Kei te iho o te pūrongo o te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi Motiti: Report on the Te Moutere o Motiti Inquiry ko ngā take tuakiri ā-iwi, i whakaputaina i tēnei rā i te hōputu i mua i te whakaputanga.
E aro ana te pūrongo i te kerēme i takahi te Karauna i te Tiriti o Waitangi, nā te mea kāore i aro atu ki te tangata whenua nō te Motu o Mōtītī hei rōpū ā-iwi motuhake e parahautia ana tōna ake whakataunga Tiriti. E whakapae ana ngā kaikerēme i pōhēhē te Karauna e kapi ana ngā tāngata whenua o te motu i te whakataunga take o Ngāti Awa.
I arotahi te ruku tātari ki te 'arotake whanaunga' 2015–16 i whakahaeretia e te Karauna hei arotake i ēnei kerēme mō ngā take whakataunga take, e whakapaetia ana e ngā kaikerēme i hē ngā otinga.
Hei urupare i ngā whakapae a ngā kaikerēme ki te Karauna, me whai whakaaro te Taraipiunara ki te pātai taketake ake – ā, e tohea ana – ko wai ngā tāngata whenua o Mōtītī.
I kitea e te Taraipiunara, mō taua take hukihuki ko Te Patuwai me Te Whānau-a -Tauwhao ngā tāngata whenua, ā, e tūhono ana Te Patuwai ki Ngāti Awa.
E pā ana ki te take matua o te arotake whanaungatanga, ko te otinga o te Taraipiunara i tino whaimōhio te Karauna ki te tuakiri o ngā tāngata whenua nō Mōtītī, ā, he tika te aromatawai i te tūnga whakataunga take o ngā kaikerēme (arā, e kapi ana rātou i te whakataunga take o Ngāti Awa). Nā reira, kāore ōna otinga mō te takahi i te Tiriti.
Heoi anō, i kitea hoki e te Taraipiunara he hapa i roto i ētahi āhuatanga o te tukanga arotake – otirā te āhua i whakapāpā te Karauna i te tuatahi ki ngā kaikerēme me ētahi atu rōpū – ā, i tāpae i ngā marohi kia whakapai ake i te tukanga.
He kaupapa waiwai te tuakiri ā-iwi me te hononga i Te Ao Māori, ā, kāore te Taraipiunara i whakaaro he rawaka te tika ā-ahurea o te ahunga tuatahi a te Karauna ki te arotake. Kāore te Karauna i whakapāpā ki ngā rōpū i pāngia i te tīmatanga, engari kāore i whakauru i a rātou ki te hoahoa tuatahi o te tukanga, ā, kāore hoki i whakapāpā ki te tukanga tūāpapa tikanga kia whakatatū i ngā pātai i kimihia kia whakautua e te arotake, engari nā te Karauna kē i aromatawaihia.
Ki te Taraipiunara me ako te Karauna i ōna wheako mahi me ngā pānga inaki i te wā o ngā Whakawhiti Kōrero Whakataunga Take – tētahi mea i noho hei kaupapa o ngā tūtohu huhua o te Taraipiunara nō mua.
Ka kitea hoki e te Taraipiunara ahakoa ngā hapa o te tukanga, hui katoa he tika te mahi a te Karauna. Ka whakatikahia e te Karauna i te wā o te tukanga kia nui ake te kauawhi, tae atu ki te whakaarotau i te hiahia mō te matapaki i waenga i ngā rōpū katoa, ā, i whakahaeretia te arotake kia āhua tuwhera, pūataata hoki. Nā reira, ka tutuki te haepapa akoako i te Karauna ki ngā rōpū katoa.
Kia āwhina i te Karauna kia whakatika i ngā taupatupatu e pā ana ki te tuakiri ā-iwi haere ake nei, ka marohi te Taraipiunara:
· I te tuatahi, ko te mahi a te Karauna kia tautoko i ngā rōpū katoa mā rātou anō ēnei pātai e tūhura me te whakamātau kia tutuki whakaaetanga i runga anō i ngā tikanga.
· Me whai wāhi ngā tāngata whenua ki te hoahoa o tēnei tukanga me te hoahoa o tētahi tukanga rangahau i tīmata hei whakatatū i te taupatupatu. Me whai whakaaro te Karauna me pēhea te āwhina i tēnei mahi.
· Kia mōhio mai te Karauna ko tana tūnga tika i roto i te tukanga rangahau, i te tuatahi, ko te whakaemi me te tuari pea i ngā mōhiohio hāngai ki ngā hunga hāngai, kaua ko te tātari kē i ngā mōhiohio i tō rātou kotahi kia tatū ai ōna ake whakataunga.
· Mēnā ka whati te matapaki i waenga i ngā rōpū, kāore rānei e puta ai he hua, mā te Karauna pea e aromatawai ngā taunakitanga me te kī mēnā kua eke, kāore rānei, ā, he aha ai. Heoi anō, mēnā e tohea ana te pātai o te tuakiri, me tūpato rawa te Karauna kia ahu whakamua. Me whai whakaaro pea ētahi atu tukanga huawaere motuhake, tukanga tatūtanga pea.
Hei urupare ki te tono a te Karauna me pēhea te whakapāpā ki ngā tāngata whenua o Mōtītī, i tāpae te Taraipiunara i ngā marohi me pēhea te Karauna e whakapāpā ai ki Te Patuwai e pā ana ki te motu ā muri atu.
I marohi teTaraipiunara, mō ngā take katoa, me whakapāpā te Karauna i te tuatahi ki te Komiti ā-Iwi o Te Patuwai māna e tohutohu kia kōrero ki a wai – te marae, te hapū, te iwi rānei – mō taua take. Ka tūhono te komiti i te Karauna ki ngā māngai hāngai o ngā marae, o ngā hapū, o ngā iwi e tika ana.
Ka rongo te Taraipiunara i te kerēme mō ngā wiki e rima i te tau 2018 i Tauranga me Whakatāne, ngā pokapū tata rawa ki ngā moutere ahurei o Te Moana-a-Toi.
E mōhiotia ana te motu 'kāore he pūnaha hiko, tuku wai anō hoki' mō tōna hītori roa e nōhia ana e te taupori te nuinga he Māori. Koinei tētahi o ngā motu torutoru e nōhia ana i ngā wā katoa i Aotearoa, ā, he kāinga ki tōna 40 tāngata ināianei.
Kei waho atu a Mōtītī i te mana ā-ture o tētahi kaunihera ā-motu, ā, ko te Minita o te Kāwanatanga ā-Rohe tōna mana whakahaere ā-rohe.
E puritia tūmataitihia ana te katoa o te whenua, ko ētahi whenua he whenua korehere Māori, ko ētahi he whenua noa, e puritia ana e ngā kaipupuri whenua tūmataiti rerekē. Kāore he tūāhanga tūmatanui i runga i Mōtītī nā te mea kāore ngā kaipupuri whenua e utu i ngā reiti. Engari, mā rātou kē e whakarato ā rātou ratonga.
Motiti Pūrongo mō ngā Kerēme o Te Moutere o Motiti – Putanga Hukihuki e wātea ana ināianei kia tīkina ake i roto i te hōputu PDF:
Motiti: Pūrongo mō Te Ruku Tātari mō te Motu o Motiti – Putanga Hukihuki [PDF, 3.1Mb](hononga o waho)
Mō ngā pakirehua arapāho katoa, tēnā īmēra ki te tīma pāpāho.
Motiti: Report on the Te Moutere o Motiti Inquiry
Wai 2521 - Ngā Hapū o Te Moutere o Motiti (Hoete and others) Claim
Motiti: Report on the Te Moutere o Motiti Inquiry addresses a claim that the Crown breached the principles of Te Tiriti by failing to recognise Ngā Hapū o te Moutere o Motiti as an independent tribal group who warrant their own Treaty settlement, instead wrongly assuming they were covered by the Ngāti Awa settlement.
The inquiry centred on a 2015–16 process, termed the ‘kinship review’, by which the Crown sought to assess the claimants’ assertion that they are a distinct tribal group, separate from Ngāti Awa, and their historical Treaty claims thus remain unsettled.
The central issue for inquiry was therefore whether the Crown, through its kinship review, properly informed itself of the identity of the tangata whenua of Motiti.
The inquiry panel comprised Judge Miharo Armstrong (presiding), Dr Ann Parsonson, Associate Professor Tom Roa, and Tania Simpson. The hearings began in May 2018 and were held over five separate weeks in Tauranga and Whakatāne, concluding in September 2019.
In order to address the central issue, the Tribunal had to consider the more fundamental question of who the tangata whenua of Motiti are. The Tribunal found that Te Patuwai and Te Whānau a Tauwhao are the tangata whenua of Motiti, and that Te Patuwai affiliate to Ngāti Awa.
In addition, the Tribunal found that any historical claims to Motiti based on descent from Te Hapū were settled as a Ngāti Awa historical claim through the deed of settlement and the Ngāti Awa Claims Settlement Act 2005.
Concerning the kinship review, the Tribunal found that, although its outcome was a correct assessment of the issues before the Crown, the process the Crown used to engage with the tangata of Motiti was flawed. Given the importance of tribal identity and affiliation in te ao Māori, the Crown should have approached the review in a more culturally appropriate way, the Tribunal considered. The Crown fell short of this requirement by failing to fully engage with all groups at the outset, failing to invite all groups to participate in the process’s initial design, and failing to support and engage in a tikanga-based process to resolve the questions under review, instead making an assessment of them itself.
Though the process was flawed, the Tribunal nevertheless found the Crown acted appropriately overall. It conducted the review in a largely open and transparent way, and took corrective action during the review to make it more inclusive, including meeting affected groups earlier than planned, and supporting all groups to discuss the issues with each other. In these and other respects, the Tribunal found the Crown acted in good faith, and ultimately met its duty of consultation to all groups.
Consequently, the Tribunal did not find that the kinship review process, considered as a whole, breached the principles of partnership and equal treatment.
In light of the process’s flaws, however, it offered suggestions about how the Crown should approach disputes about tribal identity in general. It suggested that:
- In the first instance, the Crown’s role is to support all groups concerned to explore these questions themselves and try to reach agreement according to tikanga.
- Tangata whenua should be involved in the design of this process, and in the design of any research process initiated to help resolve the dispute. The Crown should consider how it can assist in this work.
- The Crown should be mindful that its proper role in the research process, in the first instance at least, may be to collate and share relevant information with the parties concerned, rather than to undertake analysis of the information with a view to reaching conclusions itself.
- If discussion between the groups concerned breaks down or yields no agreement, the Crown may make its own assessment of the evidence and comment on whether it considers it conclusive or not, and why. However, where the question of identity is highly contested, the Crown should be very cautious about proceeding. Other independent facilitation or resolution processes may need to be considered.
In response to the Crown’s request for guidance on how to engage with the tangata whenua of Motiti, the Tribunal also offered suggestions about how it should engage with Te Patuwai in respect of the island (its suggestions did not concern the Crown’s engagement with Te Whānau a Tauwhao, as they were not a focus of this inquiry). It suggested that, on all issues concerning Motiti, the Crown should first engage with the Te Patuwai Tribal Committee to receive direction on which entities it should engage with – marae, hapū, or iwi – about that issue. The Te Patuwai Tribal Committee would connect the Crown with the relevant representatives of the marae, the hapū, or the iwi as appropriate.