By: Noah Duguma
Volume X – Issue II – Spring 2025
I. INTRODUCTION
New Zealand (Aotearoa) has occupied a unique space in the English settler-colonial world. Compared to its other English speaking peers, New Zealand is far younger and less developed. When compared to its larger neighbor across the Tasman Sea, Australia, New Zealand has attracted smaller numbers of European settlers. [1] As such, New Zealand has retained the highest proportion of Indigenous peoples in relation to settler populations of all former British settler colonies (with New Zealand’s most recent 2023 census revealing that 19.5 percent of the country’s population is of either full or partial Māori descent). [2] New Zealand’s consistently significant Māori population has meant that the Māori have been able to advocate for themselves on the national and international stage. The fruitful results of the Māori’s self-advocacy does not mean that indigenous-settler relations have always been merry—on the contrary, the Māori have had to fight for the better part of a century in order to obtain the indigenous land rights they currently enjoy.
II. SETTING THE SCENE
In 2023, Jacinda Ardern resigned from her tenure as the prime minister of New Zealand. Under Ardern’s ministership, New Zealand was able to achieve significant strides in Māori-settler relations. The most notable of these achievements was the strengthening of previous governmental efforts in establishing a working dialogue between New Zealand’s Ministry of the Environment and the Māori use of Kaitiakitanga, a Māori concept that roughly translates to guardianship. [3] Although Kaitiakitanga has a rudimentary English translation, the concept is multifaceted: Kaitiakitanga imbues a mentality of humility when dealing with land management. The Māori believe that because of the extremely close relationship they have with the land, they should not think of themselves as above the natural ecosystem. [4] This aspect of Kaitiakitanga clashes with the traditional Western philosophy around land management, which places humans above the natural ecosystem. Another distinguishing feature of Kaitiakitanga is the genealogical relationship the Māori feel to the land of Aotearoa. [5] The Ardern administration valorized, elevated, and legalized the role of traditional Māori knowledge with regard to environmental management, which was monumental for Māori land rights.
The strides the Ardern administration made quickly became threatened by Christopher Luxon’s ascendance. Luxon was the prime minister that assumed office after Jacinda Ardern’s resignation. While Ardern was backed by the Labor party, Luxon was backed by the National party. The Labor party is center-left whereas the National party is center-right. One of the main priorities within Luxon’s (and by proxy, the National party’s) campaign platform was to decouple the ministry of the environment from Māori sources of input. Generally, other political parties in New Zealand would not dare to suggest such a polarizing political objective because doing so threatens the very legal tapestry that has guided jurisprudence in New Zealand for well over a century.
III. LEGAL HISTORY OF MODERN NEW ZEALAND
The Treaty of Waitangi is the founding document and constitution of modern New Zealand. However, as a constitution, it occupies a unique position in the country’s legislative landscape. Not only is the Treaty of Waitangi a treaty, it is also a document that is important to the founding myth of the modern New Zealand the world knows today.
In spite of the wizened position The Treaty of Waitangi enjoys today, the document did not always enjoy such reverence (one can see this by examining the tattered condition the original Treaty is in, which is indicative of the abject neglect the Western government paid to such an important document). Not long after the signing of the Treaty, the British Crown systematically betrayed the Māori demands enumerated in the document. The British Crown did this by selling off land under Māori possession to new immigrants for farming and mining purposes. Naturally, this greatly upset the Māori people, who rightfully felt betrayed by the lack of obligation the British felt towards their promises. The wholesale of Māori land caused widespread unrest within the Māori population, and led to what would later become known as “The Land Wars”. [6] The conflict over land within colonial Zealand lasted well over two and a half decades, killing nearly three thousand people and wounding just as many, with the overwhelming majority of the casualties and wounded being Māori.
In spite of the bloodshed endured by the Māori, much of the land that the British colonial government took from them during the Land Wars has not been returned. The egregious Land Wars unfortunately caused systematic dispossession economically for Māori iwis across the islands. For well over a century, the Māori were relegated to the lowest rungs of society, being discriminated against all the while losing more economic power. Eventually, the discontent within the Māori community rose to a fever pitch once again and a more peaceful activism movement arose against the Western New Zealand government in the early 1970s. At the start of the 1970s, Māori communities across New Zealand started placing renewed emphasis on the shortfalls of the Treaty of Waitangi. During the first half of the 1970’s, Māori staged endless demonstrations in Wellington (and across broader New Zealand) to advocate for their Indigenous rights. [7]
The tireless efforts of hundreds of selfless Māori activists culminated in the establishment of the Treaty of Waitangi Act of 1975 by the New Zealand government. The Treaty of Waitangi Act of 1975 is the modern legitimization of the original Treaty of Waitangi, as before the act was passed the Treaty of Waitangi did not have any legal legitimacy within New Zealand’s government. The most important part of the act was the commencement of the Treaty of Waitangi Tribunal, which consists of a commission of inquiry that analyzes all of the breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi that the New Zealand government committed. [8] The work that the Treaty of Waitangi Tribunal does is as important as it is onerous, as the Tribunal needs to process large amounts of verbal and historical evidence in order to deliver judgements on the New Zealand government’s breaches of the treaty. The initial inquiry process into the Treaty of Waitangi took nearly forty years and only reached a final judgement in 2014, and the Treaty of Waitangi still adjudicates breaches of the treaty to this day. The Treaty of Waitangi Tribunal is extremely important due to the longevity and sheer amount of historical injustice levied against the Māori people. In order for the process of truth and reconciliation to commence, New Zealand was in dire need of a legal council to organize historical evidence and suggest ways for Māori and settlers to move forward.
IV. THE TREATY AND CULTURAL DERISION
If the purpose of the Treaty of Waitangi was expressly to establish the Māori people’s sovereignty over their land, why are politicians now claiming that the Treaty is causing cultural derision? Unfortunately, much of the cultural derision that conservative politicians allege are manufactured. Kiwi conservatives have been carefully constructing inflationary narratives around the current interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi. What the Treaty of Waitangi tribunal originally intended as requiring the Western New Zealand government to recognize Māori sovereignty and customary land rights once again, conservatives disgracefully twisted into a story of the Māori receiving special rights and more attention over other ethnic groups in New Zealand. [9] Such claims made by the conservative parties within New Zealand is blatant misinformation.
When politicians make immensely lofty claims about something as crucial as Indigenous recompense, there are often ulterior motives at play. In the case of the ACT New Zealand party, which spurred the anti-Indigenous rhetoric and wrote the Bill to reinterpret the Treaty of Waitangi, this political party is a significant advocate of farmers’ rights and small government. Naturally, more governmental bureaucracy tied towards the increased interactions between ministries and the Māori has the potential to complicate the regulatory burden these farmers face. Incidentally, the Treaty of Waitangi Act of 1975 opened up significant channels for Māori input into governmental processes. The new attention placed on Māori affairs created specified governmental agencies for the betterment of Māori people, such as the Ministry of Māori development, and large channels for communication between the ministry of the environment and Māori people were opened as well. For example, the Ministry of the Environment is undergoing dialogue with the Māori to establish an exclusive platform for Māori climate action, implement a climate action plan separate from that of New Zealand’s specifically for the Māori, all while recognizing the Māori’s indigenous epistemology. [10]
It is erroneous for any New Zealand politician to claim that the Māori are getting special privileges due to the actions that the Ministry of Environment has taken. Politicians must understand that the governmental system New Zealand is based on came about through the disgraceful exploitation and expungement of native peoples. It is merely right for New Zealand’s settlers to understand that the Māori have traditional knowledge that they have accumulated through hundreds of years of continued habitation that translates into customary land rights. Additionally, it is important for the New Zealand government to realize that it has a lot of precious indigenous knowledge to learn from the Māori people; it is only through reciprocity and equity that New Zealand can heal the cultural derision caused by the passage of the Treaty of Waitangi Principles act and the subsequent political antics of the ACT Party coalition.
V. FORGING A PATH FORWARD
With the introduction of the politically rancorous Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Act last year, government officials have to reckon with a populace that has become increasingly distrustful and fearful. ACT New Zealand’s push to reinterpret the Treaty of Waitangi has dredged up painful memories of colonial neglect and exploitation and has upset a cultural balance that has made New Zealand one of the most progressive countries in the world for Indigenous rights. The Māori understand the precariousness of the rights the government has afforded them, and know full well the price their ancestors had to pay in order to procure their rights within such a hostile colonial environment. Responses to such trauma can be seen in the expansive protests that erupted in Wellington and other major cities in New Zealand in response to the introduction of the reinterpretation bill. The least that New Zealand politicians can do to assuage the dire concerns of not just Māori, but ordinary settlers as well, is to permanently erase the Treaty Principles bill from the parliamentary floor.
In spite of the national disgrace that was the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi bill, New Zealand still has a robust body of laws to support the welfare of the Māori. However, it is worthwhile to note that while the Treaty of Waitangi Act provides for the codification of the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, the actual Treaty of Waitangi itself is not codified into law. In addition to effacing the Treaty Principles bill, the New Zealand government can also codify the actual Treaty of Waitangi into law. While it might seem like a symbolic gesture, as modern New Zealand is a completely different legal, cultural, and governmental landscape compared to nearly two hundred years ago, such a gesture has the potential to regain the rapport that has been lost between the New Zealand government and the Māori. Governments often underestimate the soft power that symbolic gestures can imbue. Yet, within codifying The Treaty of Waitangi, the New Zealand government must set itself on a strict path of truth and reconciliation. It cannot be emphasized enough how significant and large of a cultural transgression the Treaty Principles Act has been, and New Zealand must do everything in its power to regain the trust that was lost during the peddling of the disgraceful Treaty Principles Act. Only then will the New Zealand government be able to progress towards a better and more equitable collective future.
Endnotes
[1] “History of Immigration.” n.d. Teara.govt.nz. https://teara.govt.nz/en/history-of-immigration/print
[2] Stats NZ. 2024. “2023 Census Population Counts (by Ethnic Group, Age, and Māori Descent) and Dwelling Counts | Stats NZ.” Www.stats.govt.nz. May 29, 2024. https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/2023-censuspopulation-counts-by-ethnic-group-age-and-maori-descent-and-dwelling-counts/.
[3] Ministry for the Environment. 2022. “Empowering Māori.” Ministry for the Environment. May 16, 2022. https://environment.govt.nz/publications/aotearoa-new-zealands-first-emissions-reduction-plan/empowering-maori/
[4] Nolan, Scott Ratima. 2022. “Kaitiakitanga: Utilising Māori Holistic Conservation in Heritage Institutions.” Journal of Conservation and Museum Studies 20 (1). https://doi.org/10.5334/jcms.215.
[5] Council, Auckland. n.d. “Values and Principles of the Wellbeing Framework.” Auckland Council. https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/plans-projects-policies-reports-bylaws/our-plans-strategies/topic-based-plansstrategies/environmental-plans-strategies/aucklands-climate-plan/response/Pages/values-principles-wellbeingframework.aspx.
[6] Keenan, Danny. “New Zealand Wars – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand.” teara.govt.nz, June 20, 2012. https://teara.govt.nz/en/new-zealand-wars
[7] Schrader, Ben. “Public Protest.” Govt.nz, 2019. https://teara.govt.nz/mi/public-protest/print.
[8] Tribunal, Waitangi. “About | Waitangi Tribunal.” Waitangi Tribunal, 2015. https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/about/about-the-waitangi-tribunal/about-the-waitangi-tribunal
[9] Shamim, Sarah. “Why Are New Zealand’s Maori Protesting over Colonial-Era Treaty Bill?” Al Jazeera, November 19, 2024. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/19/why-are-new-zealands-maori-protesting-over-colonial-eratreaty-bill.
[10] Ministry for the Environment . “Climate Action for Māori.” Ministry for the Environment, August 3, 2022. https://environment.govt.nz/publications/climate-action-for-maori-the-national-adaptation-plan/.