Essence of the Wai 262 Claim
(extract from Te Tai Tokerau legal submissions)
Whakapapa and tino rangatiratanga are at the heart of the Wai 262 claim. Whakapapa is what connects the claimants to their taonga and tino rangatiratanga (in all its dimensions of rights and obligations), it is what enables them to give full expression to their relationships with these taonga. They are essential to the claimants’ culture and identity.
The importance of whakapapa to this claim featured prominently throughout claimant evidence. Mrs Hema-Nui-a-Tawhaki Wihongi (Mrs Del Wihongi) for Te Rarawa, opened her evidence to the Waitangi Tribunal in 1997 with this statement which captured the essence of the claim which is bound together by whakapapa:
“In my korero I wish to explain the holistic relationship between the cosmos of the universe, the Gods, plants, animals and Maori. This relationship describes the rights and responsibilities Maori have to the other partners within this relationship. This relationship is particularly important to our customary practices and norms”.
From whakapapa comes the rights and responsibilities of being tangata whenua – people of the land. Those rights and responsibilities are encompassed in a world view, a way of existing according to tikanga, customs and laws, which include the following key concepts: kaitiakitanga, tapu, manaakitanga, mana, aroha, whanaungatanga, wairua and mauri.
The authority to live according to that world view is tino rangatiratanga, which was guaranteed under Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi 1840. Te Tiriti was a constitutional guarantee that tangata whenua would be able to live in accordance with their world view for as long as they wished to do so, and that the Crown would actively protect those rights and responsibilities.
The concept of tino rangatiratanga is inextricably linked with kaitiakitanga. As Mrs Saana Murray has said in her evidence, tino rangatiratanga for her and Ngati Kuri means “Maori control over things Maori.” The extent to which the control will be exercised will depend on the nature of the taonga concerned, the Iwi, the parties involved and a host of other factors. These factors will not necessarily be predetermined from the outset but are matters of ongoing discussion, negotiation and elaboration. Tino rangatiratanga embraces a wide spectrum of rights and responsibilities.
This guarantee in Te Tiriti o Waitangi is central to the mauri (the life essence, survival, growth and well-being) of the culture, reo, matauranga and identity of whanau, hapu and iwi. Enhancing the well-being and mauri of tangata whenua has significant consequences for the well-being of all of the peoples of Aotearoa. Enhancing the well-being and mauri of tangata whenua has significant consequences for the mauri of all species of indigenous flora and fauna. The Wai 262 claim is about restoring and enhancing Te Ao Mauri.
Whakapapa and tino rangatiratanga are at the heart of the Wai 262 claim. Whakapapa is what connects the claimants to their taonga and tino rangatiratanga (in all its dimensions of rights and obligations), it is what enables them to give full expression to their relationships with these taonga. They are essential to the claimants’ culture and identity.
The importance of whakapapa to this claim featured prominently throughout claimant evidence. Mrs Hema-Nui-a-Tawhaki Wihongi (Mrs Del Wihongi) for Te Rarawa, opened her evidence to the Waitangi Tribunal in 1997 with this statement which captured the essence of the claim which is bound together by whakapapa:
“In my korero I wish to explain the holistic relationship between the cosmos of the universe, the Gods, plants, animals and Maori. This relationship describes the rights and responsibilities Maori have to the other partners within this relationship. This relationship is particularly important to our customary practices and norms”.
From whakapapa comes the rights and responsibilities of being tangata whenua – people of the land. Those rights and responsibilities are encompassed in a world view, a way of existing according to tikanga, customs and laws, which include the following key concepts: kaitiakitanga, tapu, manaakitanga, mana, aroha, whanaungatanga, wairua and mauri.
The authority to live according to that world view is tino rangatiratanga, which was guaranteed under Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi 1840. Te Tiriti was a constitutional guarantee that tangata whenua would be able to live in accordance with their world view for as long as they wished to do so, and that the Crown would actively protect those rights and responsibilities.
The concept of tino rangatiratanga is inextricably linked with kaitiakitanga. As Mrs Saana Murray has said in her evidence, tino rangatiratanga for her and Ngati Kuri means “Maori control over things Maori.” The extent to which the control will be exercised will depend on the nature of the taonga concerned, the Iwi, the parties involved and a host of other factors. These factors will not necessarily be predetermined from the outset but are matters of ongoing discussion, negotiation and elaboration. Tino rangatiratanga embraces a wide spectrum of rights and responsibilities.
This guarantee in Te Tiriti o Waitangi is central to the mauri (the life essence, survival, growth and well-being) of the culture, reo, matauranga and identity of whanau, hapu and iwi. Enhancing the well-being and mauri of tangata whenua has significant consequences for the well-being of all of the peoples of Aotearoa. Enhancing the well-being and mauri of tangata whenua has significant consequences for the mauri of all species of indigenous flora and fauna. The Wai 262 claim is about restoring and enhancing Te Ao Mauri.