Mount Taranaki generic, Taranaki Maunga, Taranaki, rural, mountain, New Plymouth Photo: Christina Persico/RNZ
The House: In a collective redress to the eight Taranaki Iwi, this week Parliament bestowed legal personhood on Taranaki Maunga under the name Te Kāhui Tupua.
The personhood is not bestowed on the central maunga in isolation, but on "a living and indivisible whole comprising Taranaki Maunga and other tūpuna maunga [ancestral mountains], including Pouākai and Kaitake, from their peaks to, and including, all the surrounding lands, and incorporating all their physical and metaphysical elements".
Te Kāhui Tupua can now be defended in court and can own property. It has had the ownership of Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki (previously Egmont National Park) vested in it, but will be able to add to that holding. The park will be managed by a trust board nominated by iwi and the Minister of Conservation.
This is the third time that a local geographical feature has been given this legal protection. The other two are Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River) and Te Urewera National Park.
Embedding knowledge in a law
The bill that achieves this is the Treaty Bill Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill. (It becomes an Act once signed by the Governor General, likely on 3 March).
Treaty bills are a little different to standard legislation and often include fascinating background, history and cultural knowledge, even waiata and haka.
The redress bill begins with background, history, acknowledgements and apologies before it begins the legal niceties. Rather than discuss those initial sections of the Bill, this article reproduces them. The Bill is bilingual, but we will quote the English version.
The first section is a statement from Taranaki Iwi outlining their cultural, spiritual, historical, and traditional association with their tūpuna maunga.
The statement
"He pou whakaruru: Guardian
"The maunga are pou that form a connection between the physical and the social elements of our lived experience. For iwi of Taranaki, they have been ever present and remain personified ancestors, a site of shared history, a physical resource, and the citadel of a unique ecosystem. Wider Taranaki society continues to look upon these maunga as key reference points for the region, shaping an immediate sense of place and social association with mutual identity. Their presence pervades our scenery, projecting mystery, adventure, and beauty, capturing our attention and our imagination in how humanity can be closely bound to a landscape.
"The maunga are pou that transcend our perception of time, location, culture and spirit. They help configure how whakapapa, environment, the past and future are understood, engaged with, and transmitted to future generations. This is a framework of tangible and intangible resources available to be accessed and applied in our daily lives, and open to being interpreted by various social groupings, Māori and non-Māori, in terms of spiritual, cultural, and ethical values.
"He pou taiora: Physical dimension
"The maunga are the essence of this region having shaped the physical landscape with volcanic activity, inclining slopes, expansive plains and rocky shores. They have shaped the very character of weather, wind, rainfall and climate. They have been the source of unceasing artesian waters, mineral deposits and are a rich store of high altitude biodiversity.
"These maunga are not simply a part of the Taranaki environment, they are its synthesis.
"He pou kura, he pou wānanga, he pou korero: Social dimension
"The maunga are the essence of this region having shaped the human landscape with unfaltering springs, fertile lands and an extensive shoreline. They have shaped the very character of geographic reference points, of settlement patterns and boundaries, and have differentiated schools of knowledge of iwi. They have been the source of language, culture and identity. These maunga are not simply landmarks they are the embodiment of whakapapa, the interment of tūpuna incorporated within iwi whakapapa with names, history and sacred sites."
From the floor of the House Debbie Ngarewa-Packer joins Taranaki Iwi in the galleries as they sing in celebration of the passing of the Taranaki Maunga restitution bill. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
The Histories
The bill gives a brief historical background to the long run of injustice regarding Taranaki maunga. (Note: There have been eight previous treaty settlements with the eight Taranaki iwi - each of which has its own individual history of Crown injustice.)
"For generations, Taranaki Maunga and its surrounding ranges have been the central pillar for the iwi, hapū, and whānau of Taranaki. These maunga have long been honoured ancestors, a source of physical, cultural, and spiritual sustenance, and final resting places.
Following the establishment of European settlements in Taranaki in the early 1840s, the Crown began to purchase land in the region. Māori in Taranaki were initially keen to engage in the new settler economy, but became concerned when the Crown began to purchase land from individual Māori or small groups, sometimes without the consent or knowledge of key leaders or the wider collective, and sometimes despite their strongly stated objections. In 1860, the Crown used military forces to complete its purchase of land at Waitara, which led to wars between the Crown and Māori in Taranaki. In 1865 the Crown unfairly punished Māori by confiscating 1.2 million acres of Taranaki land, including Taranaki Maunga.
During the century that followed this fundamental breach of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi, the Crown repeatedly ignored the rights and interests of the tangata whenua of Taranaki in relation to their ancestral mountains.
Following the confiscation, the Crown failed to create most of the reserves it had promised. After further protest by Māori in Taranaki, the Crown eventually returned some reserves, but refused to include most of the mountains in those reserves, instead proclaiming them as a forest reserve, and later a national park.
The Crown subsequently established management regimes which ensured that trampers, skiers, and hunters were involved in the management of the park but made no such provision for tangata whenua. Under those management regimes, traditional Māori practices associated with the mountains were banned while tourism was promoted, and pests such as possums were introduced which led to the complete destruction of native forest in some parts of the park.
In the early 1970s, Taranaki Māori sought to become involved in the management of the park, to have the mountain's traditional name reinstated, and to have ownership of the mountains returned. Some of their proposals were initially supported by the government but then abandoned in the face of public opposition. Provisions for Māori involvement in the management of [what was then] Egmont National Park were eventually enacted in 1977, and in 1978 the Crown promoted legislation which returned Taranaki Maunga to the Taranaki Māori Trust Board, but immediately returned it to Crown ownership for the purposes of a national park.
In recent years, Ngā Iwi o Taranaki have led a number of initiatives which have sought to reactivate and strengthen their connections to their ancestral mountains. These have included programmes to re-engage with the sites of significance within the park, control pests, foster indigenous plants and animals, improve scientific understanding of the environment, and promote mātauranga Māori.
He pou tā Maruwhakatare
He ahi tā Tahurangi
He rua tā Ruataranaki
He pou hoki tā tēnei whakatupuranga?
Maruwhakatare anchored the mountain 30
Tahurangi lit the fires of occupation
Ruataranaki consecrated the name
What will this generation's legacy be?"
Taranaki Iwi leaders in Parliament's public gallery sing in celebration at the passing of the Taranaki Maunga redress bill. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
The acknowledgements (by the Crown)
The Bill goes into a fair bit of detail about all the ways it screwed up over the past couple of centuries, acknowledging failures, lies, deceit and so many missed opportunities to do the right thing:
"The Crown acknowledges that the tūpuna maunga are of profound significance to the tangata whenua of Taranaki. For centuries, the peaks and ranges of Taranaki have served as pillars that support and uphold every aspect of life. They are a source of water and food, they are repositories of memory and knowledge, they connect the earth to the heavens, and they are revered ancestors. The Crown acknowledges that the well-being of ngā maunga o Taranaki is intrinsic to the well-being of Ngā Iwi o Taranaki.
The Crown acknowledges that its indiscriminate confiscation of the sacred peaks and ranges of Taranaki deprived Taranaki Māori of access to sites of profound cultural, spiritual, and historical significance, and severed relationships of care that the whānau, hapū, and iwi of Taranaki had exercised for centuries. In doing so, the Crown broke its promise, made through te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi, that Māori would retain the full and undisturbed possession of any land that they wished to retain. The Crown's confiscation of Panitahi, Patuhā, Kaitake, Pouākai, and Taranaki Maunga was wrongful and unjust, caused immeasurable distress to ngā tāngata o Taranaki, and was a breach of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.
The Crown acknowledges that it failed to honour the Governor's personal promises that certain lands, including large parts of Taranaki Maunga, would not be confiscated, and then failed to implement the undertakings made to return those lands.
The Crown acknowledges that Taranaki Māori have sought the return of the mountains ever since they were confiscated. In 1879, the Crown established the West Coast Commission to investigate Māori complaints that the reserves they had been awarded by the Compensation Court had not been created, and to determine what land was available for return. With respect to those investigations, the Crown acknowledges that:
(a) It incorrectly informed the West Coast Commission in 1880 that Taranaki Maunga and its surrounds had already been made a forest reserve; and
(b) the West Coast Commission subsequently excluded all the land within a six-mile radius of the peak of Taranaki Maunga from its recommended awards to Taranaki Māori; and
(c) when the Crown realised the Maunga had not been reserved, it failed to correct its error and instead formally declared Taranaki Maunga to be a forest reserve before the Second West Coast Commission's awards were formally granted; and
(d) together, the Crown's actions meant that Taranaki Maunga was never eligible for return to Māori through the compensation processes, in breach of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.
The Crown acknowledges that it deprived Taranaki Māori of their last remaining interests in ngā maunga o Taranaki in 1899 when it promoted the exchange of the Patua Ranges Reserve, which had been granted to Taranaki owners in 1883, for land outside Taranaki. In particular, the Crown acknowledges that when it carried out this exchange:
(a) It had full knowledge that the West Coast reserves were intended to benefit Taranaki Māori; and
(b) It was aware that there was good-quality land available immediately adjacent to the Patua Ranges Reserve, but chose to sell that land to settlers and instead provide land 90 miles away; and
(c) Its failure to actively protect the interests of Taranaki Māori was a breach of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.
The Crown acknowledges that when it established the Egmont Forest Reserve, and later the Egmont National Park, it failed to consult the iwi of Taranaki or consider their customary interests. By doing so, the Crown failed to recognise the rangatiratanga of ngā iwi o Taranaki, and this was a breach of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.
The Crown further acknowledges that it failed for many years to provide for Māori representation in the governance of Egmont National Park. This left Taranaki Māori unable to use or manage the area's rich resources in accordance with their tikanga, and prevented them from exercising kaitiakitanga over its many sacred places. This was a breach of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.
The Crown acknowledges the efforts of the Taranaki Māori Trust Board to overcome the legacy of war and raupatu, and the Crown's consistent failure to recognise the validity of the grievances of Taranaki Māori. The Crown further acknowledges the challenges the Taranaki Māori Trust Board faced in the 1970s when it attempted to negotiate the return of Taranaki Maunga, Māori representation on the Egmont National Park Board, and the restoration of the name "Taranaki" to the maunga. The Crown acknowledges that its many breaches of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi have severed connections that had long existed between the tangata whenua of Taranaki and their mountains, and have caused immense and enduring harm."
The Apologies
"The Crown offers the following apology to ngā uri o Taranaki, past and present:
"(a) The Crown is deeply sorry that its relationship with the tangata whenua of Taranaki has for generations been blighted by the Crown's repeated failures to honour the commitments it made in te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi. The Crown is sorry that the promise of partnership that arose in 1840 so quickly became a history of conflict, confiscation, and neglect.
(b) The Crown profoundly apologises for its confiscation of Taranaki Maunga in 1865, which severed connections with your ancestral mountain that were ancient and deep. In the decades that followed, the Crown not only failed to recognise your rangatiratanga but treated it with disdain, refusing to return the maunga, to involve you in its care, or to restore its rightful name. The Crown deeply regrets its many breaches of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles, and the immense and compounding harm they have inflicted on the whānau, hapū, and iwi of Taranaki.
(c) Much of this harm cannot be undone. However, the Crown hopes that through this apology, and through the arrangements in Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo, your connections to ngā maunga can be restored and strengthened, so that future generations might again look to Taranaki as a symbol of resilience and hope, rather than of loss. The Crown also looks to a future where Taranaki Maunga symbolises and embodies a relationship with you that is founded on trust and a shared respect for te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles."
After those initial sections the Bill gets into the legalities. Most Treaty settlement bills or similar legislation include a formal acknowledgement of history, of injustices, and a formal apology. They are always worth reading. They outline crucial and terrible elements of our collective history that we are often too ready to forget or ignore.
Watch the third reading debate here.
Read the full Bill here (including the sections above in te reo).
Read a good backgrounder from TVNZ here.
Read a good rundown from The Spinoff on the various things renamed.
RNZ's The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament's Office of the Clerk.
