Hei Poai Pakeha koutou i muri nei. You Shall Be Pakeha Boys. The Impact of Te Tangi O Kawiti on Ngati Hine Resistance to the Crown in the Treaty Claims, Mandate and Settlement Processes.

Abstract

Ngati Hine, the descendants of Hineamaru and Koperu, is one of over a hundred hapu (people, subtribes) that make up the federation of hapu within Ngapuhi nui tonu, the largest tribe of Maori tangata whenua (people of the land) in Nu Tireni, Aotearoa, New Zealand. For decades, Ngati Hine have engaged in the Treaty claims, inquiry, mandating and settlement processes with the Waitangi Tribunal and the Office of Treaty Settlements (OTS), concerning alleged Crown breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Treaty of Waitangi signed in 1840. This thesis articulates different tensions and tolerances that Ngati Hine navigates with the Crown. The research is driven by the key question: How does Te Tangi o Kawiti impact Ngati Hine resistance to the Crown in the Treaty Settlement process? This research investigates how Te Ruki Kawiti’s 1846 ohaki (final speech, lament or prophesy), Te Tangi o Kawiti still impacts Ngati Hine resistance activities and contemporary engagement with the Crown in the Treaty claims, mandate and settlement processes. The research considers the minimising of Maori knowledge, epistemology and history through colonisation, examining how Te Tangi o Kawiti survived in tribal purakau (Maori narratives) and korero tuku iho (oral traditions).

A kaupapa Maori paradigm, hermeneutics and a qualitative research methodology are combined and the purakau of seven members of Ngati Hine are analysed. The findings reveal te reo Maori (Maori language), tikanga (customs, principles and protocols) and whakapapa (genealogy) nurtured by Ngati Hine have ensured the survival of Te Tangi o Kawiti. This is despite continued relentless assimilation and colonisation through the Crown and New Zealand government processes that distract from the issues of New Zealand’s constitution, sovereignty, rangatiratanga, kawanatanga, law and power structures.

One of the important contributions of this thesis is the combination of western traditional models of literature with an indigenous understanding of what constitutes literature, often oral, but can take other forms such as place names, people’s names, carvings, songs and historic artefacts. What becomes evident through weaving those two forms of literature together is that both are equally valid but when combined they produce a transcultural body of literature that encompasses both worlds and enhances our understandings.

The signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840 and the battle of Ruapekapeka in 1845 are significant events to Te Tangi o Kawiti. There is reference to the Treaty and Tiriti in Te Tangi o Kawiti and the battle of Ruapekapeka was the last Kawiti fought and won against the Crown. The battle symbolises Ngati Hine's assertion of mana, rangatiratanga (sovereignty, authority, autonomy), freedom and rejection of colonial rule. While Te Tangi o Kawiti rejects colonial rule, affirms Ngati Hine rangatiratanga and challenges the Crown and New Zealand government’s actions, paradoxically it is critical in the maintenance of peace and binds the Crown and Ngati Hine together in a Tiriti relationship. This thesis hinges on different tensions and tolerances and discloses an ongoing tension and a mutual sense of resistance between the Crown and Ngati Hine.