Te whawhai mutunga kore mō te rangatiratanga

 I te wehenga atu a Te Hokowhitu a Tū ki te mura o te ahi i te tau 1940, i whakaarohia e te iwi Māori ka huri mārika te tū a te Māori ā te hokinga mai o ngā hōia. Mau pai ana te pōhēhē ka whakamihia ai, ā, ka utua ai ō rātou toanga e te hunga ki te kāinga, ki Aotearoa. I runga hoki i taua whakaaro, ko te pūtake i nohoa ai te ture e kīa nei ko te Māori Social and Economic Advancement Act 1945, i ahu mai i roto i te whakaaro ka ora tonu aua toanga, arā te mihi mai a Ngāi Pākehā me te nui ake o ngā whakaputanga o tō te Māori rangatiratanga, i muri iho i te wā pakanga.[1] Ahakoa i whakaroa atu te pakanga i ngā hiahia o mua mō te whakamōhiotanga whānui o te kāwanatanga ki te rangatiratanga Māori, kāhore tonu ngā whāinga ā-tōrangapū a te Māori e ngaro.

            He mea hanga e te ture o te tau 1945 te pōhēhē ka tū rangatira a Ngāi Māori i te whakahaeretanga o ō rātou ake take. Ahakoa i mea mai te kāwanatanga ka piki ake te rangatiratanga o te Māori mō aua take, i haere tonu ngā mahi a te kāwanatanga kia whakahaerengia kinotia ngā take Māori i muri i te pakanga.[2] Hoi anō rā, ko te pūtake o te ture hei whakamana anō i a Ngāi Māori me te whakapiki i tō rātou rangatiratanga. Anu ki au, ka piki ake te mōhio o te kāwanatanga ki taua rangatiratanga i muri i te wā pakanga. Arā, he mea whakarerekē te ao Māori e ngā mahi i ahu mai i te āhua wera o te ao tōrangapu i taua wā.

            I mua i te hekenga mai o te tau 1945, ā, tae rā anō ki te hekenga mai o te Pākeha, kua rerekē rawa te āhua o te ao Māori. He rite tonu te pēhitanga mai o te rangatiratanga Māori, nā whai anō, i hurihia ō rātou tikanga tōrangapū. Ahatia te tokomaha o rātou e mau pai ki te whakaaro e hāpai ake ngā mana tōrangapū i ā rātou mahi, i aukatihia tonuhia e ngā ture o te kāwanatanga ki te whakaoranga mai o tō te Māori mana motuhake. Hei tā ētahi, i ūngia e ngā hiahia o te kāwanatanga ki te whakangaro i ngā āhuatanga Māori, me te whakauruuru iho o te iwi Māori ki raro i te maru o te ao Pākehā.[3]

            Ko ngā ture kāwanatanga i muri mai i te wā pakanga, i tuituia ai ki ngā aho whakauruuru. Ko tā Hunn i tuhia ai he rerekē te tikanga o te ‘whakapākehā’ ki te ‘whakauruuru’ nā runga i te aronga o aua kupu ki ngā āhuatanga Māori. Mā te whakapākehā aua āhuatanga e ngaro, heoi, mā te whakauruuru kē te ao Māori e tū rangatira ai.[4] E ōrite ana te wairua o ēnei kupu e rua ki te whakakotahi i ngā tāngata hei whāinga matua. E ai ki a Hunn, ko te whakauruuru te whāinga o te kāwanatanga mō Ngāi Māori. Nāna anō te kī me whiu atu te whakapākehā ki tahaki hei tohu mō ngā hapa o nehe.[5]

            Totohe ana tēnei take i te kore whakarongo o te Tari Māori i taua wā ki te tirohanga Māori. Ko tā rātou, tē taea te ao Māori te ora tonu me te tirohanga Pākehā i raro i te maru kotahi. Mēnā ko te whakauruuru (ka whakamahi te tikanga kua whakapuakina e Hunn) te whāinga matua o te Tari Māori, e kore pea e panoni rawatia te Māoritanga nō te mutunga i te pakanga. Nā reira, he pono pea te whakaaro ahakoa ko te whakauruuru te kī mai a te kāwanatanga, ko te whakapākehā kē te hua.

            I taua wā, i kaha pā mai ngā ture o te Tari Māori ki ngā tikanga o te whenua Māori. Nō runga i tēnei kaupapa ka pupū ake ai te wairua kino o te kāwanatanga ki ngā mea Māori. Ko te ngako o tēnei wairua, i ahu mai ai i te rerekē o ngā tikanga whenua tō te iwi Māori. Ki tā te kāwanatanga titiro, he raru nui tēnei ki te whakaaro me whakamahi mārika te tangata i ōna ake whenua. Ko te pupuritanga ā-whānau, ā-hapū rāini o te whenua tētahi aukatinga ki te whakaurutanga atu o Ngāi Māori ki te ao hou, ā, ka pūmautia ‘hētia’ e Ngāi Māori ki ō rātou whenua. Ko tā Hunn i mea mai ai i te tau 1960, he tino aukatinga te pupuri Māori ki te whakamahinga tika o te whenua. Hei tāna, horekau he hua kei roto i te wāhia o ngā whenua, hāunga atu i tēnei mea te tūrangawaewae.[6]

            Nō roto mai i ēnei kōrero, ka puta mai ai ngā wheako o tōku whānau, ka hoki anō ai tāku titiro ki ngā ārai ki tō mātou whai i te rangatiratanga. Te nuinga o ēnei kōrero, e pā ana ki te whenua me te whakaiti o tō mātou mana tūrangawaewae i ngā tau kua hipa nā te huringa o ngā whenua papatupu ki te taitara Pākehā i ngā tau ono tekau. Nā te kūare ake o Hunn, e kore e taea e tōna tirohanga ki te ao te aroā ki ngā whakaaro Māori mō te whenua.

            Ko te tirohanga o tōku whānau mō te whenua, he ipu, he waka huia rāini mō tō mātou mana. Nā te mimiti haere o ngā whenua papatupu ki te taitara Pākehā, he ārai te whakamōkihi mai o ngā ringaringa o te Kaitiaki Māori ki te whakaputanga atu o taua mana. I runga i taua whakaaro, korekore rawa te āhuru me te oranga ngākau e puta i te whakahuatanga ake o te ‘Kaitiaki Māori’. I te huringa o ngā whenua hei whenua tōtōā me te hokonga o ngā whenua mai i ngā kaiwhiwhi, i nui ake te whenua kua raupatuhia e te Kaitiaki ki tō mātou kāinga, ki Pipiwai. I pērātia tā mātou titiro ki ōna mahi, arā, ko te raupatu i ngā whenua – ahakoa ngā kōrero whakahē a Hunn.

            Nā ngā mahi me ngā ture o te kāwanatanga, i hūnuku ai mātou ki ngā tāone nui kia rongo anō ai ki tō mātou rangatiratanga – ahakoa te noho mamao noa atu i tō mātou tūrangawaewae. Mai i te tau 1945, e kore rawa e ngā mahi a te Tari Māori e taea te whakamate ō mātou hiahia kia rangona anō te mana me te rangatiratanga kua pupurihia e ō mātou tūpuna.

            Tē taea e ōku tūpuna te matakitengia ēnei mate. Heoi, mārama ana te kite ahatia ngā whakaoati a te kāwanatanga ki te iwi Māori, he ngutu kau noa iho. Tāmate mai ana ō mātou tangi, taumaha mai ana te whawhai mō tō mātou rangatiratanga.

Whakaahua: nō te kohinga ā-whānau.

[1] Raeburn Lange, To Promote Maori Well-Being: Tribal Committees and Executives under the Maori Social and Economic Advancement Act, 1945-1962 (Wellington: Treaty of Waitangi Research Unit), 5.

[2] Ibid, 7.

[3] Richard S. Hill, Māori and the State: Crown-Māori Relations in New Zealand/Aotearoa 1950-2000 (Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2009), 34.

[4] Jack K. Hunn, Report on Department of Maori Affairs, (Wellington: Government Printer), 15.

[5] Aroha Harris, “Dancing with the State: Maori Creative Energy and Policies of Integration, 1945-1967” (PhD thesis, University of Auckland, 2007), 38.

[6] Hunn, 52.