We have had the tangi of the last member of the 28th Māori Battalion, the apology to the hundreds of thousands of people abused in State care, the Toitu te Tiriti hikoi and the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill. Together these events tell a compelling story of the value of protecting te Tiriti and the partnership it embodies.
When 16,000 Māori volunteered for service in World War 2, it was because they believed in their citizenship of the young country that was New Zealand. Te Tiriti o Waitangi had created the foundation for a new country and these young men, and their whānau, were prepared to put everything on the line for it.
About 3600 Māori served overseas. More than 1700 were wounded and 649 died during active service. It was, as Apirana Ngata said, service for the "price of citizenship".
As the last of the men who belonged to the 28th Māori Battalion, Tā Robert Nairn "Bom" Gillies KNZM, was laid to rest this week, his people were gathering across Aotearoa New Zealand to protect the very foundation on which his service was based, te Tiriti.
The Hīkoi mō te Tiriti is a well organised and thoughtful means for Māori and Pākehā to work together to assert their collective te Tiriti rights. Te Tiriti affirms the legal, political and economic authority that had been exercised by iwi and hapū Māori for over 800 years in Aotearoa.
Along with affirming the tikanga authority of hapū and iwi, there are two new rights confirmed in te Tiriti. For Māori, the new right is set out in article 3 and that is the right to be treated equally by the government. This was one of the rights that Ta Robert and the 28th Battalion fought for.
It was a right they and their whānau were denied on their return from the war when they were excluded from land and housing entitlements and treated as second-class citizens in the country of their tupuna they had fought to defend.
The Royal Commission on the Abuse in State Care Inquiry also forcefully describes the effect of the refusal to afford Māori the equal rights affirmed in te Tiriti. This week’s apology from the government to the survivors was a very important step in the long process of reparations.
It was important the prime minister recognised the culpability of the state when he said "for many of you it changed the course of your life, and for that, the government must take responsibility ... Māori and Pacific children suffered racial discrimination and disconnection from their families, language and culture".
While it was necessary to mention the impacts on tamariki Māori, there was no recognition of the severe breach of their te Tiriti rights. This was a glaring omission by the prime minister.
The Royal Commission report says the "State failed to address the ongoing systemic impacts of colonisation that contributed to Māori being taken into care, in which Māori experienced abuse and neglect".
They go on to say this "includes failing to recognise the inherent mana motuhake of iwi and hapū, failing to carry out the structural reform that would have enabled Māori to exercise rangatiratanga and mana motuhake".
In short, the report says that if the government had not breached the te Tiriti rights of Māori to autonomy under article 2 and to equal treatment under article 3, thousands of tamariki Māori, their whānau and mokopuna would have been spared that violence and abuse. Te Tiriti was a protector while the State was an abuser.
Te Tiriti is a protector for Pākehā too, because the second right created by te Tiriti is for tangata tiriti. Te Tiriti gives tangata tiriti a legitimate place to stand here on this land alongside tangata whenua.
We can live and thrive together, share our whakapapa and raise our mokopuna together. Te Tiriti lays the foundation for reciprocity and respect.
Without te Tiriti we are occupied. With te Tiriti we have a relationship.
Which brings us to the Treaty Principles Bill and the disingenuous attempt by a handful of people to rewrite history, spoil our constitutional foundation and split our communities. The Bill is a disgrace, but I am optimistic that its divisive intention will fail.
Tangata tiriti and tangata whenua are telling our compelling story of te Tiriti and its rights that protect us all. No legislation will stop that.
■Metiria Stanton Turei is a senior law lecturer at the University of Otago and a former Green Party MP and co-leader.
