'Titiro Whakamuri: Ahu Whakamua' Taranaki, the Treaty and Human Rights

Puke Ariki; Open Forum, New Plymouth

Wednesday 14 July 2010; 5.30pm Hon Tariana Turia, Co-leader of the Maori Party

This is the right time, the right place, the right context in which to consider the fundamental connection between Taranaki, the Treaty and human rights.

Whatever direction you come from, whether it be by land or sea or air, the commanding presence of Te Maunga o Taranaki watches over us.

And if you listen very carefully, we might also hear the strains of the Song of Parihaka, given life by Tim Finn,

"Rise up, defend yourself, never give in; look to the sky, the spirit of Te Whiti; the endless tide is murmuring his name".

Today, in 2010, some of the stories that took place under the mountain are being heard; some of the songs sung by the people of Taranaki rise to remind us that our future is created in our past. It is about time. It is time for us all to listen and carefully consider our next steps forward.

In doing so we remember the opening lines of the Taranaki Report - Kaupapa Tuatahi:

"For the Taranaki hapu, conflict and struggle have been present since the first European settlement in 1841. There has been continuing expropriation by various means from purchase assertions to confiscation after war.

In this context, the war itself is not the main grievance. The pain of war can soften over time. Nor is land the sole concern. The real issue is the relationship between Maori and the Government. It is today, as it has been for 155 years, the central problem.

It is right, that this symposium, in creating an open space for dialogue about the Treaty and New Zealand's constitutional arrangements, would start here in Taranaki.

As we sit at the brink of change - our challenge is to consider how the central problem identified by the Tribunal - that is, the relationship between Maori and the Government - transforms into the central solution.

One of the key milestones in the Maori Party arrangements with National, was to embark on a process to consider constitutional issues. A fundamental premise in even establishing such a process, is that it is time to be upfront, to be alert, eyes wide open to our past and our present, before we can plan the future.

We can not wipe the past from memory; establish a collective amnesia about the events that have occurred over a century and a half ago since a Treaty was signed between the Crown and Maori.

My thesis for today is very much in line with the concept of our hui - that we must look to the past to forge our future.

The capacity to understand our history liberates our future.

History is more than a recipe-book crammed full of pre-tested guidance for today; nor is it merely a casebook of legal precedent. It requires far more of us than simply being passive recipients of tales from long ago.

History is an inbuilt early warning system; a relay race in which our ancestors pass on the baton for us to carry to our mokopuna. But the question is, how we do understand the lessons of our past to best face the future?

The Roman philosopher, Marcus Cicero, helps shape a view of the learning power of history, in his reflection

"To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history".

And so, when I am in Taranaki, I am always conscious of the stories and experiences that have shaped the lives of Ngati Mutunga, Ngati Maru, Ngati Ruanui, Taranaki, Nga Rauru, Te Ati Awa, Ngaruahinerangi, Ngati Tama.

What is the record of history that leads us forward from their ancestors? How does their experience make the future possible? What is it about their lives that gives us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and a meaning of kotahitanga - our common humanity?

In my quest to find an answer to these questions, I think of the legacy of Parihaka, in the time in which the Government assumed a right of ownership by confiscation.

When the armed constabulary roadmakers first crossed into the Plains, Te Whiti o Rongomai sent them several carloads of food, as a sign of welcome, of peace, of manaakitanga. It was also a powerful message - 'you are our guests'.

In return the road-makers entered the Parihaka Block; cutting fences, taking roads through the fields.

Fence after fence, the Parihaka people rose up to repair - and for their efforts, they were arrested. Usually four fencers were arrested per day, but on one occasion 59 arrests were made. After three months, over 200 fencers were in custody - yet the fences continued to be re-erected, sometimes by children.

Around the same time, the Parihaka leaders had sent groups of men to plough the land in various parts of Taranaki - sending a powerful message that was not against the individual settlers, but as Te Whiti described it, "ploughing the belly of the government".

The Government responded with an order that all ploughmen should be arrested. And so every day, for several weeks, five men would go out ploughing. By nightfall all would have been arrested without ever offering any resistance.

The next day, another five men would go out ploughing - and again be arrested by the time dark came.

These two simple - but sophisticated - strategies of resistance formed part of a comprehensive array of methods, including public speeches, singing, marches, hunger strike, assemblies of protest, boycott, non-violent obstruction and other actions which became a symbolic public act of passive resistance long before Gandhi.

And yet, for generations of New Zealanders, this important history was never known.

I remind us of the theme of this seminar - look to our past to forge our future.

Knowledge of the past lived in Taranaki; the dismantling of Parihaka; the impact of raupatu; the dispossession of land and livelihood, provides a graphic counterpoint to what we might otherwise consider the promise of the Treaty.

The experience of Taranaki also stands to encourage us to think of other strategies, other means by which to uphold the Treaty relationship in ways which respect and reflect both partners.

And so it was that I came to the banks of the Waitara River in April 2004, at the end of a whirlwind tour of Te Tai Hauauru, seeking advice from the people about the decisions that needed to be made about the foreshore and seabed policy.

The people spoke definitively, telling me that no Act of the Crown can give them their customary rights, defined by mana atua, mana tupuna and mana whenua.

They described the proposals as breaching the property rights protected in law since the Magna Carta of 1215; protection guaranteed to tangata whenua by Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Human rights advocates told me that the Bill was inescapably and fundamentally discriminatory because the adverse impact fell only on Maori.

And they said to us, that all they had asked for was that due access be allowed to occur; the rights of iwi, hapu and whanau to take their claims to the Court, as recommended by the Court of Appeal.

Eighteen months after I faced the media at Waitara, knowing that the next day I would announce my decision to cross the floor in opposition to the foreshore and seabed bill - the United Nations Special Rapporteur arrived at Parihaka Marae.

It was of course also appropriate, that when Rodolfo Stavenhagen arrived in Aotearoa in November 2005, he would start his nationwide tour of Aotearoa at Parihaka, the pa of Peace.

His visit was generated by the ruling from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that the Foreshore and Seabed Act appeared to discriminate against Maori.

And now, here we are five years later, on the eve of a return visit of the Special Rapporteur; reflecting again on the relationship between Taranaki, Te Tiriti and human rights.

It has been said that history repeats itself, because no-one was listening the first time.

A question that arises for me, is whether it is that we are not listening - or whether the real issue is that the whole history isn't being told in the first place - the history of all the peoples; the story of all the experiences endured - the good, the bad, the ugly.

One of the more depressing moments in recent months has been one in which academics and historians, Peter Adds and Richard Manning have suggested that teachers frequently side-step Maori content in history.

Adds and Manning are calling on the Crown to conduct an inquiry into the status of Maori history in schools.

They want to audit the system; to evaluate how teachers are fulfilling the curriculum guidelines which specify that an informed understanding of the origins of Aotearoa requires an awareness of the history of the Treaty of Waitangi, and of the Treaty's principles, values and ongoing relevance.

Finally, I come back to this place, this time - and in particular the very significant contribution to nation-building that is emerging out of the debates in Taranaki, considering the progress over the last 150 years since the first shots of war were fired.

I want to return to the words that permeate the air for all who call Taranaki home.

"Rise up, defend yourself, never give in; look to the sky, the spirit of Te Whiti; the endless tide is murmuring his name".

If we take as a basic given, that the central problem for Taranaki - and indeed throughout the land - remains the relationship between Maori and the Government; I truly believe that the unique history of this rohe is also the source of our greatest movement forward.

This year, Puke Ariki, installed the exhibition, Te Ahi Ka Roa, Te Ahi Katoro - Taranaki Wars 1860-2010: our legacy our challenge.

As part of that exhibition an amazing book was released, Contested ground: te Whenua i tohea - in which readers are provided with an opportunity to look at the legacy of the land wars, and to consider the challenge it poses for our future.

This is exactly the prescription that we must look to, in creating a sense of optimism for the future. We owe it to the descendants of all who signed the Treaty, to understand the origins of the Treaty relationship, the unique responses enacted by hapu and iwi; a true record of the times beyond.

It is only through understanding our history backwards that we can plan for and prepare to live forwards, building on the strengths of the people, learning from the mistakes of the past.

I want to acknowledge all who have been responsible for, and have contributed to this important day, which I believe provides us with a very useful model to pave a pathway forward into the development of a constitution for our nation.

All of us gathered here today, must build on the spirit of Te Whiti, must rise up and never give in, until the history that is heard in Taranaki is known by all who inhabit this land.

We must consider carefully the learning that emerges from this region - and the unique responses of the people of Taranaki.

And perhaps a fuller knowledge of that history will lead us forward to living out the aspirations enshrined in Te Tiriti, and given life in the actions of Tohu Kakahi and Te Whiti o Rongomai.

And we will recall the challenge set by Te Whiti in 1881 -

"though the lions rage still I am for peace....though I be killed I yet shall live; though dead, I shall live in peace which will be the accomplishment of my aim. The future is mine.

ENDS

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