Week 4 - He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti

Week 4 - He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti

Over the years I have heard several different narratives around the Treaty of Waitangi. I purposely use the English name for

this context because these dominant narratives serve the dominant culture of Aotearoa - Pākeha. One being that Māori just

didn't understand what they were signing and that was essentially a "them" problem. Another being that Māori were desperate

for help because they were sick of in-fighting. And another being that Māori were an uneducated savage race that needed

colonising. When you actually take the time to listen, read and be truly open to accepting a different truth it is exceptionally

evident that pre and post Te Tiriti, Māori have been dehumanised, marginalised and oppressed. 

After Māori arrived in Aotearoa they lived in whānau and hapu groups, part of wider iwi groups that linked to the waka

their ancestors travelled in across the ocean. Each hapu and iwi governed themselves and had their own unique set of

tikanga that they lived by. The understanding of this is important because the concept of overarching sovereignty was

unknown to Māori and the notion of mana or sovereignty was not something that could be given away (Hēnare, 2018). 

Once European settlers started to arrive and other countries started to show an interest in colonising Aotearoa, Māori came

together for the first time as a collective (O'Malley, 2018). He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni – the

Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand, signed in 1835, was from the Crown's perspective a

guarantee of no foreign interference. For Māori, it safeguarded them from the issues with the European settlers and asserted

the existing authority of rangatira (Ministry of Education, 2022).

Just five years later, after more and more settlers had arrived from Britain, William Hobson was tasked with gaining a treaty

with Māori. He was under instruction that Māori must be willing to sign over sovereignty, not tricked or forced (Aotearoa

History Show, 2019). This shows that initially there was intent for Māori to retain tino rangatiratanga but this did not

eventualise. Two versions were written - The Treaty of Waitangi in English and Te Tiriti o Waitangi in Māori. The English

version was hurriedly translated overnight by inexperienced translators and new words not understood by Māori were

created as there were no te reo Māori equivalents (Tawhai, 2023). The Māori version was the version read to the gathered

chiefs including terms they had no understanding of, and this was the version that was signed by most as it travelled around

Aotearoa. The Māori version promised tino rangatiratanga, the English version said that Māori ceded sovereignty and control.

And what started as a perceived partnership, quickly became a full scale colonisation. 

In the immediate years following the signing of Te Tiriti, the Crown deceived, stole and confiscated mass quantities of Māori

land. The tidal wave of British settlers started a long history of dehumanising Māori who under the Doctrine of discovery “had

no property or human rights, and could not safely govern themselves” (Ngata, n.d.).  This led directly to the New Zealand

Wars which all stemmed from land disputes in which Māori were supposed to be protected under Te Tiriti. 

Tawhai (2023) states that “Māori continue to suffer entrenched inequalities” and these inequalities have been present since

the early days following the signing of Te Tiriti. The provisions of Te Tiriti were not upheld and this has had huge

implications for Māori self-determination and positive Māori development (Tawhai, 2023). Our job as educators is to

acknowledge the wrongdoings of the past, view Te Tiriti as a promise to provide specific provisions for Māori and to ensure

decisions for going forward are made by Māori. 


References:


He Tohu. (2018, June 27). He Tohu Interview [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzpUfKu-7PI&t=2s


Ministry of Education. (2022). Aotearoa NZ’s histories in the NZ curriculum. Ministry of Education. 


Ngata, T. (n.d.). Doctrine of Discovery [Fact Sheet]. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eQN8b7VIuuTEA6Da-b6U36FAPoCUHqgV/view?fbclid=IwAR3kf-02nEBToIKoIYLO4olokfL-JV3113JPW6FMvCiQa7o143-xcqA7BwM 


O’Malley, V. (2018, February 4). Without He Whakaputanga, there might have been no Treaty of Waitangi. E Tangata.


Tawhai, V. (2023). Mā te ihu o te waka - Te Tiriti as our guide in educational settings. In R. Averill & P. Te Maro (Eds.), Ki te Hoe! Education for Aotearoa (pp. 40-60). NZCER Press.


The Aotearoa History Show. (2019, October 14). Season 1 Episode 4: Te Tiriti o Waitangi [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xc7GySsFuA 






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