Source: New Zealand Government
It was on these very grounds in February 1940, 100 years on from the signing of Te Tiriti, that Sir Āpirana Ngata gave a call for participation
He spoke of the “price of citizenship” for Māori as the 28th Māori Battalion prepared to go to war just 3 months later.
Māori have paid that price of citizenship.
The contributions made, and the sacrifices paid by Māori are woven throughout our history.
Since the mid-1990s, new scholarship, informed by Mātauranga Māori, has enabled a better understanding of the impact of Pākehā settlement on the lives and prospects of our first people.
The stories of iwi and hapū tell of the real life, material price of citizenship for Māori.
But they also tell of the strength of the culture, the history, and the identity, that stands as one of the pou to this nation, a nation of many peoples.
But in the years ahead, as we draw historical treaty grievances to a close, not so we can ignore those grievances and the tremendous hurt they have caused over many generations, but so we have the chance to own that history (the good and the bad), to understand it, and to face the future with confidence, together.Then, we restore citizenship to Māori. The citizenship promised by the Te Tiriti.
We restore tino rangatiratanga. We uphold the spirit of Te Tiriti. This is to start to truly honour Te Tiriti.
But there is another agreement we cannot ignore. It is very important to Māori of the north.
It is He Whakaputanga. Neither He Whakaputanga nor Te Tiriti stand on their own.
We have talked much about Te Tiriti. We must talk about He Whakaputanga. There are many thoughts about it. But we must talk about it. We must understand. What does it mean in the 21st century, 185 years on. It is a tremendous responsibility to serve as Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister. My discussions with Ngāpuhi have been some of the most challenging, rewarding and important of my life.
I’ve been asked to listen.
I’ve been asked to talk.
I’ve been told to stay away.
I’ve been told come and live here.
And I remain committed to forging a waka hourua between Ngāpuhi and the Crown.
We are now 20 years away from the 200th anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
It is my hope that by then the promise of Te Tiriti is upheld.
The challenge of the next steps should never deter us from moving forward in the journey.
The roots have been restored, the trunk of the tree has firmed, and the first shoots of new terrain are blossoming, like the great kowhai of kowhaitangi.
Kei tēnei papa whenua i te Pepuere o te tau Kotahi mano e iwa rau whā tekau, kotahi rau tau i muri iho i te hainatanga o Te Tiriti, i karangatia e Tā Āpirana Ngata kia whai wāhi te iwi Māori.
I kōrerotia e ia te “utu o te kirirarau” mō te iwi Māori i te wā e whakarite ana te Ope Taua 28 (Māori) ki te haere ki te pakanga e toru marama i muri iho.
Kua utua kētia e te iwi Māori te utu o te kirirarau.
Ko ngā tāpaetanga me ngā whakahere a te iwi Māori he mea whatu ki tō tātou hītori.
Nō waenganui o ngā tekau tau tahi mano e iwa rau iwa tekau, kua puta mai te rangahau hou e whaimōhio ana ki te Mātauranga Māori. Nā reira, kua tino mārama ki te pānga o te tatū mai o te iwi Pākeha ki ngā oranga me ngā tūmanako o te iwi tuatahi o Aotearoa.
Ko ngā kōrero a ngā iwi, a ngā hapū e whakaatu ana he utu tūturu, he utu kaha te utu o te kirirarau.
Engari ka kōrero anō hoki mō te kaha o te ahurea, te hītori, me te tuakiri, e tū nei hei pou mō tēnei whenua. He whenua nō ngā iwi maha.
Heoi, ā muri ake nei, ka tata ea ngā take tiriti nō mua. Kei wareware i a tātou aua take me te tino mamae i rangona i ngā whakatipuranga maha. Me whai wāhi tātou ki taua hītori (ngā piki me ngā heke), kia māramatia ai, kia anga ngātahi hoki tātou ki te wā e heke mai nei me te māia.
Kātahi anō, ka whakaora i te kirirarau ki te iwi Māori.
Ko te kirirarau i oatitia e Te Tiriti.
Ka whakaoratia te tino rangatiratanga.
Ka hāpaitia te wairua o Te Tiriti.
Koinei te tīmatanga o te whakahōnore tūturu i Te Tiriti.
Engari, kei wareware i a tātou tētahi atu whaakaetanga.
He mea nui rawa ki ngā Māori o te Nōta.
He Whakaputanga tērā.
Kāore e tū takitahi He Whakaputanga, Te Tiriti rānei.
Kua kōrero tātou mō Te Tiriti.
Me kōrero hoki tātou mō He Whakaputanga.
He maha ngā whakaaro mō taua mea.
Engari me kōrero e tātou.
Me mārama tātou.
He aha tōna tikanga i te rautau rua tekau mā tahi, kotahi rau e waru tekau mā rima tau i muri iho.
He kawenga nui kia mahi hei Minita mō ngā Take Tiriti.
Ko aku kōrerorero tahi me Ngāpuhi, he wero nui, he whaihua, he whakahirahira mōku.
Kua tonoa au kia whakarongo.
Kua tonoa au kia kōrero.
Kua tonoa au kia noho atu.
Waihoki, kua tonoa hoki kia haere mai ki te noho ki konei.
Ā, tino kaha taku hiahia kia tāraia he waka hourua i waenganui i a Ngāpuhi me te Karauna.
Ināianei e rua tekau tau noa iho tātou i mua i te huritau rua rau o te hainatanga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Ko taku tino wawata kua tutuki te oati o Te Tiriti ā taua wā.
Me kaua te wero o te hīkoi whakamua e aukati i tā tātou ahu whakamua i runga i tēnei haerenga.
Kua whakarauoratia ngā pakiaka, kua mārō te tinana o te rākau, ā, ko ngā mātātupu o te takiwā hou e pūāwai ana, pērā i te kōwhai hira o kōwhaitangi.
