GUEST BLOG: Geoff Fischer – The Three Spheres of Te Puapua and the Treaty Principles Bill
The situation in Aotearoa/New Zealand is less complicated than it seems, once we have all the pieces of the puzzle at hand. In a nutshell, since first contact and up to the present day we have had two social orders, Maori and European, which have conflicting claims to sovereign authority going back to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. At times the Crown has been troubled by Maori claims to sovereignty, because it has been unable to tolerate the idea of a parallel Maori authority in the land. So we had the nineteenth century invasion of Maori lands by British and Australian forces, in the immediate aftermath of which Premier Julius Vogel contemplated a final war of extermination against Maori, before deciding that mass immigration of European settlers would offer the same gain for less pain.
From the British point of view, mass immigration worked well. It largely achieved its object, though not entirely. Today Maori still exist as an entity separate from the British system. One reason immigration was only partially successful was that not all immigrants were dyed-in-the-wool colonialists. Many integrated into the Maori system, mainly through marriage. As Maori assimilated Pakeha, the Maori social order changed, and there developed a Maori sphere, a European sphere, and a joint sphere where Maori and European engaged together. This joint sphere was large, covering the fields of work, religion, sports, culture, and politics. We had Maori shearing and logging gangs working for European farmers and foresters, and at the same time we had Maori farming their own remaining lands in Maori ways. In the Anglican Church/Te Hahi Mihinare we had two wings (actually now three) Tikanga Maori and Tikanga Pakeha and at the same time we had specifically Maori churches, Ratana and Ringatu. In opera we had Kiri te Kanawa and Inia te Wiata, in popular music we had Howard Morrison and the Maori show bands, but we still had waiata and kapahaka on the marae. We had the All Blacks, but still had the Maori All Blacks. We had general seats in parliament, but still had Maori seats, and back home we still had the Maori runanga.
In social terms, one can see that we had a “Maori sphere”, a “joint sphere” and a “European sphere” (which was rather constricted because there was no field of endeavour where Maori did not make their mark). The one area where the European mode dominated completely was political power and this was due to the peculiarities of the Westminster system, tempered somewhat by the introduction of the MMP system of representation. So along came He Puapua, the idea of cogovernance, which was founded on the notion that this workable “three sphere” social reality could be replicated in the realm of governance.
The call for cogovernance sparked a reaction very similar to the demand from Governor Grey that Maori must swear allegiance to Queen Victoria or forfeit their lands. Grey was not a simple “white racist” but he had insisted there could be only one sovereign in the nation and he was willing to go to war to that end.
David Seymour and the ACT party have the same view as George Grey. (While they talk about Hobson, they model themselves on Grey). The difference is that they do not intend to go to war. They believe that they can legislate Maori out of existence. They believe that a three page document can achieve what decades of war and two centuries of mass immigration have failed to achieve: the extinction of Maori as a separate social entity.
That is unrealistic. Notwithstanding the demographics, it is more realistic to assume that Pakeha can and should be fully integrated into Maoritanga.
Geoff Fischer is a forestry worker residing at Manaia, Te Tara-o-te-ika a-Maui.
Another great look at the current situation .Maori are never going away but are making great strides forward hence the attempts by ACT and its master to change the treaty to allow whole sale attack on Maori by the shrinking white majority .However they fail to see that a large portion of that white group have links to maori through marage and other ways .So that group will not be in favour of the rape of the Treaty and Maori .They are also desperate to get this done now because they know the new voters of the next 2 elections are way better educated in our history and will no longer tolerate this divisive behavour ,Luxon would only need to ask his kids and 20 of their friends the question to know that .
You are forgetting the third sphere containing the third wave immigrants (after Maori and Pakeha). These are more recent immigrants from the Pacific Islands, Asia, India, continental Europe (excluding those from Great Britain) etc.
The third sphere, one could suggest, does not overlap the Maori sphere as much as it does the English Pakeha one.
The three spheres are not equal in size and the overlaps are not an even 33.3% split. Yes there is commonality but not as great as one imagines.
“…..it is more realistic to assume that Pakeha can and should be fully integrated into Maoritanga.”
But we cannot for we dont have the “breeding” (an ancestor belonging to an iwi) to join fully integrate into Maoritanga. There will always be a split between iwi members and non iwi (Pakeha and 3rd wave immigrants).
Non iwi people can join Maoritanga but will never be fully embraced by it for they do not have the blood ties to an iwi. They will always be “second class” citizens in that social construct. Hence a reluctance to join. How to overcome that “second class” status and for non Maori to fully join Maoritanga as an equal, is more the question No?
Worth a read https://www.ncesc.com/geographic-pedia/can-anyone-join-an-iwi/
“Native American tribes in the United States, it is possible for non-Native Americans to join through a process called tribal enrollment or tribal naturalization. However, each tribe has its own specific requirements and procedures for enrollment, and these can vary widely.”
Maybe time for Maori to enable the same in New Zealand? For today if one ask the question: Can anyone join an iwi?; “No, in order to join an iwi, you must be able to trace your ancestry to a member of that iwi. Membership is based on genealogical connections and heritage.”
Overcome this “second class” citizen conundrum for non Maori (no iwi affiliations) and you may gain some traction in Maoritanga for ALL New Zealanders.
Clearly you think that Maori are first class citizens with elite rights .Best yo review your history as if that were the case we would not be having the current situation we now have .It is only recent history that Maori have been able to use Te Reo freely so how have they ever been first call citizens since 1840 ?
Historically it was the prerogative of rangatira to decide who should be admitted into a hapu. The laws, rules and regulations which have been put in place in modern times do not really alter that prerogative in a practical sense. When someone marries into a hapu (coming from another hapu or iwi or being tauiwi) then normally they become accepted as a member of the hapu for all practical purposes. Any offspring are de jure members of the hapu.
But I am not suggesting that anyone should be seeking to join a hapu or iwi Maori. I am saying that rangatiratanga, which is the basis of te whakaminenga, is not exclusively applicable to Maori and is superior to the Westminster system. Therefore it should be adopted by the nation as a whole as the standard system of governance.