Act leader David Seymour speaking at Waitangi Treaty House. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Act leader David Seymour speaking at Waitangi Treaty House. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Opinion by Lady Tureiti Moxon
OPINION:
What we saw play out at Waitangi was significant because Māori were united and stood together in solidarity following the call from Kingi Tūheitia for kotahitanga.
Māori made it clear they were not happy with the 100-day plan of the Government or amendments to the Te Tiriti principles.
David Seymour’s view absolutely disregards Te Tiriti in its original and foundational meaning as an agreement between two peoples.
By saying that everyone in this country is equal and should be treated the same glosses over and ignores the fact that the equality guaranteed in the treaty was signed off in peace and good will between equals, in order to build a nation of equal partners.
“Tino rangatiratanga and mana for all, that is what I stand for. People of every background and let me acknowledge them,” Seymour said.
What Seymour forgets is that there is a Treaty in place in this country, between the Crown and Māori. This is the moral trunk of a tree in whose branches many people may come to nest, and their belonging depends on the reality of the base that upholds us all. The fruitfulness of the tree depends on the original strength of the roots and trunk. Equality depends on this moral upholding of an agreement signed in good faith in the beginning. There was war when this base was attacked.
Everyone is embraced by Article Three: Everyone, no matter what religion, no matter what ethnicity, no matter who they are, everyone received equality and equity because of that covenant between the Crown and iwi Māori.
Hone Harawira at the Waitangi Treaty House marae ahead of Waitangi Day. Photo / Michael Cunningham
The essence of Te Tiriti was that Māori would look after their own and the Crown would look after their own. There would be the structures of governance over both and both would seek common ground for the common good. Tribal self-determination and mana motuhake would continue. Māori land, forest, fisheries, way of life and all their cultural treasures would be guaranteed.
But this was later changed to the Crown becoming the sole sovereign, ignoring the authority of the chiefs and their people which was treaty guaranteed. One hundred thousand Māori did not give over sovereignty to 2000 people from Britain. They wanted an international ally and a new partner within.
It was important to hear speakers Hone Harawira and Annette Sykes, who powerfully reminded the Crown of its responsibilities. They highlighted the need to continue talking about this and wānanga together to bring about the kinds of solutions that that are being talked about.
As Harawira said, Ngā Tamatoa was at Waitangi 53 years ago upholding Te Tiriti, raising that issue and the loss of our reo, yet here we are all these years later still fighting for it.
Not only is te reo the first language of this country, it is also an official language of Aotearoa and yet it has been relegated down to being less than English. Now where is the equity, the mana or the respect in that?
We are continuing to fight for our rights in this country, and it’s been a repetitive pattern dating back to the original signing of Te Tiriti.
Especially when the Government unilaterally decides to take away our rights to our reo, to our ways of doing our tikanga, to our hauora because it’s all intrinsically tied together.
From a hauora perspective the imbalance is glaring in terms of the inequities, where Māori die seven years earlier.
Waitangi Day celebrations in they Bay of Islands. Photo / Michael Cunningham
To treat Te Tiriti as if it’s meaningless and can be tampered with by involving a select committee or Referendum to determine the meaning is grossly inappropriate.
Tino rangatiratanga is a unique construct that belongs between Māori and the Crown. It is enshrined into Te Tiriti. It is not about race per se, but about the relationship the Crown and Māori said we would uphold to grow together from the beginning.
It was a new and unique relationship at the time. Yet the Crown, unilaterally, is trying to change it now to make it more in favour of themselves.
It basically disempowers Māori as second-class citizens in our own land.
The future is about education.
We want to see our families thriving. Not in the Oranga Tamariki or Corrections “pipeline” having babies uplifted or being incarcerated.
The final report by the Abuse in Care – Royal Commission of Inquiry released this year will confirm the plight of our indigenous Māori people in our country due to the racist policies of this and previous governments.
Lady Tureiti Moxon at the Waitangi TReaty Grounds.
I want to echo all the sentiments of our impassioned Māori speakers at Waitangi.
“Hold fast to your mana, hold fast to your whenua, embrace and love our reo, as it’s sustenance to our people and our future is in good hands.”
Mauri ora ki a tatou katoa.
Lady Tureiti Moxon is chairwoman of the National Urban Māori Authority and managing director at Te Kohao Health and was a member of the establishment board of the Māori Health Authority.
