He Whakaputanga o Te Rangatiratanga o Nu
Tireni (1835) was not discussed
often outside Te Tai Tokerau during the hui of Matike Mai o Aotearoa, but wherever it was discussed its kaupapa of different
polities working together was acknowledged as important. In many hui it was defined as the only tika
way to establish the kind of constitutional relationship with the Crown that is
contemplated in Te Tiriti o Waitangi (1840).
Those outside Te Tai Tokerau
also felt that the traditional relationships between Whānau, Hapū and Iwi that had been undermined by the Crown in the course of colonisation, could
only be rebuilt with the institutionalisation of some form of unity similar to
that contemplated in He Whakaputanga.
[1]“We never signed He Whakaputanga, but what it talked about are the same
things that we have always talked about, especially our people finding a way to
come together.”
“Everything that He Whakaputanga tells us about making decisions
together … what they now call unity in action, was a warning really that with
all these new people coming there would be threats to our way of life and our
rangatiratanga … and that’s exactly what happened.”
“Our tūpuna Te Hapuku signed He Whakaputanga, and it has always been part of the
understanding that rangatiratanga is not about being beholden to anyone else … not something dependent
on the Crown like the Crown seems to think.”
“Te Wherowhero signed He Whakaputanga and then later became the first king, so I have
imagined that the aspirations of the two are the same. They wanted … expected their authority and, yes,
their independence to be acknowledged and respected. That’s got to be the base for any constitution
for our people, then we can go and get some sort of kotahitanga with the
Crown.”
“I find it really inspiring that our old people could have foresight
like that and build upon ideas they already had about politics to evolve
something different in He Whakaputanga.
It must have been a big ask in those days, and I’d only hope we can do
that if we look at a new constitution.”
“Our rōpū thinks that the idea (in He Whakaputanga) that different Iwi
or Hapu can come together is a really good one.
It was an attempt at Kotahitanga that would be really crucial in any new constitution today.”
“There were some practical difficulties with He Whakaputanga like the
infrequent assemblies, but that was the circumstances of those times … the
ideas were amazing. Our old people were
visionaries, and that’s what we need now.”
“We see Kingitanga as our idea of unity, bringing together our marae in allegiance as well
as in practice … and He Whakaputanga has that same idea. So the values are
there but we have to work out how to translate that into something workable for
our people today, because unity can be so hard to achieve.”
“The key of He Whakaputanga … is where it says that we will recognise
no other legislative authority but our own.
That’s the only basis upon which a new constitution should be developed
… recognising our self-determination as well as the kāwanatanga that gives Pākehā
the right to do the same thing … then we have to work out the boundaries between
them and make rules about how that would work in practice.”
”[He Whakaputanga] guarantees Hapū representation, and that’s what a
constitution should do … Things are different now, but if constitutions are
about first principles, then that should surely be the first … while also
allowing Māori the right to debate what the representation might look like and
whether it might include other roopu.”
“We sometimes forget that it was all about Hapū back in the day … He
Whakaputanga is all about Hapū, and working out how we manage that now is going
to be a real challenge.”
“Both the Declaration and treaty talk about Hapū, but that’s always
been too hard for the Crown to deal with.
But we have to be honest with ourselves and find our own ways to rebuild
those relationships among ourselves.”
In one sense, He
Whakaputanga is the prelude to a longer debate about the difficulties that need
to be overcome if any form of unity is to be achieved in Aotearoa in a
constitutional sense.
Next week we will
begin to consider Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the context of constitutional
transformation.
[1] Eleventh edited extract from pp. 46 – 48
of He
Whakaaro Here Whakaumu Mō Aotearoa – The Report of Matike Mai o Aotearoa.
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