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This thesis explores the ambivalent nature of Maori political theory as expressed through the writings of Donna Awatere in her publication Maori Sovereignty. Consequently it traces the intellectual history of Maori political thought with a particular emphasis on how Maori have traditionally perceived and advanced their ‘sovereignty’ and its equivalent term, ‘tino rangatiratanga’. The reason for this emphasis is to show how Awatere changed Maori perception of their tino rangatiratanga when she coined the phrase ‘Maori Sovereignty’ in 1982. This work offers an insider’s account into New Zealand’s ‘movements of unity’ that had occurred during the 1970’s and 1980’s based on Awatere’s personal experiences and involvement in various groups. Further it sets out to capture the influences and events that led Awatere to write Maori Sovereignty in order to demonstrate how she had advanced Maori understanding of their tino rangatiratanga. In addition, its attempts to broaden Maori understanding of their tino rangatiratanga by analysing Awatere’s political theory in juxtaposition with global trends, more specifically, the decolonisation and nationalistic processes that occurred in the decades following World War Two. This thesis argues that Maori Sovereignty differed greatly from any other work previously written by both Maori and Pakeha as it challenged existing interpretations of how Maori had perceived and had advanced their tino rangatiratanga. Subsequently, Maori Sovereignty has carved its place as one of New Zealand’s most debated and misunderstood publication to ever come out of the 1980’s and because of this, the lack of proper analysis has given cause for this thesis.

In 1867 the New Zealand Parliament passed legislation to introduce four seats in the House of Representatives for the Māori people, the indigenous tribes of Aotearoa-New Zealand. This thesis investigates the history of how Māori Members of Parliament and Māori political movements have engaged with the Māori seats from 1867 to 2008. It asks a series of questions on the nature of Māori political engagement with the Māori seats: Why were the Māori seats established and what role did Māori communities play in their establishment? Why did Māori choose to engage with parliament and how did they regard the Māori seats? What types of leaders did Māori political movements send to represent them, according to what criteria were those leaders selected, and how did Māori attitudes towards leadership change over time? What did Māori hope to achieve by sending their leaders to parliament, and what ambitions did those leaders carry with them? What have Māori parliamentarians in the Māori seats achieved and what factors have helped or hindered their efforts? How effective have Māori MPs been in representing their constituents in Parliament and by what criteria should we judge their effectiveness? And how has Māori political engagement with the Māori seats changed over time? This thesis also looks to the cultural and social implications of political engagement, asking what impact Māori culture, customs, language and social organisation had on Māori political engagement, and in turn what impact did political engagement with the Māori seats have on Māori culture and society? To answer these questions this thesis discusses the establishment of the Māori seats and the Māori political movements that have engaged with these seats, covering the formation of the seats 1835-1867, the careers of Māori MPs whose efforts and achievements are well established in the existing historical literature 1887-1943, the era of Ngā mātāmua the first wave of Māori MPs 1868-1938, the Rātana-Labour era, 1932-1960, the political career of Matiu Rata 1963-1991, and the formation of the Māori Party 1996-2008. This thesis employs a mix of primary documents, oral interviews and secondary sources to pull together a picture of Māori political engagement with the Māori seats over the past 145 years. It argues that historians have underestimated the role of the Māori MPs and the agency of Māori communities in determining the direction of political engagement. The Māori MPs have been dealt with in a homogenous fashion and written off as ineffective and ill prepared for the rigours of parliament. A closer reading demonstrates that the Māori MPs have made a considerable contribution to New Zealand society in pursuing the ambitions of their constituents, and that the Māori seats play a significant role in the social, cultural and political landscape of the nation.

This study discusses the origins, development and outcomes of the first wave of radical Māori activism between 1968 and 1978. It charts the events of the period and the body of politics, philosophies and strategies employed by Māori activists. It contends that the discipline of history as currently practised becomes problematic when it is applied to the study of non-western cultures, and that scholars undertaking research into Māori histories and communities need to develop a model or metaphor for writing history which is sympathetic to Māori epistemologies and priorities. To this end the text focuses primarily on the words and actions of the activists themselves in order to better understand the way activists conceptualized their world. Activists’ ideas and politics should not just be studied in a ‘race relations model’, that is, in terms of their impact on society and the Pākehā public, and the reaction of the government. Taking activism out of the race relations model and examining it on its own terms throws the movement’s concerns, subtleties and contradictions into sharper relief and provides a deeper understanding of its significance. The thesis is centrally concerned with how activists defined themselves, their actions and their politics, and will argue that Māori activism was implicated in the era’s emerging politics of identity. Māori activism was as much about reforming Māori and Pākehā attitudes towards Māori culture, society and identity as it was about policy and legislative reform. Furthermore, the thesis attempts to explain the influence on, and contribution to, the activist movement of three interrelated contexts: te Ao Māori, the Māori world, Aotearoa, national events, and te Ao Hurihuri, the international setting. It also pays special attention to the gender politics of the era. The work is divided into four chapters. The first covers the Māori world and the ‘big three’ issues of Māori activism: the Treaty of Waitangi, land loss and cultural alienation. The second chapter discusses the national context and the ‘big three’ issues of national politics during the era: apartheid sport, the Vietnam War and class politics. The third chapter deals with the international framework and the influence of global trends on local events, while the fourth chapter details the emergence of the Black women’s movement.

To be Māori is to be political. Our history is filled with political struggles and victories. These struggles, originating from experiences of colonisation and assimilation, have greatly influenced what it is to be Māori today. This thesis explores the relationship between Māori ethnic identity, and political attitudes and outcomes. In this thesis, I present five studies (across four published papers and one full manuscript) which validate the Multidimensional Model of Māori Identity and Cultural Engagement (MMM-ICE2). I focus particular attention on the scale’s Socio- Political Consciousness dimension, and illustrate the links between identity and politics for Māori. The MMM-ICE2 is a seven-dimension scaled designed with Māori, by Māori, and for Māori to measure Māori ethnic identity (Houkamau & Sibley, 2010, 2015a). In the first two studies, I focus on using psychometric techniques to further validate the MMM-ICE2 as a measurement tool. Firstly, I use random intercept exploratory factor analysis to show that the scale is not vulnerable to acquiescent responding (yea-saying; Greaves, Houkamau, & Sibley, 2017). The second study uses multigroup confirmatory factor analysis to illustrate that the MMM-ICE2 shows reasonable measurement equivalence across diverse Māori groups (Greaves, Manuela et al., 2017). In the third study of the thesis, I demonstrate that Māori, broadly defined, are more likely to vote for the political left – the Labour, Green, and New Zealand First parties – over the centre-right National Party (Greaves, Robertson et al., 2017). The results lay the groundwork for two further studies, which demonstrate the construct validity of the Socio-Political Consciousness dimension of the scale by predicting a range of political attitudes and behaviours. Study Four shows that, above and beyond the effects of demographics, Māori enrolled to vote on the Māori electoral roll were higher on the Socio-Political Consciousness and Group Membership Evaluation dimensions (Greaves, Osborne, Houkamau, & Sibley, 2017). Additionally, in Study Five, I demonstrate that higher Socio-Political Consciousness for Māori is related to higher levels of support for Māori rights protests, the left-wing Green Party, and the Māori-issue focussed, Māori and Mana political parties (Greaves, Sengupta et al., 2017). Yet, lower levels of Socio-Political Consciousness were related to higher support for the right-wing National Party. Taken together, these studies show that the MMM-ICE2 scale and the Socio-Political Consciousness dimension can predict important, realworld political outcomes and attitudes for Māori. Finally, I discuss the contributions that the papers in this thesis have made to the literature, and the inevitable limitations of the research. I then provide future research directions for the study of quantitative Māori identity and for Māori political participation more generally. I finish with reflections on the process of writing this thesis and on being an emerging Māori quantitative researcher.

Whānau Ora is a new state-led, cross sectoral policy approach introduced in 2010. It places whānau outcomes at the very heart of social service delivery, and, in doing so represents a shift away from traditional approaches that delivered services to individuals. Furthermore, by focussing on collective outcomes, the approach is one that is intimately connected to Māori values and practices. This thesis traces the evolution of the Whānau Ora approach to social service delivery. In doing so, it explores the relationship between a philosophy of whānau ora, and the policy of Whānau Ora as it is enacted by various government institutions. Drawing upon data collected from interviews with key informants, the thesis argues that Whānau Ora presents opportunities for a new way of thinking about social service provision but a number of barriers may limit the potential of this approach to achieve wellbeing for Māori. First there is a danger that Māori language and culture are simply co-opted by the state in ways that transform their original meaning, and that Whānau Ora may in fact serve as a vehicle to shift responsibility for core service provision from government to Māori. Second, the differential treatment of Māori service providers by funding bodies illustrates the way in which institutional racism continues to impact on Māori. Finally, Whānau Ora is vulnerable to a political environment in which discourses of Māori privilege can impact on the longevity of policies that are seen to target Māori. As such, Whānau Ora’s contribution to greater self-determination for Māori is limited. The thesis ends by identifying key constitutional and institutional changes that are more likely to provide an environment in which self-determination can be achieved.

Social media are used increasingly worldwide to connect people and points of view. This thesis explores the role social media can play in enhancing Maori development via political engagement. It investigates the efficacy of using social media to increase Maori political awareness and participation using the Mana Party Facebook pages as a case study. It also examines the opportunities and implications of social media for indigenous development in general. Themes in the literature on social media and indigenous development include: identity politics; language revitalisation and cultural preservation; activism; knowledge management; networking and collaboration; and business and marketing. This qualitative study was informed by Kaupapa Maori and empowerment theories. It involves interviews with the Mana Party president, Mana Party Facebook page moderators, and users of the Mana Party Facebook pages. The interviews explored the objectives and outcomes of using social media to raise political awareness of Maori, finding that Mana Party objectives were met to varying degrees. It also found that social media has both positive and negative implications for indigenous development. Social media aligns with tikanga Maori through Tino Rangatiratanga and whanaungatanga. However, it can conflict with tikanga Maori due to lack of respect, cultural misappropriation, sharing sacred information, subversion of traditional hierarchy and absence of a ‘seen face’. There are thus tensions in the use of social media for political engagement among indigenous peoples. Finally, the thesis offers a framework of how to use social media with indigenous groups that emphasises the positive and mitigates the negative aspects of the platform.

The primary focus of this thesis is to explore the reasons for Ngati Porou participation in the wars in New Zealand during the 1860s. Early writers sunnised that the alliances between tribes like Ngati Porou, Te Arawa and the lower Whanganui iwi and the settler governnent were due primarily to a sense of loyalty to the crown. Repetition by later historians has reinforced this notion in New Zealand folklore and historiography. While recent retrospective histories reveal a growing awareness that the motivation behind the alliances was more complex, no analysis of tribal motives worthy of the confidence of Maori has yet been recorded. This thesis initially sets out to detennine whether the historical orthodoxy is founded at least for Ngati Porou. It presents evidence showing that significant aspects of the Ngati Porou story have been misunderstood and misrepresented by writers who have been unable to source or who have felt it unnecessary to properly canvass Ngati Porou views and records. To date, tribal historians have on the whole refrained from presenting a tribal perspective, not because the infonllation does not exist, but from a desire to keep such knowledge in the tIibal arena where it is most relevant. Continued irritation, however, caused by historical publications that fall short when trying to comprehend the nature of Maori participation, has resulted in a freeing up of infonnation by those who jealously guard their family 's manuscripts, and others who retain the oral testimonies within the tribe, so that a re examination is made possible. This thesis also generally seeks to link Ngati Porou 's involvement in war with leadership pattems that emerged within the tribe during the period 1865 - 1872, though this dimension of Ngati Porou history is not canvassed exhaustively here. In times of crisis existing leadership patterns were challenged and as often as not new leaders emerged to lead the tribe. Perhaps the finest military leader produced by Ngati Porou during the Hauhau encounters was Major Rapata Wahawaha. His role in shaping Ngati Porou's modern identity is a major theme running throughout this thesis. It is argued that his leadership and philosophy characterised the contribution by Ngari Porou to theatres of war that followed the 1860s. It is proposed that such a contribution was both strategic and calculated to achieve gains for Ngati Porou. Moreover, the wider question is raised: why, since the 1860s, has Ngati Porou been so ready to join the battlefront and to stand alongside the Crown? The thesis contends that far from being motivated solely by loyalty to the Crown, Ngati Porou entered into an alliance with the Crown in order to protect and to advance tribal interests.

The network of diplomatic posts operated by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the Ministry) represent New Zealand on the international stage. Staffed by a combination of diplomatic and locally engaged staff, these posts are New Zealand’s face to the world. A small proportion of the diplomatic staff are Māori (indigenous). Māori art and imagery are used extensively throughout these posts. This research examines the use of Māori (people, images and practices) in New Zealand’s diplomacy. In particular, how specific aspects of New Zealand’s diplomatic practice draw on Māori cultural practices or imagery and what is intended or understood by the symbolism inherent in their use. In the context of the wider physical environment utilized by New Zealand’s offshore presence, these issues are considered through the theoretical lenses of diplomatic symbolism, architectural diplomacy, representation and the use of works of art as image building diplomacy. In addition to a series of semi-structured interviews with key Ministry staff and an analysis of relevant documents of interest, case studies are utilized. Two of these examine how New Zealand is physically represented in an overseas posting environment in two Pacific contexts. One, a long-standing diplomatic representation in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands (part of the Realm of New Zealand which is self-governing in free association with New Zealand – with close cultural ties with Māori in New Zealand), and the second in a newer relationship in Noumea, New Caledonia (an overseas territory of France). The final case study – Canberra- considers New Zealand’s close relationship with Australia. Key research findings illustrate the Ministry (and by extension New Zealand) uses various forms of bicultural symbolism (through the use or display of Māori taonga, objects and art forms) to represent New Zealand internationally. In addition, this use of bicultural symbolism does not adequately consider the disconnect between the outward face of the Ministry and the inward realities (specifically related to the position of Māori staff and the Ministry’s policy function). The research contribution will add to knowledge about New Zealand’s diplomatic thought and practice and address the gap in the literature of how New Zealand has used diplomatic symbolism in relation to Māori to express a collective identity as part of New Zealand’s diplomacy.

The primary purpose of this thesis is to provide a way in which the law can protect and respect Te Mana Motuhake. In the course of achieving this purpose, the meaning of Te Mana Motuhake o Tūhoe is discussed. Firstly, a discussion is presented on the concept of mana motuhake as a part of tikanga Māori. Like all tikanga Māori, mana motuhake is sourced from Māori cosmogony. Secondly, a Tūhoe specific analysis of mana motuhake is presented. While mana motuhake has unique meanings for different iwi, for Tūhoe, mana motuhake is connected to Te Urewera, the lands within which they dwell, the lands that sustained Tūhoe in times of adversity and in times of peace. Mana motuhake is also intertwined with Tūhoetanga or Tūhoe identity. Mana motuhake is in the songs Tūhoe sing, the haka Tūhoe perform, and the phrase adorns the flag that has become known as Tūhoe’s symbol. Mana motuhake for Tūhoe is also about having Tūhoe control over the governance of Te Urewera. To create avenues through which the law can better respect mana motuhake, the Urewera District Native Reserve Act 1896 is analysed. Although this Act was considered by Tūhoe to give recognition to Te Mana Motuhake o Tūhoe, an analysis of this Act reveals that mana motuhake was not recognised. This thesis concludes with notes for a draft Act which would capture and reflect the essence of Te Mana Motuhake o Tūhoe. These notes are not intended to be a full draft of an Act and many decisions regarding Tūhoe tikanga are left for Tūhoe to determine. However, the notes do intend to give life to the essential aspects of Te Mana Motuhake identified in this thesis, which are Tūhoe Land, Tūhoe People and Tūhoe Self-determination.

This thesis considers Maori-state relations in the post-war period up to 1967. It focuses on the complicated and congested nexus at which tribal committees, branches of the Maori Women's Welfare League and the Welfare Division of the Department of Maori Affairs met and negotiated the particulars of the Maori-state relationship. Underpinning that relationship were the tensions inherent in the Maori world's ongoing task of balancing the old and the new, the traditional and the modem, the rural and the urban during a time of unprecedented change. The thesis draws on a mix of oral histories and documentary sources, especially government archives, to examine the motivations of Maori and the department in their interactions. It presents the department's broad integrationist philosophy and examines Maori peoples' drives for both engaging with the state and undertaking a range of development projects that built on Maori tribal concepts to mark out Maori socio-cultural spaces in modem environments. Maori policy and legislation including the Maori Social and Economic Advancement Act 1945 and the Hunn Report of 1961, and the major demographic changes associated with urbanisation, presented enormous challenges for Maori. Implementation of the Hunn report in particular fractured tense but workable co-operation apparent in 1950s Maori-state relations. The thesis illustrates how Maori creatively negotiated those challenges and progressed their own projects undeterred by the onerous constraints of integration. It achieves that by restoring the Maori narrative and the Maori concepts at its base. It finds intelligent, critical, vibrant Maori leadership involved in highly nuanced and complex interactions with state.

This thesis is a study of Maori land development schemes during the period 1945 to 1974, and contains two case studies from the Hokianga. Apirana Ngata introduced the schemes to New Zealand's legislature in 1929, giving the state direct legal and financial responsibility for assisting Maori people to develop and farm Maori land. The thesis briefly outlines the historical background to the schemes, and their social objectives. It details the development scheme legislation and policy, including its practical implementation and administrative structure. The two case studies reveal the complexities of the schemes at a local operational level, and shifts in the department's policies and approach since the 1930s. Title improvement policies have been integral to the operation of the schemes. The government has consistently viewed multiple ownership of Maori land as an impediment to bringing Maori land into full production, and the schemes relied on various devices for improving Maori land title to facilitate secure tenure arrangements for Maori farmers (including sole ownership) and to allow land development to occur. These various devices include consolidation, conversion and amalgamation. Ultimately though, the prolonged emphasis on title improvement was unwarranted. The legislation made ample provision for development to occur regardless of the number of owners or the state of the title. During their first twenty years, the schemes provided subsistence level farming. They, supported many Maori communities through depression and war, provided modern conveniences in modern homes, and reasonable incomes for families. Maori farmers and land owners responded variously to the schemes. Some were completely comfortable with the schemes, others struggled. But ultimately, the large-scale corporately run schemes would have the best chance of surviving as long term propositions. The smaller farms would eventually bow to the pressure of the demands of changing overseas markets. In the post-war years, the Department of Maori Affairs increasingly bureaucratised and formalised its land development programme, and pressed ahead with reforming Maori land titles. In the process, the department became responsible for ensuring the long term success of the schemes, and protecting the interests of the parties involved, including itself, the public, and the owners and occupiers of the schemes. The overall effect of the department's policies was to create a protected environment in which the department assisted Maori farmers into the modern farming industry, while protecting them from the cruelty of the modern economy. This thesis looks at how these things occurred by reconstructing the policy and legislation that created and maintained the schemes, discussing some of the key issues and difficulties that arose, and drawing on the experiences of the two schemes that are the subjects of the case studies in chapter five. A great shift in policy occurred as government struggled to balance its socio-economic responsibilities to Maori people and its economic responsibilities to the nation. Ultimately, schemes that began as a response to local development needs in Maori communities, emerged in the 1970s as primarily concerned with maximising the production potential of Maori land, for the benefit of the national economy.

Food sovereignty, the right of people to define and control their own food and agriculture systems (Patel, 2009), was a significant part of pre-colonial Māori economies as Māori practised mahinga kai where they lived off the land and were guardians of their resources. Today, after a long period during which Māori were stripped of many of their abilities to exercise sovereignty over their food worlds and food lives, Māori are working to rebuild their food sovereignty in a diverse economies framework (Bargh, 2011, 2012; Amoamo Ruwhiu & Carter, 2018; Bargh, Douglas & Te One, 2014; Fitzherbert, 2015). There is currentl‎y a limited amount of research examining Māori food sovereignty in these terms. In response to this research gap, this thesis examines how the relationships between iwi commercial food ventures and iwi food sovereignty are negotiated and developed using Whakatōhea Iwi as a case study. This research aims to map Whakatōhea’s food economy over time, document Whakatōhea’s loss of food sovereignty, investigate the relationship between the Whakatōhea mussel farm and Whakatōhea food sovereignty, and explore food sovereign futures for Whakatōhea. It develops four main arguments: 1. Over time Whakatōhea’s food economy has transitioned from a resource-rich diverse economy to an economy dominated by capitalist markets. 2. Whakatōhea has experienced a loss of food sovereignty since colonisation. 3. The complicated relationship between Whakatōhea’s mussel farm economy and Whakatōhea food sovereignty is continually being negotiated, but promises opportunities to build a new food sovereignty for whānau and hapū. 4. Several diverse economic initiatives can foster food sovereignty back into Whakatōhea’s food economy. This research makes several empirical, methodological, theoretical, and political contributions to foster new knowledge around Māori economies and Māori sovereignty.