In 2010 voices were
heard in Northland that broke a drought. It was a drought of
understanding about our past and the new rains promise new growth in
well-being and peace.
On 28 November 2012
a text was released that shares these voices with many more than
first heard them at the Waitangi Tribunal Hearings. Ngāpuhi
Speaks1
is the Independent Report on the Ngāpuhi Nui Tonu Claim heard before
the Tribunal in 2010. It wasn't quite the United Nations Independent
Observers Ngāpuhi had wanted, but it was next best with a panel of
observers, Pākehā and Māori who sat and listened, and then
compiled their report for all to read.
No longer voiceless
are people from the turn of the 19th century, who participated in the
signing of the documents that first set out New Zealand's (Nu
Tireni's) place in the world and its relationships with other
nations. No longer hidden from the rest of us is the context and
progression that led to Te Tiriti, the document we hear about most.
Or rather we hear about The Treaty, a different document, and that is
a big part of the story. Te Tiriti was the only document signed at
Waitangi on 6 February 1840.
Reading Ngāpuhi
Speaks was like an epiphany2
to me, an amazing eye-opener that had me saying repeatedly, “Ah,
now I understand; now I see what the argument is.” As with other
histories there was at times grief for what was lost, what could have
been, and what industrialised, capital-based Europe meeting Nu Tireni
led to for the residents of this land. But with this book something
was different. Histories to this point have been largely confined to
the thoughts and actions of Europeans and governments, because that
was all that was known. In this report we are presented with the
thoughts and actions of the rangatira (chiefs) of Ngāpuhi, the
people with whom the first arrivals conversed, traded, and
negotiated. Ngāpuhi Speaks is not about victims and
grievances: it is a narrative of agency, in which the vision and
strategic decisions of the collective of chiefs in the north becomes
clear. Clear too their purpose throughout of being responsible
leaders answerable to their people.
The narrative has
been handed down to the rangatira's descendants, who continue to live
in this place and carry the mana of their tūpuna (forebears). It
begins with initiatives taken in response to the first newcomers in
the late 1700s: trade on site in New Zealand led to journeys by
rangatira across the Tasman and then around the world, for the
purpose of negotiating with the chiefs of these other lands to
develop understanding and trade. Among the journeys was that of Hongi
and Waikato to England in 1820 to meet the British rangatira, George
IV. This visit is seen as setting the foundation for friendship and
partnership, continued with George's successors.
Hongi and Waikato
went not just on their own account, but on behalf of the
confederation of rangitira in this area that had gathered regularly
from 1808 on, if not earlier. Te Whakaminenga (Assembly) o Ngā Hapū
o Nu Tireni was their means to discuss issues related to the
newcomers – dealing with problems and utilising benefits – for
the health and prosperity of the region and as autonomous hapū
leaders collaborating and presenting a combined face to the
international scene. This was the group that wrote to King William
in 1831 seeking help to get international recognition for a Nu Tireni
flag, after a Māori ship and cargo had been seized in Sydney for
having no flag. This was the group which, with input from James
Busby, James Clendon, and Henry Williams, drew up and signed He
Whakaputanga, a declaration of their sovereign power in the land.
And this was the group who were the basis for deliberations that led
to the drafting of Te Tiriti and signing of the agreed Te Reo
document on 06.02.1840. Te Tiriti was for them just another step in
the relationship that began with King George. With the Declaration
(Whakaputanga) of 1835 still in place, they saw the document Henry
Williams presented to them as their agreement for the Queen's kāwana
(governor) to have governor-ship over the newcomers and the portions
of land granted for their use. The kāwana would be like another
rangatira alongside them, and they would work together in all things.
Some readers of this
might be thinking: “well, that's just one side of the matter.”
Exactly. It is the side that has been missing, lost in silence.
Let's hear it to full speech, for the good of us all.
Shalom,
Robyn
1Ngāpuhi
Speaks: He Wakaputanga and te Tiriti o Waitangi Independent Report
on Ngāpuhi Nui Tonu Claim, commissioned
on behalf of the Kuia and Kaumātua of Ngāpuhi Nui Tonu, Te
Kawariki & Network Waitangi Whangarei, 2012. Copies can be
ordered from PO Box 417, Whangarei 0147, 09 4361807 or
reotahi@clear.net.nz
$30 plus $5 p&p.
