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A Quick Guide and Brief History of the Treaty of Waitangi
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Extracts taken from
Te
Pumaomao-An Awakening to Rediscover and Celebrate Mana Maori compiled
by Takawai Murphy for further articulation click on the links
The Treaty of Waitangi
has been the focus of Maori grievances and claims ever since it was signed
in 1840. During the last few years these grievances have begun to come
to the notice of the wider public. If we are to understand these claims
then it is important to know a little of the history of the Treaty.During
the 1830's the small number of Europeans living in Aotearoa began to grow.
This created some friction between them and the Maori, especially in the
area of land sales, many of which were highly questionable. It became
clear to many Maori chiefs that some regulation of the Pakeha was needed.
As well, many Maori tribes, including Ngai Tahu of the South Island, had
extensive trade both within the country and overseas. The Treaty of Waitangi
was intended by the Maori to require the British Crown to fulfil the function
of governorship-to preserve law and order between Maori and Pakeha, to
protect Maori and Pakeha, to protect Maori trade, and to guarantee Maori
control of land and other resources with which they wished to keep. These
intentions were made clear in the Maori
text of the Treaty. The Treaty of Waitangi was signed by 539 chiefs
in the first half of 1840. (Under the international law principle of Contra
Preferentum the indigenous text should have been the text that was adhered
too ......this was not the case.)Five hundred of them, including seven
Ngai Tahu chiefs, signed the Maori text. English version gave full sovereignty
to the British Crown. This was not the same as the Maori text, which gave
the limited rights of governorship to the Crown while guaranteeing a much
stronger form of "chieftainship" over their land to the Maon. For
a number of reasons the Maori intentions came to nothing. The settlers
wanted land, and the Government backed them.
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Frustrations with British
incursion into territory deemed to be under the authority of Maori, most
notably at this time the famous Northern rangatira Hone Heke erupted into
what is now refered to as the 'Northern Wars' the first of what is now
known as the 'New Zealand Wars'. |
| Hone
Heke and Patuone |
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Frustrations with British incursion
into territory deemed to be under the authority of Maori, most notably
at this time the famous Northern rangatira Hone Heke erupted into what
is now refered to as the 'Northern Wars' the first of what is now known
as the 'New Zealand Wars'.
Heke at first supported the
Treaty in that he saw that it opened up opportunities for trade and commerce
that would benefit his people. Heke exercised Maori law on Maori and non-Maori
alike. When it became apparent that the settlers intended that he instead
should be subject to British law and further agitation from the Settler
Government, Heke expressed his dissatisfaction with the chopping down of
the British Flag at Kororareka. War sprung up in different places
across the country in following years as Maori became continually frustrated
with incursion upon tribal sovereignty and the consequent land greed by
pakeha settlers.
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It spread to the
Taranaki
war of 1860-1861, then the Waikato war of 1863-1864 led by the Kingitanga
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Potatau
te Wherowhero
The
First Maori King |
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It spread to the Taranaki
war of 1860-1861, then the Waikato war of 1863-1864 led by the
King Movement culminating in the wars of 1868-1869 led by the prophet-generals
Titokowaru
(click here and scroll down to section 4.9) and Te Kooti.Assertions
of Sovereignty were numerous and continued with the passive resistant techniques
of Parihaka
by the prophet Te Whiti and Tohu Kakahi and later the establishment
of Hiruharama by Rua
Kenana in 1905. There were also number of petitions/voyages to England
for interventions into Treaty breaches by settlers. Also the history of
Treaty litigation spans the life of the New Zealand Judicial System.But
still these were to no avail
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Parihaka
with Taranaki maunga in the background
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Rua
Kenana at Hiruharama
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So the land and waters were taken
by deceit, disease and plain force in some instances in the North Island
and by fraud in the South. (the South Island was declared Terra Nullis
a land without people and annexed by right of discovery......unfortunately
they did not notify Ngai Tahu, Ngati Mamoe and Waitaha amongst others)It
was this loss of the land, waters and resources (the economic base that
Maori Societal surivival dependended on) drove Maori into poverty, a situation
that persists until today. (This also led to consequent language, culture,
and societal structure loss) Most of the institutions of our society work
in a way that disadvantages and perpetuates these colonial beginning's.The
focus on sovereignty changed as many Maori opted to improve the lot for
Maori by working within the system the most notable being Sir Apirana Ngata
in this century. In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, the Maori Women's
Welfare League and the Maori Council, conservative bodies interested in
working within the Pakeha framework to pursue Maori rights, were founded.
But these organisations were essentially a continuation of the Maori elite
which had always led traditional Maori groups and they proved inadequate
for the rising generation of Maori activists whose experiences in a turbulent
New Zealand society were considerably different due to the rapid urbanisation
of Maoridom
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Whereby activists furiously
brandished their Maoritanga, denying the assimilative forces of Pakeha
society. |
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Land
March 1975 across the Auckland Harbour Bridge
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By the advent of the 1970s,
then, there existed, among others, on the opposite end of the spectrum.
This saw a subsequent Maori backlash, whereby activists furiously brandished
their Maoritanga, denying the assimilative forces of Pakeha society., and
as ., a radical newsletter called Te Hokoi, the Maori Organisation on Human
Rights (MOOHR), and Nga Tamatoa (the young warriors), an organization of
aggressive and angry young people who pretty much redefined Maori activism.
Inspired by the success of the civil rights movement in the United States
and the rhetoric of labor unions and socialist organisations, the new wave
of activists used sit-ins, marches, and demonstrations to convey their
message of reform, often attracting the attention of New Zealand and international
media. One of the peaks of this 'activism' occurred in 1975 when
30,000 people marched to Parliament under the slogan, "Not One More
Acre of Maori Land." Clearly, the Maori population had been reawakened
by the vitality and the conviction of the new Maori activists.
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Whaingaroa-Raglan
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There was of course a certain
level of skepticism that came with the transfer of power from the old to
the new, but in the end, it seemed that the Maori cause was well served
by both. A new form of Maori assertion emerged with Maori 'occupying' traditional
lands that had been stolen by the crown.
notably Takaparawha (Bastion
Point) and Whaingaroa
(Raglan)This new activism saw the formation of groups such as WAC
the Waitangi Action Committe, Te Kawariki, who have organised marches
on Waitangi for the past 20 years. One of the most recognisable results
of the 70s was the recognition of the Treaty (the Government had to scramble
around to find out what it was since it had been forgotten for so many
years) and thus the establishment of the Treaty of Waitangi Act and hence
the Waitangi Tribunal
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These assertions continued
into the 1990s when the Government released its now controversial 'Fiscal
Envelope' which, was capped all Maori loss at a Billion dollars.
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| Treaty
Grounds Waitangi Day 1995 |
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The Waitangi Tribunal has recommended
the return of land at Orakei (Bastion Point) and has come to some agreement
with Waikato and Ngai Tahu. The Government does not have to act upon recommendations
from the Tribunal.Work by the Tribunal continues today. This 'activism'
carried on through to the 80s with Maori highlighting similar issues that
faced South African Blacks during the 1981 Spring Bok tour of Aotearoa/New
Zealand this continued on to the 1984 'Hikoi to Waitangi'.These assertions
continued into the 1990s when the Government released its now controversial
'Fiscal Envelope' which, was capped all Maori loss at a Billion dollars.
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Wharenui
- Pakaitore
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This resulted in another wave
of Maori activist triggering off over 10 occupations across Aotearoa/New
Zealand most notably the occupation Pakaitore (Moutoa Gardens).Despite
the whole of Maoridom rejecting the 'Fiscal envelope' a number of tribes
saw it as an opportunity to build up stolen ancestral resources (Hence
the start of The Office of Treaty Settlements) The majority of tribes have
been involved in litigation against the Crown for over a hundred years.
A number of these tribes rejected the idea of a 'fiscal cap' to trying
to keep within the earlier general rejection of the Fiscal envelope.
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This however has not stopped the
Government from negotiating from a capped basis. (eg the Waikato
Settlement of 170 Million dollars [a fraction of the estimated 21 Billion+
dollar loss] is the estimated portion that they are eligible for of the
Billion dollars) Many argue that settlements will unlikely solve Maori
socio-economic problems and in fact set up a new elite class of Maori who
will basically hog all Settlement monies. As illustrated in the debacle
at Hopuhopu(The limits of Settlement can be illustrated as
follows. Suppose that settlements in total amount to $1 Billion dollars
( the size of the Fiscal envelope). At a solid rate of return after tax
of 3.5% and a Maori population of about 500,000 this amounts to an additional
income of $70 a year per Maori man, woman and child. It is a simple matter
to rate this up to determine the implications of higher settlements - a
$2 Billion settlement gives $140 per Maori, $3 Billion $210 per Maori and
so on. Those in control of settlement funds will not pass out $70 a year
to every Maori its just not worth it rather they'll have to decide who
will and who will not receive the benefits the potential for holding on
to resources for a set group of people increases.)
The Crown/Government has a
long history of enacting laws that breached the Treaty a number Maori believe
that the current round of Treaty negotiations is also a breach. In that
the settlements for land are quite miniscule to the actual amount that
the Crown is liable for and most importantly it avaoids the question of
Sovereignty altogether. Indeed a number of negotiators of these settlements
have indicated that the settlements are not perfect or fair but they still
see it as an opportunity for progress for their respective iwi. This has/is
still apart of the current Treaty debate in Maoridom.
Laws that Breached the Treaty |
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