Ae Marika! 18 February 2014
Posted on February 19, 2014 by admin in Ae MarikaSettling Treaty claims has become a very high pressure business, and as each settlement is concluded pressure mounts on those yet to settle, to do so.
Settling Treaty-based grievances is a good thing, but even in the best of times, any honest Maori will tell you that the Treaty settlement process is set up for there to be only one real winner – the Crown.
Government alone laid down the parameters of the debate, set up the Waitangi Tribunal to hear claims, defined the powers of the Tribunal, decides who can sit on the Tribunal, specified the terms of the hearings process, says which lands are available for claim and which ones aren’t, set a 3% ceiling on all claims, outlined the requirements claimants must meet before negotiations start, included a ‘full and final’ clause in all settlements with no right of appeal, and established a process that pitted hapu and iwi against one another and created disputes that may take generations to resolve.
There’s no doubting the best of intentions of iwi negotiators, and their genuine desire to achieve some measure of compensation for land thefts, cultural deprivation, dispossession of language and the denial of access to rights and privileges accorded to others, but the reality is they’re playing against a guy who holds all the aces.
And then of course there are the divisions created amongst iwi by the negotiation process itself.
The recent Ngati Kuri signing at Ngataki was a good example of that (although to their credit, Ngati Kuri is the first iwi I have seen allow the dissent to be expressed inside the tent).
The recent announcement by the Minister of Treaty Settlements Christopher Finlayson that the Government has granted Tūhoronuku the mandate to represent Ngāpuhi in Treaty settlement negotiations with the Crown is an even bigger case of division within the iwi, given the scale of the Ngapuhi claim and the size and relevance of the opposing party – Te Kotahitanga o Nga Hapu o Ngapuhi.
And sometimes those divisions can lead to arguments, legal challenges and even open hostility between whanau on different sides of the debate.
Indeed I am reminded of back in the Waitangi Action Committee days, how strong our condemnation was of those working with the Crown. Back then we were unshakeable in our views, we refused to accept criticism, and we were right and everyone else was wrong … yeah right!
It was only later that we realised how cutting our words must have seemed to our uncles on the other side of the fence, and it was that experience that made me realise how important it was to see the mana in every one of my relations … even those I disagreed with intently.
There is a lot more to be said about where the Ngapuhi process takes us in the months to come, just as there will be with the settlements here in the far north. But one thing that will not change is our whanaungatanga and, whether you like it or not, as true as it is that we are related to one another in 2014, so too will it be for our descendants in the years to come.
And that is worth more than any settlement will ever be worth.
AE MARIKA is an article written every week by Hone Harawira, leader of the MANA Movement and Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau. You are welcome to use any of the comments and to ascribe them to Mr Harawira. The full range of Hone’s articles can be found on the MANA website at www.mana.net.nz.
Discussion · No Comments
There are no responses to “Ae Marika! 18 February 2014”.No one has posted a comment on this post yet. Start the discussion!
Leave a Comment