Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Nō te tau 1840 ka whānau mai te whenua o Aotearoa. I tērā tau, i te hainatanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi e te kō atu i te e 500 rangatira Māori me ngā māngai o Kuini Wikitōria, ka kuhu a Aotearoa hei whenua maru nā Peretānia. Ko te tiriti te tuhituhinga whakatū ai te whenua nei.
Te wāhanga Pākehā, te wāhanga Māori o te tiriti
I whakatakotoria te tiriti ki te reo Pākehā, kātahi ka hurihia ki te reo Māori. Ko te wāhanga Māori tērā i hainahia e te nuinga o ngā rangatira Māori. Kāore e kore he tirohanga tā tētahi taha ki te tiriti, he tirohanga tā tētahi taha.
Whai muri i te kupu whakataki o te tiriti e mea ana kia hora te rangimārie me te noho pai o te tangata, ko ngā wāhanga e toru. E mea ana te wāhanga tuatahi i roto i te reo Pākehā, ka tukuna e ngā rangatira te ‘sovereignty’ ki te Kuini o Ingarangi. Ko te aronga o te Pākehā ki te kupu ‘sovereignty’ arā, ko te tino rangatiratanga. Heoi, kei te tuhinga Māori o te wāhanga tuatahi e mea ana, ka tukua e ngā Māori ko te ‘kāwanatanga’ kē, kāpā te ‘tino rangatiratanga’. I pōhēhē pea te Māori he rite te ‘sovereignty’ ki te mana o te kāwana o New South Wales e mōhio rā rātou, arā, he mana kei tawhiti, he mana hoki me ngā here kei runga.
E whakaae ana, e whakarite ana te Kuini ki ngā rangatira, ngā hapū, ngā tāngata katoa te mana ki runga i ō rātou whenua, ō rātou kāinga, ō rātou taonga katoa. Waihoki, kei te tuhinga Māori o te wāhanga tuarua e whakaae ana, e whakarite ana te Kuini ki te Māori ‘te tino rangatiratanga’, ko tōna ritenga ko te mana motuhake. Tāpiri atu ki tērā, ka whāiti te whakamāoritanga o ‘Forests, Fisheries and other properties’, ki te kupu ‘taonga’. Nō muri ka whānui te tikanga o te kupu ‘taonga’ kia whai wāhi te reo Māori me ētahi atu taonga.
I tukua e te wāhanga tuatoru o te tiriti ngā ‘tikanga katoa rite tahi ana ki ana mea ki ngā tāngata o Ingarangi’.
Kāore i te āta mōhiotia pēhea te mārama o ngā tāngata o aua wā ki te tiriti, ā, i roto i ngā tau, ka nui ngā tautohetohe mō tōna tikanga, tatū rawa ki ēnei rā. Heoi, ka tareka te kī, i haina ngā rangatira i te tiriti i runga i tō rātou whakaae kia whai wāhi te mana o te Pākehā ki Aotearoa ka tahi, kia tau ngā tāngata o Ingarangi, o Ūropi, o Ahitereiria ki Aotearoa noho ai ka rua. Ki tā rātou titiro, ko te utu mō tēnei, kia noho tonu te mana o te Māori ki ō rātou whenua me ā rātou tikanga; kia mau tonu e ngā rangatira Māori tō rātou tino rangatiratanga.
Te tiriti me te ture
Ko te tiriti tērā kei runga i ngā whakahaere a te Karauna me te Māori. Tautohetia ai tana mana ā-ture i roto i ngā tau; heoi, taea ai ētahi o ana tika te whakaara ā-ture, i ngā wā e tika ana.
He nui ngā tūponotanga
Takoto ai te tārua o te Tiriti o Waitangi i hainahia i te 6 o ngā rā o Pēpuere i te tau 1840, ki te taiwhanga ture o Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga (Archives New Zealand) i Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Heoi, kāore i tika te manaaki i a ia i roto i ngā tau. I te tau 1841, tata tonu ka tahuna te tiriti i te weranga o ngā tari tūmatanui ki Tāmaki-makau-rau. I ngā tau whakamutunga o te rau tau atu i 1800 i pupuritia te tiriti ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara, ka kainga timotimotia e te kiore, ka mākū i te wai. Nō muri mai ka whakanōhia ki Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa (National Library) kia mātakitakina e te tini me te mano.
Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi
I whakatūria Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi (Taraipiunara) i te tau 1975, hei whakarongo ki ngā kerēme a te Māori mō ngā kino o ngā ture me ngā mahi a te Karauna ka pā ki a rātou. I te tau 1985, ka whakamanahia te Taraipiunara kia rongo ki ngā kerēme e pā ana ki ngā mahi a te Karauna mai i te tau 1840. Neke atu i te e 800 ngā kerēme kua takoto ki mua i te aroaro o te Taraipiunara. I eke te kerēme a Ngāi Tahu ki te Taraipiunara mō te waimeha o ngā kupu oati i te hokonga o ōna whenua ki te kāwanatanga i te pokapū o te rau tau atu i 1800. Kua takoto ngā kerēme a etahi iwi o Te Ika-a-Māui mō ō rātou whenua i raupatutia i ngā pakanga i te tekau tau atu i 1860. Ko te mahi a te Taraipiunara, he tāpae tūtohinga ki mua i te aroaro o te kāwanatanga; heoi, kei te kāwanatanga mō te aro atu, te kore aro atu rānei ki ēnei tūtohinga.
Ka taea anō te tono ki te Taraipiunara kia arotakengia tētahi ture hōu tērā pea kāore i te hāngai ki te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Ina takoto ana te tūtohunga a te Taraipiunara mō tētahi kerēme, ko Te Tari Whakatau Take e Pā ana ki te Tiriti o Waitangi (Office of Treaty Settlements) ka whakawhitiwhiti kōrero mō tētahi whakataunga i waenganui i te iwi me te Karauna.
