they please, and their sovereign has not power to restrain them. You have sold[sic] them lands here and encouraged them to come here. Her Majesty, always ready to protect her subjects, is also always ready to restrain them. Her Majesty the Queen asks you to sign this treaty, and to give her that power which shall enable her to restrain them.
Captain William Hobson, 5 February 1840
-------------------- -------------------------------------------------
Te Tiriti o Waitangi Preamble
The Queen expresses her kind thoughtfulness for the rangatira and tribes of New Zealand and her concern they preserve their authority and lands
Te Tiriti is for peace and good order
The Queen sends a governor to take responsibility for her people in the areas of land granted to them.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi Article Two
The Queen agrees and guarantees that the hapū and their rangatira retain their full authority (te tino rangatiratanga) over their lands, settlements and all they value (taonga).
------------------- ----------------------------------------------------
Bishop Pompallier
“The chiefs did not want to hear talk of obedience; they supposed that Captain Hobson would be an additional great chief for the Europeans only, but not for them.”
Recorded by Captain Lauvard, 1840, following conversation with Bishop Pompallier
----------------- -----------------------------------------------------
Conclusions of the Waitangi Tribunal, 2014,Te Paparahi o Te Raki, Stage 1
The rangatira who signed te Tiriti o Waitangi in February 1840 did not cede their sovereignty to Britain.
That is, they did not cede authority to make and enforce law over their people or their territories.
The rangatira agreed to share power and authority with Britain. They agreed to the Governor having authority to control British subjects in New Zealand, and thereby keep the peace and protect Māori interests.
---------------- -----------------------------------------------------
In signing Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the rangatira … were allowing the governor to stand alongside them as rangatira of the Queen’s people... The relationship was to be one of co-operation, mutual support and reciprocity. In matters of common concern, the rangatira and the governor were to come together to address problems, advance common interests, decide on any needed new law, and generally work for the good of the country and its diverse communities. Ngāpuhi Speaks, p. 243
---------------------- -----------------------------------------------
Te Tiriti o Waitangi & ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill
Leaked (19.1.2024) Ministry of Justice paper
The bill [promoted by ACT] proposes introducing these three principles to Te Tiriti:
The New Zealand Government has the right to govern all New Zealanders
The New Zealand Government will honour all New Zealanders in the chieftainship of their land and all their property
All New Zealanders are equal under the law with the same rights and duties
Thinking of the 1840 treaty, Maori is missing from these “principles”
(And I add theres no current legislation that gives NZ authority over Maori , thereby ACT is trying to make the treaty irrelevant by, by passing it , giving self granted authority to NZ Government to govern Maori – something the NZ Governments never had the lawful from the treaty, or even legal ability to do, although they have done it by certain actions taken with legislation passed- )
------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Distorting Māori concepts to fit an individualist philosophy
Act stands for the mana of the individual, the right to live as you choose so long as you are not harming others. Put another way. Act has championed tino rangatiratanga, or self-determination [of the individual] … we all have tino rangatiratanga.
David Seymour, NZ Herald, Monday, February 5, 2024
This fits with ACTS ideology of being the most right wing liberal (ie pro capitalist) party in NZ who base their ideology on the rights of individuals and minimum government involement in the economy and would privatise all government assets starting with schools, hospitals and prisons and more if they could, leaving only police and courts as government assets held for public good and thats only primarily t protect the system and secondary to protect the individuals rights who vote for the government.
------------------- ---------------------------------------------------
Rangatiratanga
Ko te rangatiratanga o te wahine nei, he atawhai ki nga tangata o tona iwi, that is, The chiefliness of this woman lies in the kindness and care she shows for the people of her tribe.
William William’s Dictionary of the Maori Language (1844)
Rangatiratanga comes from the people
To give rangatiratanga to a person it must come and develop from the people – it applies to all rights, conduct, whakapapa; how they have held treasures, all those things and relative to a tribe being rangatira. There cannot be rangatira without people.
The Te Roroa Report, p. 26, citing the kaumātua Turi Te Kani
------------------------- ---------------------------------------------
Tapu and Mana are always relational
In the view of this writer, there is no such entity as an isolated individual. Tangata is tangata with tapu and mana only by reason of relationship with Atua, tangata, and with whenua (18).
Rev Dr Henare Arekatera Tate
Towards Some Foundations of a Systematic Māori Theology, s.2.5.3, Published as He Puna Iti i te Ao Mārama
18. This is far removed from the classical view of person ... “A person is an individual substance of a rational nature.” Boethius, “De Persona et Duabus Naturis”… This Māori view is also far removed from any Cartesian individualism.
----------------- ---------------------------------------------------
Primer on Treaty Principles – Carwyn Jones
On the idea of a referendum (1)
By fear-mongering over a range of issues relating to Māori participation and visibility in public life, the Government parties have created a hostile environment in which it is virtually impossible to have a good faith conversation about Te Tiriti. This is exacerbated by the misinformation that the ACT Party continues to spread. A referendum based on misinformation would not just be unhelpful, but divisive.
On the idea of a referendum (2)
What is more, it is an act of extreme bad faith for one party to a treaty to try to change the terms of that treaty without seeking the agreement from the other parties. While the Treaty Principles Bill cannot change the words of Te Tiriti, redefining Treaty principles in the way proposed would fundamentally alter the recognition of Māori rights that are guaranteed in Te Tiriti. In fact, it would effectively remove those rights.
----------------------- ---------------------------------------------
Māori Expectations
Māori had clear expectations of what they were agreeing to when the rangatira signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and those expectations were that the mana of the rangatira and their hapū would be preserved and maintained and enhanced by the relationship with the British.
Manuka Henare
-------------------------- --------------------------------------------
Toitū Te Tiriti
Let’s uphold the integrity of Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Comments
Post a Comment