Uncle Joe was committed to his whenua, whānau and people. We buried him on Takaparawhau, next to his marae, his papakāinga with our sacred mountains Maungakiekie and Maungawhau in view. These are the essential characteristics recognised across Māoridom to define who the tangata whenua are of a place. Where you bury your people and where your marae and traditional villages are. Where "fires of occupation" or ahi kā are maintained by those people who are seen every day. Uncle Joe was that. Ngati Whatua are that.
It is disappointing but not surprising that we need to respond to an opinion from Mr Majurey so soon after losing our rangatira. But that is his tikanga. Here are some responses to his claims.
Because ancestors of Mr Majurey landed canoes on the Waitematā in times past, or had battles, does not allow them now the right to claim these lands and then by extension an equal voice with my people on cultural issues in central Auckland. This is the essence of the frustrations of Ngati Whatua. A nonsense which sees a very small few attracted to the high land values and opportunities of Aotearoa's largest city, to use tenuous historical connections to lay claim to whenua and full speaking rights in our tribal heartland, where they have no credible claim at tikanga Māori.
Some have said the court is not a place to test tikanga. We have sought to debate these matters on the marae. To no avail. We have sought to dissuade the Minister of Treaty Negotiations Andrew Little from using whenua in our rohe to settle the claims of others. To no avail. The traditional means of resolving cultural insults such as the ones perpetrated by Marutūahu are no longer allowed, the war parties of my ancestors have long put down the patu and taiaha.
So, we have had to take the expensive and tortuous route of the courtroom, a domain the Treaty lawyer Mr Majurey is more than comfortable in. Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei are always ready to meet Māori to Māori in the most Māori of ways. But when others prioritise their Treaty settlements over tikanga, then sometimes court is the last resort. Tikanga is also part of the law of Aotearoa.
To say that Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei failed in its recent High Court claim is misleading. The court has held that Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei has mana whenua in central Tāmaki according to its tikanga. That is what we wanted the court to say. Several iwi supported our claim including our immediate neighbours to the east, Ngati Pāoa, who have been used by their Marutūahu relations to access Auckland and who now find themselves marginalised as a result. So much for whanaungatanga.
This proceeding is about what rights settled iwi have when the Crown proposes to grant whenua within their heartland to another iwi. Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei has held the mana in central Tāmaki since the mid-1700s, and have maintained and defended it ever since – including at the Bastion Point occupation. While other iwi have historic associations with Tāmaki, it is Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei who holds the mana over the whenua.
The court found that, while many iwi agree with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, a small number claim to have a different tikanga and histories about their own interests in Auckland. We have appealed the court's decision because we believe it does not go far enough to recognise that having mana whenua in your heartland is really something common to all iwi. For example, although Ngati Whatua spent time in exile in the Waikato during the "Musket Wars" we have not sought mana nor treaty redress there. To do so would breach tikanga Māori.
This claim is not just about Ngāti Whātua – it is also about the rights of settled iwi throughout Aotearoa, many of whom are struggling to assert their mana in the face of a Crown desperate to push through settlements without first understanding the tribal dynamics at play. The Crown is required to conduct settlements in accordance with tikanga Māori.
We are not alone as the Tauranga iwi in the south and Ngati Wai in the north too are fighting incursions from the same Thames-based collective of tribes. It is not Ngati Whatua who are holding back Mr Majurey's expansive hoped for Treaty settlements – it is his own culturally bankrupt negotiation strategy that is.
Ngarimu Blair is the deputy chair of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust.
