Common Ground

Bill Macnaught

Manager Puke Ariki

Pooh

K

R

E

Key

Hill of the Chiefs

Puke Ariki was an important Pa

(fortified settlement) for many generations of Te Atiawa iwi

“iwi” is similar to Scottish “clan”

Puke Ariki

New Plymouth

Taranaki

New Zealand

Mt Taranaki

Mt Taranaki is a volcano which is still regarded as the ancient ancestor of the people of Taranaki and still influences local culture

Te Maunga The mountain“You can’t talk about the maunga without

talking about the people… they are one and the same”

Rangi Kipaartist

Whakapapa

• More than genealogy

• Blood lines to the land

• Waahi tapu (sacred sites)

• Deeply held spiritual and cultural ties

Some history…

• Waitangi Treaty 1840• Taranaki Wars 1860• Confiscation of land 1865• Waitangi Tribunal set up 1975• Taranaki report 1996

The Treaty of Waitangi 1840

Two versions - one in English; one in Mäori …

• In the English text, Queen Victoria was given 'all the rights and powers of sovereignty' over New Zealand

• Mäori chiefs thought they kept sovereignty but agreed to governance

In the English text, Mäori were guaranteed

'exclusive and undisturbed possession of their

lands and estates, forests, fisheries and other

properties'. The Crown had an exclusive right

to purchase their land.

In the Mäori text, Mäori were guaranteed

unqualified exercise of their chieftainship over

their lands, villages, and all their property and

treasures. Mäori also agreed to give the Crown the

right to buy their land if they wished to sell it.

“Warfare …broke out in Taranaki in March 1860.

“Those Mäori who resisted the alienation of their land were immediately branded as being in rebellion against the authority of the Crown, in defiance of … the Treaty, which provided for the Queen's sovereignty.

“The New Plymouth military commander sent troops to enforce the purchase...

“Many Mäori came to Taranaki to fight … and many others throughout the country were sympathetic …”

www.treatyofwaitangi.govt.nz

Taranaki region covers 1.8 million acres

“During 1865, some 1,199,622 acres of Taranaki were confiscated ... [from Mäori] The Government later claimed to have returned part of the land, but … we do not regard any of it as having been properly returned.”

Waitangi Tribunal - Taranaki report 1996

Waitangi Tribunal

“… having reconciled ourselves with the past and possessing a full understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi, Mäori and non-Mäori New Zealanders will be equipped to create a future for two peoples as one nation.” 1975

Why it matters

“If the impact of Treaty breaches and the measures necessary to restore an equilibrium are significant criteria, then … you may be dealing with the country’s largest claim.”

Waitangi Tribunal - Taranaki report 1996

Chair’s letter to the Minister

Te Whiti-o-Rongomai III

• Leader and prophet (1815-1907)

• Descended from a long line of chiefs linked to Puke Ariki Pa

• Developed a systematic programme of passive resistance to settlers

• Parihaka village was his base

Plunder of Parihaka 1881

• Led by John Bryce, a Scotsman born in Glasgow in 1833.

• He came to New Zealand with his father, elder brother, and sister on the Bengal Merchant in 1840.

• Bryce was the NZ Government’s Native Minister in 1881

John Bryce “ No man in public affairs could have been more

uncompromising or more certain of the rightness of his principles and practice. His enemies regarded him as stupid and crude. He was perfectly sincere, always taking his stand on principles in a way which can only be characterised as stubborn.”

An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966

Passive resistance

In an attempt to reassert Mäori rights the

Parihaka prophets, Te Whiti and Tohu,

encouraged their followers to resist settler

development by:pulling up survey pegs put down by the settlerserecting fences across new roadsploughing up settler farm plantings

The legacy

• Many Mäori are still seriously aggrieved because of historical issues

• Taranaki history has some of the most blatant Treaty breaches in NZ

• You cannot understand NZ today unless you know the history of Taranaki

Not just about land…

• 1867 Native Schools Act forbade the use of the Mäori language - Te Reo Mäori

• Waitangi tribunal claim about the importance of the language led to Mäori Language Act 1987

• Te Reo Mäori is an official language of NZ

Common Ground

• 2010 will be 150 years since the first Taranaki War

• 4 year build up to a difficult exhibition

• Use the 4 years to look at differences between Mäori and others in social, environmental, cultural and economic aspects over the last 150 years

• Means “Sacred woven mat”

• Took the social theme and used family stories as the vehicle

• Celebrating the fact that Taranaki today is culturally diverse

• Some Mäori have negative views because of unresolved grievances

Puke Ariki opened in 2003

• Integrated public library, museum and archive (plus tourist information)

• Takapou Whäriki involved all three cultural professions

• Poutaki rauemi - guide to resources - was appointed in 2006 to develop the library’s relevance to Mäori

Mana

Mana is a supernatural force attached to a person or an object

An important person has mana

Archival documents written by that important person have mana

Documents have sometimes been buried, literally, when that person died

Te Reo o Taranaki

• Mäori language archive project to protect the Taranaki dialect

• Leading Mäori scholars from Taranaki have approached Puke Ariki last month to be a partner

• Original materials to be safeguarded with restricted access

Cultural difference

• Important historical information is protected by Mäori at different levels– Iwi– Hapu– Whänau

• Much history is still not shared

Global issues

• IFLA

• Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE)

• Danish cartoons example

• Libraries around the world are involved in this debate even if they do nothing

From cultural imperialism to mutual respect

macnaughtb@npdc.govt.nz

www.pukeariki.com