A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Opinion
The English version in Article 2 says: “The Queen of England confirms and guarantees to the chiefs and the tribes and to all the people of New Zealand, the possession of their lands, dwellings and all their property.”
Translated into Maori, that sentence says: “Ko te Kuini o Ingarani ka
wakarite ka wakaae ki nga Rangitira ki nga hapu — ki nga tangata katoa o Nu Tirani te tino rangatiratanga o o ratou wenua o ratou kainga me o ratou taonga katoa.”
If “te tino rangatiratanga” translates “the possession”, Mr Koia should explain how “te tino rangatiratanga” means “unqualified exercise of chieftainship”.
Furthermore, Mr Koia should keep track of the contents of his letters to avoid self-contradiction.
His letter of May 16 says that chieftainship is not subservient to international law. But on April 25 he appealed to “a competent judicial with binding powers”, as a higher authority to show that chiefs are sovereigns in their own right.
