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In Aotearoa New Zealand, the arrival of imperial ideologies in the 19th century led to devastating land-loss and cultural marginalisation for M?ori at the hands of settlers and successive governments. This article examines the damaging effects of a Crown-imposed treaty claims settlement system designed to address injustices inflicted on M?ori. Interview data from a Taranaki-based (a West Coast region, central North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand) hap? (sub-tribe) that engaged with this system foreground the adversarial nature of this system and its continuation of trauma. We argue that, while the process provides voice to M?ori, it does so within a paradigm that pits kin-groups against each other, unjustly limits redress and fails to resolve tension. A tikanga framing provides insights into how tensions are set up and ways tikanga (underlying values and principles that guide practice) can be used outside the redress system to seek healing and resolution.

<jats:p>Standing back, the greatest influence of Indigenous Peoples on international law is our contribution to a pragmatically-driven yet conscious reframing of its foundations. Partly as a result of our participation in international law, it is changing its nineteenth and twentieth century state-centric, colonial, and positivist character to a more informal, flexible, and partially decolonizing system of law. In this way, Indigenous Peoples are crafting a legal system that achieves the “sweet-spot.” It has sufficient “hard-law” quality to restrain the self-interested instincts of powerful states—much needed by Indigenous Peoples seeking to realize their claims against states—and systemic inclusion and justice.</jats:p>

"A comprehensive analysis of the manifestations, complexities and challenges arising out of the development of Māori governance structures post-Treaty of Waitangi settlement period. As well as bringing together the many elements that feed into the governance of Māori corporate entities, the text highlights key principles and best practices of Māori corporate governance... The book is separated into six substantial parts, starting with tikanga and mātauranga Māori in a governance context, then considering treaty settlements, sectoral governance, theoretical and constitutional issues, legal opportunities and constraints, and the way forward"--Back cover.

Developing equitable marine management systems that recognise Indigenous worldviews, values, and practices, alongside international initiatives such as Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) are paramount in countries which aim to recognise Indigenous rights. This is the case for New Zealand (NZ) where Indigenous-Māori rights to partner with the Government for the purpose of environmental management were guaranteed under the Treaty of Waitangi, 1840, and subsequent Acts (e.g. Resource Management Act, 1991). Our aim was to explore how both Indigenous-Māori and NZ societal values can be integrated into a marine co-management decision-making framework. Here we describe the Waka-Taurua (double-canoe) framework, and how it can be applied in developing a NZ marine management system (NZ-MMS), which includes both kaitiakitanga (a Māori concept of reciprocal care between Indigenous-Māori people and their territorial environment), and EBM, equitably. We argue that the Waka-Taurua framework can improve how marine co-management systems are developed by facilitating a more structured and equitable discussion of both Indigenous-Māori and broader societal worldviews, values, and practices.

This research, entitled te ao pakihi—the business world—set out to identify Māori enterprise perspectives on the New Zealand-United Kingdom free trade agreement (NZ-UK FTA) being negotiated by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) officials and their UK counterparts. In their desire to uphold the Crown’s obligations to Māori under the Treaty of Waitangi, to invoke some of the goals of the Trade for All agenda, and to meet commitments to Māori in trade policy following tribunal claims and the formation of the Te Taumata, MFAT wanted to be informed about Māori interests so that these could be reflected in the negotiations in real time. MFAT commissioned this independent research into Māori enterprise perspectives in March 2021. The research was conducted between April and June 2021 and involved interviews with 50 Māori enterprises with varying degrees of exporting activity, and entity types and scales, including Māori small and medium enterprise (SMEs), Māori post-settlement governance entities (PSGEs), Māori corporates, and Māori providers, among others. Participants were identified and recruited through networks of the research team. Two forms of analysis and reporting were provided: first, a series of six batch reports each summarising the findings of five interviews, with a total of 30 interviewees—the goal was to provide insights as the information came to hand so negotiators could incorporate Māori perspectives during negotiation rounds—and second, a final report with findings from another 24 interviewees, including three from the sixth batch report. We found that that Māori enterprises see trade as more than an economic opportunity: they see the FTA as embodying a Treaty relationship that has significance because it is one with the original Treaty partner—the British Monarch. This relationship provides much cause for optimism among Māori about the potential for trade; however, it also provides cause for caution among Māori enterprises because of historical trauma, and concerns about the dangers of misappropriating and misuse of Māori cultural and intellectual property, and risks to Treaty and other rights. This can be addressed, according to participants, by ensuring Māori are represented at the (negotiating) table, Māori are involved in the implementation, operation, and evaluation of the NZ-UK FTA, and Māori enterprises are supported to build their capability to trade with the UK in a way that respects their identity as Māori enterprises and in accordance with a Māori way of doing business.

The Mäori Electoral Option is a period of 4 months, every 5 years, when Mäori electors can choose whether to be on the Mäori or the General Electoral Roll. The outcome of the Mäori Electoral Option is a key factor in determining the number of Mäori seats in the New Zealand Parliament. The Electoral Commission estimates that approximately 6,000 Mäori voters each year request to change electoral roll, but in 2017 over 19,000 voters applied to change. Why were so many more Mäori wanting to change and why did they not know they could only change during the Mäori Electoral Option held every 5 years? The following year, the 2018 Mäori Electoral Option saw the first net increase of Mäori changing to the general roll since 1996. This article uses data gathered from the results of Mäori Electoral Options 1991–2018, an anonymous survey, and evaluations of Mäori Electoral Option campaigns to consider how the shifting trends in roll choices might be explained.

Political encounters between settler governments and indigenous communities are freighted with the unresolved issues of indigenous independence asserted under ongoing conditions of colonial domination. Within political science, these encounters have been primarily theorised and analysed as struggles of indigenous communities for political recognition from settler states. Further, the politics of recognition is widely understood as colonising by indigenous scholars, with some arguing for an alternative politics of (indigenous) resurgence and refusal, a ‘turning away’ from the state. In this article, we argue that in the case of Ma¯ori in Aotearoa ‘turning up’ is the ethical and correct practice of politics, a practice stemming from the relational ontology of the Ma¯ori world. Thus ‘turning up’ rather than ‘turning away’ can, for Ma¯ori, itself be a practice of refusal. We outline the centrality of the embodied, face-to-face encounter within Ma¯ori politics, and identify the ongoing presence of the sovereign’s body and embodiment more broadly within the Westminster tradition, as symbolised in the concept of the Crown. Building on these compatibilities within distinct political ontologies, we argue for the potential and productivity of face-to-face political encounters, and call on the New Zealand Crown to also prioritise ‘turning up’ in its engagement with indigenous communities.

Examines two prominent environmental issues – sea level rise and taonga species protection – facing iwi, hapū, Māori and the Crown, exploring the barriers, solutions and positive steps in each area towards a ‘tika transition’ whereby iwi, hapū and Māori (the rangatiratanga sphere) and the Crown (kāwanatanga sphere) exist within distinct and equal political entities, with the rangatiratanga sphere leading and governing tikanga and mātauranga Māori policy and legislation. Source: National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, licensed by the Department of Internal Affairs for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand Licence.

The emphasis on strengthening Maori Crown relationships in the Public Service Act 2020 and the establishment of Te Arawhiti signalled a new era in the public service's interactions with tangata whenua. Carl Billington investigates whether this is changing the way public sector agencies approach their interactions with Maori.