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Treaty of Waitangi claims and settlements
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Treaty of Waitangi claims and settlements
Claims by Māori based on historic grievances against the Crown, and the claims' subsequent settlements, have been a significant feature of New Zealand politics since the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 and the Waitangi Tribunal that it established to hear those claims. Successive governments have increasingly provided formal legal and political opportunity for Māori to seek redress for what Maori claim were breaches by the Crown of obligations set out in the Treaty of Waitangi. While it has resulted in putting to rest a number of significant longstanding grievances, the process has been subject to criticisms.
The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and Māori chiefs (rangatira) from the North Island of New Zealand, with a further 500 signatures added later that year, including some from the South Island. It is one of the founding documents of New Zealand.
The Treaty of Waitangi was written in English and translated into the Māori language (Te Reo). As some words in the English treaty did not translate directly into the written Māori of the time, this text is not an exact translation of the English text, such as in relation to the meaning of having and ceding sovereignty.[better source needed] In the English version, Māori ceded any sovereignty rights in New Zealand they might have had, or might be supposed to have had, to Britain; Māori gave the Crown the exclusive right to purchase lands they wished to sell, and, in return, Māori were guaranteed full ownership of their lands, forests, fisheries and other possessions and were given the rights of British subjects. However, in the Māori language version of the Treaty is different, the word 'sovereignty' was translated as kawanatanga ('governance'). And in contradiction to the English language version, Māori retained authority and sovereignty, and did not give this to the Queen. In addition, the English version guaranteed 'undisturbed possession' of all 'properties', but the Māori version guaranteed tino rangatiratanga ('full authority, sovereignty') over taonga ('treasures').[better source needed]
Around 530 to 540 Māori, at least 13 of them women, signed the Māori version of the Treaty of Waitangi, known as Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Only 39 signed the English version after the Māori language version was read to them.
The different understandings of the content of the treaty led to disagreements between Pākeha and Māori, beginning almost immediately after the signing of the treaty, and contributed to the New Zealand Wars, which culminated in the confiscation of a large part of the Waikato and Taranaki.
Matiaha Tiramōrehu made the first formal statement of Ngāi Tahu grievances in 1849, one year after the Canterbury purchase between Ngāi Tahu and Henry Tacy Kemp, this land transaction was very large, 20 million acres for £2,000. Between the 1870s and the 1990s almost every Ngāi Tahu leader was actively pursuing the Ngāi Tahu claim in Parliament.
In the 1920s, land commissions investigated the grievances of hapū whose land had been confiscated or otherwise fraudulently obtained in the previous century, and many were found to be valid. By the 1940s, settlements in the form of modest annual payments had been arranged with some hapū. However, hapū came to consider the amounts to be inadequate, especially as inflation eroded their value, and the Crown has conceded that it did not sufficiently seek the agreement of hapū to declare their claims settled.
During the late 1960s and 1970s the Treaty of Waitangi became the focus of a strong Māori protest movement which rallied around calls for the government to 'honour the treaty' and to 'redress treaty grievances'. Māori expressed their frustration about continuing violations of the treaty and subsequent legislation by government officials, as well as inequitable legislation and unsympathetic decisions by the Māori Land Court alienating Māori land from its Māori owners.
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Treaty of Waitangi claims and settlements
Claims by Māori based on historic grievances against the Crown, and the claims' subsequent settlements, have been a significant feature of New Zealand politics since the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 and the Waitangi Tribunal that it established to hear those claims. Successive governments have increasingly provided formal legal and political opportunity for Māori to seek redress for what Maori claim were breaches by the Crown of obligations set out in the Treaty of Waitangi. While it has resulted in putting to rest a number of significant longstanding grievances, the process has been subject to criticisms.
The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and Māori chiefs (rangatira) from the North Island of New Zealand, with a further 500 signatures added later that year, including some from the South Island. It is one of the founding documents of New Zealand.
The Treaty of Waitangi was written in English and translated into the Māori language (Te Reo). As some words in the English treaty did not translate directly into the written Māori of the time, this text is not an exact translation of the English text, such as in relation to the meaning of having and ceding sovereignty.[better source needed] In the English version, Māori ceded any sovereignty rights in New Zealand they might have had, or might be supposed to have had, to Britain; Māori gave the Crown the exclusive right to purchase lands they wished to sell, and, in return, Māori were guaranteed full ownership of their lands, forests, fisheries and other possessions and were given the rights of British subjects. However, in the Māori language version of the Treaty is different, the word 'sovereignty' was translated as kawanatanga ('governance'). And in contradiction to the English language version, Māori retained authority and sovereignty, and did not give this to the Queen. In addition, the English version guaranteed 'undisturbed possession' of all 'properties', but the Māori version guaranteed tino rangatiratanga ('full authority, sovereignty') over taonga ('treasures').[better source needed]
Around 530 to 540 Māori, at least 13 of them women, signed the Māori version of the Treaty of Waitangi, known as Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Only 39 signed the English version after the Māori language version was read to them.
The different understandings of the content of the treaty led to disagreements between Pākeha and Māori, beginning almost immediately after the signing of the treaty, and contributed to the New Zealand Wars, which culminated in the confiscation of a large part of the Waikato and Taranaki.
Matiaha Tiramōrehu made the first formal statement of Ngāi Tahu grievances in 1849, one year after the Canterbury purchase between Ngāi Tahu and Henry Tacy Kemp, this land transaction was very large, 20 million acres for £2,000. Between the 1870s and the 1990s almost every Ngāi Tahu leader was actively pursuing the Ngāi Tahu claim in Parliament.
In the 1920s, land commissions investigated the grievances of hapū whose land had been confiscated or otherwise fraudulently obtained in the previous century, and many were found to be valid. By the 1940s, settlements in the form of modest annual payments had been arranged with some hapū. However, hapū came to consider the amounts to be inadequate, especially as inflation eroded their value, and the Crown has conceded that it did not sufficiently seek the agreement of hapū to declare their claims settled.
During the late 1960s and 1970s the Treaty of Waitangi became the focus of a strong Māori protest movement which rallied around calls for the government to 'honour the treaty' and to 'redress treaty grievances'. Māori expressed their frustration about continuing violations of the treaty and subsequent legislation by government officials, as well as inequitable legislation and unsympathetic decisions by the Māori Land Court alienating Māori land from its Māori owners.