Treaty of Waitangi claims and settlements have been a significant feature of New Zealand race relations and politics since 1975. Over the last 30 years, New Zealand governments have increasingly provided formal legal and political opportunity for Māori to seek redress for breaches by the Crown of the guarantees 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 from a number of angles, from those who believe that the redress is insufficient to compensate for Māori losses, to those who see no value in revisiting painful and contentious historical issues. Languages Māori, English Religions Māori religion, Christianity Related ethnic groups other Polynesian peoples, Austronesian peoples The word Māori refers to the indigenous people of New Zealand and their language. ... One of the few extant copies of the Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (Māori: Tiriti o Waitangi) was signed on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. ...

Because the Treaty of Waitangi was unenforceable in court before the 1980s, the primary means of registering and researching Treaty claims is through the Waitangi Tribunal. The primary means of settling those claims is through negotiations with the government of the day. The Waitangi Tribunal is a New Zealand court empowered to compensate Maori people for land obtained by fraud or by force since 1840. ...

History of the Treaty

Main article: Treaty of Waitangi

The Treaty of Waitangi

The Treaty of Waitangi is often considered to be the founding document for European settlement (Pākehā) in New Zealand. It guaranteed to Māori the right to keep their lands, forests, fisheries and all their treasures, but they would hand sovereignty in the English version, and governorship in the Māori version, over to the Crown and would also only be able to sell to the Crown. Initially, there was little dispute, as the settlers were able to buy land from the Māori through legal channels. However, after a while, Māori became disillusioned and less willing to sell, while the Crown came under increasing pressure from settlers wishing to buy. Consequently, government land agents were involved in a number of dubious land purchases. Agreements were negotiated with only one owner of tribally owned land and in some cases land was purchased from the wrong people altogether. Unrest and rebellion caused by these actions were met with further punitive land confiscations. Eventually this led to the New Zealand Wars, which culminated in the confiscation of a large part of the Waikato and Taranaki. One of the few extant copies of the Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (Māori: Tiriti o Waitangi) was signed on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. ... Picture of the treaty of Waitangi non-creative depiction of PD document. ... Picture of the treaty of Waitangi non-creative depiction of PD document. ... One of the few extant copies of the Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (Māori: Tiriti o Waitangi) was signed on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. ... Pākehā is a term generally used to describe New Zealanders of Anglo/European extraction, but some Māori may use it to refer to any non-Māori person. ... Languages Māori, English Religions Māori religion, Christianity Related ethnic groups other Polynesian peoples, Austronesian peoples The word Māori refers to the indigenous people of New Zealand and their language. ... New Zealand English (NZE) is the English spoken in New Zealand. ... Māori (or Maori) is the Polynesian language spoken in New Zealand, where it has official status. ... Throughout the Commonwealth Realms The Crown is an abstract concept which represents the legal authority for the existence of any government. ... Languages Māori, English Religions Māori religion, Christianity Related ethnic groups other Polynesian peoples, Austronesian peoples The word Māori refers to the indigenous people of New Zealand and their language. ... The Māori Wars, now more commonly being referred to as The Land Wars and also as the New Zealand Wars, refers to a series of conflicts that happened in New Zealand between 1845 and 1872. ... Waikato is the name of a region in the North Island of New Zealand. ... View of Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont from Stratford, facing west. ...

Early settlements

In the 1920s, land commissions investigated the grievances of iwi whose land had been confiscated or otherwise fraudulently obtained in the previous century, and many were found to be valid. ^[1] By the 1940s, settlements in the form of modest annual payments had been arranged with some iwi. However, iwi 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 iwi to declare their claims settled. ^[2] Iwi (pronounced ee-wee) are the largest everyday social units in Māori society. ...

The Waitangi Tribunal

Main article: Waitangi Tribunal

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. The Waitangi Tribunal is a New Zealand court empowered to compensate Maori people for land obtained by fraud or by force since 1840. ...

In 1975 the Treaty of Waitangi Act established the Waitangi Tribunal to hear claims of Crown violations of the Treaty of Waitangi, to address those concerns. It allowed any Māori to lodge a claim against the Crown for breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles. Originally its mandate was limited to claims about contemporary issues, that is, those that occurred after the establishment of the Tribunal. Early claims included the 'Te Reo Māori' claim ^[3] . As a result of the Tribunal's report into the claim, in 1987 the government made Te Reo Māori an official language of New Zealand, and established the Maori Language Commission to foster it. The pivotal issue considered by the Tribunal was whether a language could be considered a "treasure" or "taonga", and thus protected by the Treaty. Māori or Te Reo Māori, commonly shortened to Te Reo (literally the language) is an official language of New Zealand. ... New Zealands Maori Language Commission (Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori) is a State organisation set up under the Māori Language Act 1987 with the following functions: (a) To initiate, develop, co-ordinate, review, advise upon, and assist in the implementation of policies, procedures, measures, and...

In 1985 the Fourth Labour Government extended the Tribunal's powers to allow it to consider Crown actions dating back to 1840, including the period covered by the New Zealand Wars. The number of claims quickly rose, and during the early 1990s, the government began to negotiate settlements of historical (pre-1992) claims. The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Māori Wars, now more commonly being referred to as The Land Wars and also as the New Zealand Wars, refers to a series of conflicts that happened in New Zealand between 1845 and 1872. ...

Settlements of the 1990s

While early Tribunal recommendations mainly concerned a contemporary issue that could be revised or rectified by the government at the time, historical settlements raised more complex issues. The Office of Treaty Settlements was established in the Ministry of Justice to develop government policy on historical claims. In 1995, the government developed the "Crown Proposals for the Settlement of Treaty of Waitangi Claims" ^[4] to attempt to address the issues. A key element of the proposals was the creation of a "fiscal envelope" of $1 billion for the settlement of all historical claims, an effective limit on what the Crown would pay out in settlements. The Crown held a series of consultation hui around the country, at which Māori vehemently rejected such a limitation in advance of the extent of claims being fully known. ^[5] The concept of the fiscal envelope was subsequently dropped after the 1996 general election. The New Zealand dollar (ISO 4217: NZD, sometimes NZ$ and often informally known as the Kiwi dollar) is the official currency of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, and the Pitcairn Islands. ... A hui is a New Zealand Māori social gathering or assembly in a Māori community. ... The 1996 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament. ...

Despite the protest, three major settlements were reached during this time. The Minister of Justice and Treaty Negotiations at the time, Sir Douglas Graham, is credited with leading a largely conservative National government to make these breakthroughs. ^[6] Sir Douglas Arthur Montrose Doug Graham KNZM (12 January 1942 - ), is a former New Zealand politician. ... The Fourth National Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 2 November 1990 to 27 November 1999. ...

Sealords

The Treaty guaranteed to Māori their lands, forests and fisheries, however over time New Zealand law had changed to regulate commercial fisheries so that Māori control was substantially eroded. To resolve this grievance, in 1989 an interim agreement was reached, and the Crown transferred 10 percent of New Zealand's fishing quota (some 60,000 tonnes) together with shareholdings in fishing companies and $50 million in cash to the Waitangi Fisheries Commission. This commission was responsible for holding the fisheries assets on behalf of Māori until an agreement was reached as to how the assets were to be shared among tribes. In 1992, a second part of the deal, referred to as the Sealord deal, marked full and final settlement of Māori commercial fishing claims under the Treaty of Waitangi. This included 50% of Sealord Fisheries and 20% of all new species brought under the quota system, more shares in fishing companies, and $18 million in cash. In total it was worth around $170 million. ^[7]

Waikato Tainui Raupatu

The first major settlement of historical confiscation, or raupatu, claims was agreed in 1995. Waikato-Tainui's confiscation claims were settled for a package worth $170 million, in a mixture of cash and Crown-owned land. The settlement was accompanied by a formal apology, delivered by Queen Elizabeth II in person during her 1995 visit to New Zealand. The Crown apologised for the Invasion of the Waikato and the indiscriminate confiscation of land afterwards. The settlement did not include claims to the Waikato River, which remain to be resolved. Waikato is the name of a region in the North Island of New Zealand. ... Tainui is a Maori Iwi Waka Confederation of New Zealand. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ... The Invasion of the Waikato was an invasion during the Maori Wars fought in the North Island of New Zealand from July 1863 to April 1864 between the military forces of the Colonial Government and a federation of Maori tribes known as the King Movement (Kiingitanga). ... The Waikato River system The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand. ...

Ngāi Tahu

Ngāi Tahu's claims covered a large proportion of the South Island of New Zealand, and related to the Crown's failure to meet its end of the bargain in land sales that took place from the 1840s. ^[8] Ngāi Tahu sought recognition of their relationship with the land, as well as cash and property, and a number of novel arrangements were developed to address this. Among other things, Ngāi Tahu and the Crown agreed that Mt Cook would be formally renamed Aoraki/Mount Cook, and returned to Ngāi Tahu to be gifted back to the people of New Zealand. Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori iwi (tribe) of the southern region of New Zealand. ... The South Island The South Island is one of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the North Island. ... Mt Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. ...

Settlements of the 2000s

The process of negotiating historical claims continued after the 1999 election and the subsequent change in government without radical change to government policy. The models developed for the early settlements remain a strong influence. The 1999 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 46th session of the New Zealand Parliament. ...

As at October 2006, there have been 21 settlements (counting the above) of various sizes, totalling just over $700 million. ^[9] Settlements generally include financial redress, a formal Crown apology for breaches of the Treaty, and recognition of the group's cultural associations with various sites.

List of Treaty Settlements

Criticisms

The Treaty settlement process has attracted criticisms from across the political spectrum since it began. As noted above, Māori were concerned that the level of redress provided was too low, and that the settlement process was subject to too much Crown control. Conservationists were concerned about the impact of claims to conservation land, and many Pākehā were concerned that settlements would directly affect them. Public Access New Zealand and the One New Zealand Foundation[1] respectively were lobby groups formed to represent these views.

However, during the 1990s there was broad agreement between major political parties that the settlement of historical claims was appropriate, within the confines of the government's policy to limit impact on private landowners and access to conservation land. Legislation enacting Treaty settlements was passed by Parliament with an overwhelming majority. On the claimants' side, support for a settlement was expressed through ratification among adult members of a tribe, in contrast with the early settlement attempts of the 1940s.

Over time, the consensus on the part of politicians has frayed. Winston Peters has critiqued the increasing number of claims registered at the Waitangi Tribunal, a result of the law which allows any Māori to lodge a claim, and suggested that a "Treaty of Waitangi Gravy Train" has formed around the claims process. ^[10] The ACT party has echoed that criticism - despite stating that "claims should be promptly settled where land was unlawfully taken or improperly compensated, if we can identify the descendants of those who were wronged"^[11], they have never voted in support of Treaty settlement legislation, and coined the phrase "Treaty of Waitangi Grievance Industry"^[12], to describe the participants in the settlement process. Winston Raymond Peters (born April 11, 1945) is a New Zealand politician and the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, outside cabinet. ... The Waitangi Tribunal is a New Zealand court empowered to compensate Maori people for land obtained by fraud or by force since 1840. ... ACT New Zealand is a free market liberal party in the New Zealand Parliament. ...

The Orewa Speech in 2004 saw the National Party for the first time take up the term "Treaty of Waitangi Grievance Industry". National's Māori Affairs spokeswoman Georgina Te Heuheu, who was Associate Minister to Sir Douglas Graham, was replaced in the role by Gerry Brownlee. Specific criticism that members of the National Party have made against settlements is that they are not being negotiated quickly enough, that insufficient attention is being given to ensure that claimant negotiators have the support of their people, ^[13] and that settlement legislation is giving inappropriate weight to the spiritual beliefs of Māori.^[14] Dr Don Brash delivered the controversial Orewa speech in the New Zealand town of Orewa on 27 January 2004. ... The New Zealand National Party (National or the Nats) currently forms the second-largest (in terms of seats) political party represented in the New Zealand Parliament, and thus functions as the core of the parliamentary Opposition. ... Speculation about her future began in 2004 after she criticised a speech by leader Don Brash. ... Sir Douglas Arthur Montrose Doug Graham KNZM (12 January 1942 - ), is a former New Zealand politician. ... MP Gerry Brownlee Gerard Anthony Brownlee (born 1956), generally known as Gerry Brownlee, is a New Zealand politician. ...

The Māori Party and Green Party both criticise Treaty settlements on the grounds that the Crown has too much power in negotiations, that settlements negotiated at an iwi level ignore the rights of hapu, and that settlement redress is too parsimonious. ^[15] The Māori Party, a political party in New Zealand based around Māori citizens, formed around Tariana Turia, a former Labour Party member who had been a New Zealand Cabinet minister in the current Labour-dominated coalition government. ... Current Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand logo The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is a political party in the New Zealand parliament. ...

There are many New Zealanders, who agree in principle with the idea that it was wrong to seize land from the Maoris, but who dislike the implementation of the settlement process, feeling that some land claims are nonsensical. This has been the line that the National (in particular by Don Brash) and A.C.T. parties have tended to adopt in recent years. There have been various Treaty of Waitangi claims that have caused these parties consternation. One claim was for the sea routes between New Zealand and Polynesia, which went as high as the Privy Council. In another claim, Taupo iwi Ngati Tuwharetoa attempted to impose a levy on people using the airspace above Lake Taupo for bungee jumps[2]. In another claim, six Iwi (Ngati Kuri, Ngati Wai, Te Rarawa, Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu and Ngati Koata), in Wai 262, claimed that the Maoris were entitled to a cut of profits derived from scientific research done on native New Zealand fauna[3]. Another recent claim concerns New Zealand's water supplies. The Tainui, Ngai Tahu, Tuwharetoa and Whanganui Iwi have launched a campaign to put much of New Zealand's water supplies under Maori control [4]. Yet another recent claim was launched by the Ngapuhi Iwi, which calls for the oral traditions of Maori elders to be given the same weighting in the judicial system as written evidence [5].

See also

• Treaty of Waitangi
• New Zealand land wars
• Orewa Speech

One of the few extant copies of the Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (Māori: Tiriti o Waitangi) was signed on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. ... A room at the Auckland War Memorial Museum commemorates those who died, both European and Māori, in the New Zealand Wars. ... Dr Don Brash delivered the controversial Orewa speech in the New Zealand town of Orewa on 27 January 2004. ...

External links

• Key Māori claims - newspaper article
• Labour Party Treaty Policy
• National Party Treaty Policy
• NZ First Party Treaty Policy
• Green Party Treaty Policy
• Māori Party Treaty Policy
• ACT Party Treaty Policy

References

1. ^ Treaty of Waitangi Information Unit (2005). Early Twentieth Century (HTML). State Services Commission. Retrieved on 2006 August 15.
2. ^ Office of Treaty Settlements (2003). Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi Settlement Summary (PDF). Retrieved on 2006 August 15.
3. ^ Waitangi Tribunal (1986?). Te Report of the Waitangi Tribunal on the Te Reo Maori Claim (HTML). Retrieved on 2006 August 15.
4. ^ Office of Treaty Settlements (1995). Crown Proposals for the Settlement of Treaty of Waitangi Claims (HTML). Retrieved on 2006 August 15.
5. ^ Gardiner, Wira (1996), Return to Sender; what really happened at the fiscal envelope hui, Auckland: Reed
6. ^ Lean, Mary (October/November 1999). "Getting the Government to Say Sorry" (HTML). For A Change. Retrieved on 2006-08-15. 
7. ^ Walrond, Carl (2006). Fishing Industry (HTML). Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved on 2006 August 15.
8. ^ Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu (2006). Claim History Overview (HTML). Retrieved on 2006 August 15.
9. ^ Office of Treaty Settlements (March 2006). Quarterly Report (PDF). Retrieved on 2006 August 15.
10. ^ New Zealand First (7 March 2002). "Victimcrats" and the "Wellington Problem". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
11. ^ ACT Party (2005?). ACT on The Treaty of Waitangi and Māori Affairs (HTML). Retrieved on 2006 August 15.
12. ^ Newman, Muriel (2005?). ACT’s once radical policies are now determining the future of New Zealand (HTML). Retrieved on 2006 August 15.
13. ^ National Party (5 September 2005). Brownlee suspicious about settlement timing. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
14. ^ Mapp, Wayne (1 March 2005). Ngāti Awa Claims Settlement Bill In Committee Speech (HTML). Hansard. Retrieved on 2006 August 15.
15. ^ Berry and Stokes, Ruth and Jon. "Call for bigger treaty settlements" (HTML), New Zealand Herald, 1 September 2005. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.

For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... Schematic map of Auckland. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... A news release, press release or press statement is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... A news release, press release or press statement is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ...

Further reading

• Graham, Douglas (1997), Trick or Treaty, Wellington: Institute of Policy Studies

• Orange, Claudia (2004), An Illustrated History of the Treaty of Waitangi, Wellington: Bridget Williams Books

• Belgrave, Kawharu and Williams (eds), M, M & D (2005), Waitangi Revisited: Perspectives on the Treaty of Waitangi, Melbourne: Oxford University Press