Mā te tāke tika, e mau roa te iwi
I tēnei kaupapa, ka tūhuratia e Ahorangi Lisa Marriott rāua ko Brian Tunui (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Pūkeko, Te Arawa, Ngāti Mākino, Ngāti Hamoa), o Te Herenga Waka, me pēhea te whakamahi i ngā tauira tāke e whakaū ana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi hei tautoko i tētahi iwi whānui tika ake, mana ōrite mō ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa
Published on 7 Whiringa-ā-rangi November 2024
I mua o te tau 1840, i te Māori te mana me te kaha ki te whakatau tikanga mō te oranga o ō rātau iwi me ō rātau whenua. He mea whakaū tēnei mana me tēnei kaha i raro i te Upoko Tuarua o Te Tiriti, ka mutu i raro i te Upoko Tuatahi i tukuna ki te Karauna te kāwanatanga. He wāhanga waiwai ngā tikanga tāke me ērā momo tikanga nō te kāwanatanga me te rangatiratanga, e taea ai e ngā kāwanatanga te kohi i ngā pūtea e hiahiatia ana hei tuku ratonga mā te iwi. Kāore e whakamanatia e te pūnaha tāke onāianei ngā Upoko Tuarua, Tuatoru hoki o Te Tiriti, i te mea he takahi i te tino rangatiratanga me ngā oati tuku iho o te mana ōrite.
Nā ngā tāke i Aotearoa, mai i taua wā ki nāianei, i whai pūtea ai te kāwanatanga, me te tautoko ki te tango i te rangatiratanga o te Māori me te whakakore i tōna mana motuhake. Kāore e whakamanatia e te pūnaha tāke onāianei te Upoko Tuarua, Tuatoru hoki o Te Tiriti, i te mea he takahi i te tino rangatiratanga me ngā oati tuku iho o te mana ōrite.
I tēnei wā, kāore anō kia tahuri ki te waihanga i tētahi pūnaha tāke whakaū i Te Tiriti i raro i ngā rangahau pūnahanaha, ka mutu he āhua kore nei e rongohia te reo o te Māori i ngā kōrero kaupapahere tāke o Aotearoa. Ko te whai a Ahorangi Marriott, Tākuta Tunui me tō rātau rōpū kia whakatikahia tēnei mā te tautuhi me te whakapuaki i ngā tauira pūnaha tāke rerekē e whakaū ana i Te Tiriti. E mahi ana me te anga Matike Mai Aotearoa mō te takahuritanga turepapa manaaki, ka whāngai mōhio rātau ki ēnei tauira mā te tūhura i ngā take o ngā hara o mua e whakapaetia ana i raro i te maru o te tikanga tāke tika me ngā hononga tuku iho, onāianei hoki i waenga i te Māori me te tāke.
Ka whakawhānui ake tēnei rangahau i ngā wheako o tāwāhi e pā ana ki ngā anga tāke rerekē i Amerika, Kānata, Wēra, me Kotirana. Ka āwhina ēnei mātai take o tāwāhi i te rōpū ki te tūhura i ngā arawātea hei whakamōhio atu i ngā tauira tāke whakaū i Te Tiriti. Ka āwhina tētahi pūnaha tāke whakaū i Te Tiriti ki te hāpai i ngā hononga i wawatatia ai e ō tātau tīpuna i te tau 1840.
Tākuta Brian Tunui, Ahorangi Lisa Marriott, Ahorangi Jonathan Barrett, Tākuta Matthew Scobie, Ahorangi Adrian Sawyer and Rachael Evans (photos supplied)