The NZ Herald's Whenua Project delves deep into these issues.
The NZ Herald's Whenua Project delves deep into these issues.
Opinion by Rob Campbell
THREE KEY FACTS:
Under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863, the Crown could confiscate the land of any iwi “engaged in rebellion” against the Government.
Altogether 1.3 million hectares of Māori land was confiscated, including most of lower Waikato, Taranaki and the Bay of Plenty.
As of August 2018, 73 Treaty of Waitangi settlements had been passed into law. The total value of all finalised settlements is $2.24 billion.
Rob Campbell is a professional director and investor. He is chancellor at AUT, chair of Ara Ake, chair of New Zealand Rural Land and former chair of Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora.
OPINION
Alongside the passing of Kīngi Tūheitia and the crowning of TeArikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, amidst debate over Māori representation on local bodies, with the threat of legislation on Te Tiriti imminent, and many other challenging, positive, destructive and hopeful events, we have in the last week seen an appropriate and important book released.
Te Riri Ki Tainui – The Invasion of Waikato by historian Vincent O’Malley (Bridget Williams Books) weaves historical accuracy and correction, narrative and explanation, past and present views and people into a compelling read. If we are genuinely to teach the history of Aotearoa/New Zealand to future students, then this is the model.
Tangata Tiriti, new and old, will not understand our history or our future if we do not see colonisation as invasion and imposition of foreign rule. Literally a mass-scale home invasion. The strength of works like this is that they make concrete and specific what can seem abstract and general: almost about somewhere else and not relevant to us.
Māori Queen Nga Wai hono i te po. Photo / Kīngitanga
But it is not. You can’t read this and drive down Great South Road pretending it was always about cars and fast food, not troops. You can’t drive on to Kirikiriroa (Hamilton) without knowing about the military conquest, knowing that the double-lane highway masks armed seizure and destruction of the property rights of the original inhabitants every step of the way.
O’Malley reminds us of the earlier model of Ireland, where the same principles and methods were imposed. You will not be able to watch current video of activities on the occupied West Bank of Palestine, seeing military protection of settlers seizing property from original inhabitants, without seeing parallels. History repeats its sorry cycles of mass home invasion.
Bob Marley put it this way in Buffalo Soldier: “If you know your history, then you would know where you coming from, then you wouldn’t have to ask me, who the heck do I think I am.” This is an insight which we can all gain from pondering. We cannot understand and respect each other from our many different cultures if we ignore the difficult parts of the past. As the record shows, there were informed people from England to colonial New Zealand who knew the mass home invasions were wrong. But mostly they turned away and let it go on.
Bob Marley.
This is not about wallowing in past grievances and failures. Right up until quite recently, people were “celebrating” murder and confiscation of property as anniversaries rolled around and O’Malley traces the unwinding of the false stories which supported such views. We should now be in the process of building on a sound history such as this work.
Rob Campbell. Photo / Michael Craig
This mass home invasion and seizure of property and the violence which enabled it went unpunished, of course. Many conducting the violence were motivated explicitly by the opportunity to share in the spoils. Many politicians and businessmen promoting it were motivated simply by greed for land speculation. No seizure and return of the proceeds of crime then!
You might think that politicians who profess to be all about property rights and freedoms might be appalled by this history. Maybe it’s only the current property rights that matter to them?
