At every hui of Matike Mai o Aotearoa where Te Tīriti o Waitangi was discussed, there were three main kōrero. First was the kōrero that consistently referenced
what the old people had passed down.
[1]“Knowing what our old people have told us, it just seems logical that we
would never have ceded anything to the Crown. But the old people also said
that we offered Pākehā a place to stand, and that seems logical as well because it’s about manaakitanga … it’s not about them trampling on our manaaki and us trampling on
their right to be here which Te Tīriti gave them … that was the bargain really,
only it never worked out the way that the rangatira intended … and
probably not the way some Pākehā might have wanted at that time either.”
“It is important that if you are to write about
a constitution based on Te Tīriti, that you stay focussed on what our tūpuna said, and not what generations of Crown officials and lawyers have
told us.”
Second was the korero that reaffirmed
Te Tiriti maintained our mana and did not cede it.
“Understanding Te Tīriti
means understanding … that our old people only talked about and signed the
words in te
reo, because that was it at that
time, and … we didn’t give away our mana to be in charge of ourselves, but kept
it and asked Pākehā to look after themselves too, according to certain tikanga.”
“When Te Tīriti is seen
as maintaining our mana rather than giving it away, it is easy to see it like
two lots of different mana coming together, us and Pākehā, and all of us having
to work out a proper relationship where one doesn’t boss the other around.”
Third was the korero that understood
that Te Tiriti is fundamental to any future constitution.
“Te Tiriti as a base
(for a constitution) is a no-brainer … It will finally settle the past and
provide … a good blueprint for the future.
But as always the devil will be in the detail.”
“Te Tīriti has everything a constitution needs
– the recognition of each community’s mana, the preservation of each
community’s decision-making authority, and the recognition that there are
things everyone has to come together to make a decision about.”
“I have always believed
that Te Tiriti is a constitutional agreement.
It said that we were to carry on making law for ourselves while the
Crown was to organise Pakeha. That is
what a treaty-based constitution means.”
As can be seen, these korero come
from people who believe in the constitutional promise of Te Tiriti, and are
realistic but undeterred about the difficulties of bringing that promise to fruition. In coming weeks we will share some of their
thinking on those difficulties.
[1] Fifteenth
edited extract from pp. 53 – 54 of He Whakaaro Here
Whakaumu Mō Aotearoa – The Report of Matike Mai o Aotearoa
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