He hua ka puta?
Kua roa nei tātou ngā iwi Māori e whawhai ana mō te rangatiratanga o te whenua. E hia kē mai nei ngā whawhai kua tau ki mua i te aroaro o ngā Kooti. E hia kē ngā hīkoi mautohe i tīmata mai i ngā moka o te motu. Kua rangona ngā hāmama, ngā tangi mō tēnei mea te whenua. Ka titi mai te urupounamu he aha ngā hua i puta? Hei tā ētahi e whai take ana te whakaaro, kāore ngā hua i puta nō te mea kua tangohia te nuinga o ngā whenua e te ringa Kāwana. Mō te takutai moana ka toko ake te pātai i hanga mai ēnei ture hei haukoti i te ao Māori, hei karo kē rānei i te ao Pākehā? He ture tēnei kia whawhai tonu ngā Māori mō ngā kongakonga noa iho? Tuatahi mai me whakamahuki i ngā ture kia mōhio tātou ki ngā aronga o ēnei pātai. Mā tērā ka kitea he aha ngā take, he aha hoki ngā hiahia, ngā wawata o tēnā, o tēnā.
Rangatiratanga
Mai rānō ka noho ngā iwi Māori ki runga i te whenua. Nō runga i ngā tikanga Māori i whakapau ai ngā rauemi. Koinei te whakamāramatanga o tēnei mea te ‘rangatiratanga’: kia noho ko ngā iwi Māori hei ‘rangatira’ ki runga i te whenua. He tikanga whakahaere rauemi e puritia e te iwi, he mana whakahaere tāngata e puritia e te iwi. Kāore i tua atu i te mana kua tukuna ki taua rangatira e tōnā iwi. Nō te iwi e rangatira ai te rangatira. Pērā i te whakataukī ‘e kore te ure e tū ki te kore ngā raho’. I te taenga mai o te Pākehā kua mahia tēnei kupu ki roto i te Tiriti o Waitangi. I whakamahia tēnei kupu ‘rangatiratanga’ hei kawenga whakaaro ki roto i te horopaki o te Tiriti. Engari he aha te whakamāramatanga o ngā kupu ‘tino rangatiratanga’ i Waitangi i te tau 1840?
“Ko te Kuini o Ingarani ka wakarite ka wakaae ki nga Rangatira ki nga hapu—ki nga tangata katoa o Nu Tirani te tino rangatiratanga o ratou wenua o ratou kainga me o ratou taonga katoa. Otiia ko nga Rangatira o te Wakaminenga me nga Rangatira katoa atu ka tuku ki te Kuini…”
Ko te whakamāramatanga o te taha Pākehā kei raro nei:
“Her Majesty the Queen of England confirms and guarantees to the Chiefs and Tribes of New Zealand, and to the respective families and individuals thereof, the full, exclusive and undisturbed possession of their Lands and Estates, Forests, Fisheries, and other properties which they may collectively or individually possess, so long as it is their wish and desire to retain the same in their possession.”
He aha ētahi atu horopaki e rangona ana tēnei kupu ‘rangatiratanga’? E tika ana kua mahia tēnei kupu kia tukuna he mana o te whenua ki te tangata. I tētahi tiriti hokohoko o Te Rarawa kua tuku atu te ‘mana’ me te ‘rangatiratanga’ o te whenua ki tētahi atu.
“kua oti te tuku e matou e Nopera Pana Kareao ma kia Reiha Teira tetahi wahi wenua oti tonu atu me nga rakau katoa me nga aha aha noa me nga aha noa katoa e tupu ana i taua wenua me nga mea katoa o raro o taua wenua me te rangatiratanga me te mana i runga i taua wenua (Te Mātāhauariki, 2007).”
Ka kitea i runga nei ka taea te tuku i te mana me te rangatiratanga ki tētahi atu. Engari he rerekē te tauira ki runga i te Tiriti. Ki roto i te tauira ki runga kua tukuna te ‘mana’ me te ‘rangatiratanga’ ki raro i ngā tikanga Māori. Heoi, kia riro mā te tikanga Māori e whakamārama i te ‘mana’ me te ‘rangatiratanga’ kua tukuna atu, hāunga atu tērā o te ture Pākehā.
Te Ture Takutai Moana
I te tau 2004, i kōkiri te Pāti Reipa kia whakawhiwhi i te ture Takutai Moana. I runga i te mataku tēnei ture i kawea. Ka whakanohoia te takutai moana katoa ki raro i te mana o te Karauna. Ka riro mā ngā iwi e tonotono ki te Kōti kia whakamātauria nō rātou tētahi wāhanga o te takutai moana. Taumaha hārukiruki ngā pīkaunga ki te hiahia te iwi ki te haere ki te Kōti. Me whakaatu ki te Kōti nō 1840 i pupuri ki te iwi te ahi kā o taua takutai moana. Mēnā kāore e taea ka hinga te kēhi. Ahakoa te rarahi o ngā moni i pau i ngā roia, i ngā kairangahau, e kore te rangatiratanga o tērā whenua e hokia ki te iwi. Ko te whakatau kē o te Kōti he ‘customary rights order’ he ‘territorial rights order’ rānei. He timotimo noa iho tēnei i tērā i mau i ngā mātua tīpuna i mua. I te whakawhiwhinga o tēnei ture ka puta te Pāti Māori.
Te whakakorehanga o te ture 2004
I ngā tau ka tohe te Pāti Māori ki te Pāti Natinara kia tīnihia tēnei ture. Tekau mā waru ngā marama i tautohetohe rāua kia puta he whakatau whakamutunga. E rima ngā peka e kawe ana i te matū o tēnei whakakorehanga:
1. Ka whakakorengia te ture o 2004;
2. E kore te takutai moana e pupuri ki tētahi tangata ake, ka noho mō te tini ngerongero;
3. Mēnā e pupuri tonu ana te iwi i te mana whenua o tētahi wāhanga o te takutai moana, mā ngā Kōti te tono e whakatau;
4. I ētahi wā ka taea e te iwi te whakakore i ngā mahi o ngā pūtahi hokohoko ki runga i te takutai moana;
5. Ka noho tūmatawhānui te takutai moana. Ka noho te whenua hei ekeeke mā te tini ngiangia ahakoa waewae tapu, ahakoa waewae pokanoa.
I te karenga o te wai, he hua ka puta i tēnei ture. Engari ki te ruku tātou ki raro i te kahu o te wai, ka kitea he raru kei te haere. Pērā i te whakataukī he kokonga whare ka kitea, he kokonga ngākau e kore e kitea. Tuatahi atu, e mate ana tātou i te whakaaro nō te Karauna te mana whakatau he aha te aha. Nō rātou kē te mana nekeneke i a tātou. I noho ngā iwi Māori me tō rātou mana whenua ki Aotearoa. Koirā i tuhia ki te ‘Declaration of Independence’ i te tau 1835. Tuarua nei, mēnā kei a tātou te ‘rangatiratanga’ o ngā whenua ki mua i te taenga mai o tauiwi i konei, he aha te take o te tononga ki te Kōti? Pērā nei tātou i te keretao. Kua mau ngā aho i te ringa o te Kāwana, tarapekepeke ana, whawhai ana. E noho tautauāmoa tātou ki ngā maramara o te whenua.
Ngā kōrero hei arahī i a tātou
I te tau 1992 i puta mai he kōrero o te Taraipiunara o Waitangi hei whakaaro ake mā tātou:
“It is said to be based on tikanga Māori, or Māori law, in that traditionally the tribes had authority over the seas adjoining their land, an opinion encapsulated in the recent expression, ‘mana-whenua, mana-moana’. We would hesitate to use ‘tikanga Maori’ or ‘mana moana’ to describe the scheme however, for it is arguable that traditionally the mana, or authority, did not extend far from the shoreline, and the central feature of this scheme is the value given to the distant fisheries of modern times. The authority went only as far as it could in practice be enforced, it could be said, and customarily, the open seas were open. The equation does underline however, that there are differences in the extent of traditional resource ownership amongst the various iwi” The Fisheries Settlement Report Wai 307, Waitangi Tribunal, Wellington, 1992, cited in Te Mātāpunenga, 2007.
Kei roto i tēnei pūrongo te titiro o te Māori ki tōna whenua. Mai i te oneone tae atu ki te moana, nō te mana o te iwi te whenua. Nō te whenua e ora ai te iwi. Nō te iwi e mana ai te rangatira. Koirā te rangatiratanga i mau nei i ngā Māori o mua. Te āhua nei kua ngaro tērā wawata ki te pō kia noho ngerengere.
He hua ka puta?
Ko tētahi aronga o tēnei pātai kāore he paku hua. Kua riro i te Karauna te mana whakahaere i ēnei momo take. Engari e ai ki te titiro o te Māori ko ngā mokopuna te puanani o ngā whakatewhatewha a ngā mātua tīpuna. Ka whakatōkia he kākano ki te whenua, ka pārekereke, ka tipu, ka rea. Ki te whakaako tātou i ngā tamariki kia mahara i ēnei tirohanga, ka mau tonu. Ehara i te mea e noho pūmau ngā ture a te Pākehā mō ake tonu atu. Pēnei i te moana e ākina ā tai. I tōna wā ka eke, i tōna wā ka hinga. Kawe kau tātou kia mau ki ngā tirohanga, i ngā wawata o mua, ka whawhai tonu atu mō te rangatiratanga o nāianei.