Tangata whenua

Template:Short description Template:Italic title Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use New Zealand English Template:Mi Template:Māori sidebar () is a New Zealand Māori term that translates to 'people of the land'. It can refer to either a specific group of people with historical claims to a district, or more broadly, the Māori people whose ancestors have occupied the land for so many generations that they are considered to have become part of the land.

Etymology

According to Williams's definitive Dictionary of the Māori Language, means 'man', whilst (with the macronised "ā") is the plural, and means 'people'. —without the macron—can also mean 'people' in reference to a group with a singular identity.

means both 'land' and 'placenta' (again referencing Williams, who lists five definitions). It is an ancient Austronesian word with cognates across the Malayo-Polynesian world, from Malay (now meaning 'continent'), Visayan *banwa and to Rapa Nui henua; ultimately from Proto-Austronesian *banua. Unlike European thought, wherein people own land, in the Māori worldview the land is regarded as a mother to the people. The relationship to the land is not dissimilar to that of the foetus to the placenta. In addition, there are certain Māori rituals involving burying the afterbirth of a newborn in the ancestral land, which may further illustrate the word meaning both 'land' and 'placenta'.

Contexts

• In the context of tribal descent and ownership of land, are the people who descend from the first people to settle the land of the district; the may reside with later arrivals.
• At a particular , the are the owners of the , in contradistinction to the ('guests'). After the welcoming ceremony on a , the guests may be afforded the temporary, honorary status of , and may even be invited to participate as locals as the ceremonies continue.
• has also become a New Zealand English term with specific legal status.

Law and custom

The indigenous peoples of New Zealand may be divided into three levels of kinship, on which traditional governance was based.

The smallest level, , is what Westerners would consider the extended family, perhaps descended from a common great-grandparent. Traditionally a would hold in common their food store (their forest or bush for hunting birds and gathering or growing plant foods, and a part of the sea, a river or a lake for gathering eels, fish, shellfish, and other seafood). These food stores were fiercely protected: when one's resources could no longer support a growing , war with a neighbouring tribe might eventuate.

The next level, ('sub-tribe'), is a group of several related , and was traditionally the primary governance unit. In war, and when decisions needed to be made in negotiations with outside tribes, leaders would gather and the would make collective decisions.

Several (or many) can trace their ancestry, usually on the male line, back to a particular , the ocean-going canoe upon which the common ancestors of that tribe arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand, and this unified level is called the . Until the British arrived, the was not a governance unit, it was called a . An example of this is in Template:Langr Declaration of Independence 1835 with the Template:Langr of Rangatira signing a contract with King George as protector of Template:Langr, at that time Template:Langr. The is a spiritual union between Template:Langr, the Supreme Creato, and the with no third-party interloper interference and attendance was voluntary depending on the issue could voice their non-consent by not sending their Rangatira. Template:Langr is a New Zealand Government–controlled Statutory Trust.

However, under British and subsequent New Zealand law, the and were replaced by the CROWN intermediary agencies called which were formed by statute so settlements could be negotiated between Tangata, Whenua and Statutory CROWN entities to be recognized in statutes of New Zealand Governments legislative framework and under the Treaty of Waitangi these and statutory entities are accorded Treaty rights and obligations under New Zealand law, when they are recognised as Māori they are recognised as "Template:Langr" within statutes.

trusts under the New Zealand Government authority co-ordinate Statutory Trusts that have to provide a provable relationship with a specific area of geography in unbroken occupation, and if this is acknowledged by the national or local authority, they become the legal under statutory authority. Some areas may have several with pre-existing rights as the , which can make the process more complex for non Māori entities who are creating working relationships. Some of these have not signed settlements, which causes more complexity.

When, for example, a major real-estate development is proposed to the territorial authority, because of the potential desecration of burial sites which are very numerous over New Zealand's topography the must be consulted, although the mere fact that "consultation" take place does not mean that the views of the will necessarily be listened to. When bones are found, the are supposed to be called. In addition to these sorts of legally mandated requirements, when a person wishes to have land blessed, or when a sudden death occurs, an elder ( or ) of the may be asked to perform a cleansing ritual.

The notion of is sometimes contrasted with —literally, 'the people of the treaty'. Tangata tiriti refers to non-indigenous New Zealanders who are in the country by virtue of the Treaty of Waitangi. Although some see it as close to (but not necessarily synonymous with) the term , the peoples who have arrived through the auspices of the monarchs of Great Britain and then of New Zealand range in ethnicity, ancestry and roots from most parts of the world including the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, as well as many islands in the Pacific. As used notably by Judge Eddie Durie, the notion of underlines partnership and acceptance.

or is a term for a kinship group, but has acquired a contrasting meaning referring to Māori people living in an area who are not part of a group.

See also

• Resource Management Act 1991

References

• A. Salmond, Hui, A Study of Maori Ceremonial Gatherings. Reed, Wellington, 1975.